getting started; pole barn wall

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:28 pm

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum.

I'm in the process of selling my house in town. So I'm having to abandon my existing studio. It was 8x13x18. Not a bad studio, but I had constructed without doing any research and mostly going off of the "myth's" that are out there when constructing. Hence, no loud recording at night and many trips back and forth to my truck when mixing down.

I just purchased a piece of property out of town that has a 30x50 pole barn. 2x4 wood frame. Metal sides. The distance from the floor (dirt right now) to the bottom of the wood truss overhead is about 12'. The barn is completely empty.

I would like to construct inside the barn, but before I did anything I decided I would try to educate myself a litte more about what I was doing. I have bought and read Rod's book, read quite a bit of info on the John Sayers site and the SAE site and just recently this site. So, although I still have many questions, I feel I have a good idea about the way things are "supposed" to be done.

I would like to keep half of the building "open" for storage and other things, so that leaves me with a 25x30 space.
I have sketched up a drawing of how I think I want thing laid out which I will try to post later (sketch is extremely "sketchy" and I have fiqure out how to scan it and post it--I'm not the most computer saavy person Smile

)

So far I have a control room, vocal booth, main studio, storage, bathroom, small shop in this space. Also my wife insist I put a "tv/recreation" room out there Rolling Eyes

. Anyway I have all this in a 25x30 space, and I'm somewhat happy with the layout. I promise I will post a picture of my sketch as soon as possible. I'll probably be going with 8' ceilings to give room for a/c ducting and storage above ceiling.

Anyway, on to my first question. I would like to utilize the walls of the existing barn somehow and then build another wall inside of that. So far I have thought of:

1) Cutting drywall to fit in between each stud and then fill with insulation, but:

2) I live in southwest Louisiana (extremely humid) so I was thinking moisture may effect the sheetrock that would be against the metal so maybe I should put some sort of vapor barrier (tyvex) before putting the sheetrock in or:

3) Instead of sheetrock use wood or:

4) Don't use drywall or wood and just insulate in between the studs.

I've been pondering the best way to utilize this existing wall for some time.

Any suggestions on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, I record anything from just spoken voice to full all out R n'R band.

The nearest neighbor (besides myself) is about 75 to 100 feet away. That's just a guess though, I haven't measured. It may be a little more. The next closest neighbor after that is about 100 yards and they are family and will probably be helping with the build. So if they hear anything at their house I can always tell them "I told you we should have _______" Laughing

Thanks in advance for any advise.

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:48 pm

I just read my own post and the walls are made up of 4x4 post, not 2x4. The spacing between post is about 7' 8".

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:21 pm

"2) I live in southwest Louisiana (extremely humid) so I was thinking moisture may effect the sheetrock that would be against the metal so maybe I should put some sort of vapor barrier (tyvex) before putting the sheetrock in or:

3) Instead of sheetrock use wood or:

4) Don't use drywall or wood and just insulate in between the studs. " /quote

Reflective insulation would be a better solution.

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:27 am

Do you mean reflective insulation immediately against the metal and then something else (wood, sheetrock, more insulation) after I would put the initial reflective insulation?

Thanks for your reply.

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:30 pm

Yes sir.

But I haven't seen your structure either so this is all I could come up with, site unseen.

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 3:50 am

I'll try to post a pic soon.

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:52 am

I built a 30 x 64 pole garage and 30x30 of it is my studio. On mine I built 2x4 walls and raised them in between the 4 x 6 poles (mine are 4x6, with the 6" out). I used concrete screws to screw the bottom plate to the floor. The bottom plate has to be treated lumber. I the nailed the side of the walls to the 4 x 6 posts. The top plate of the walls were nailed into the top two 2 x 12's of the barn stucture. I places the walls flush with the front of the 4 x 6 posts. I then caulked around everything. I used 6" insulation in the walls. This left a small 1" air gap between the outer wall and the insulation. Work rather well. I can crank my Peavey JSX Head/412 cab all the way up and the sound outside is negligable. Here are some pics of the finished inside and outside. These are older pics and its more organized now. I did take pics of the construction and will post them when I find the damn things.

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:58 am

As far as drywall is concerned. Keep it off the concrete and it will be fine. I kept about a 3/8 gap under mine. Also remember insulation has a vapor barrier to keep moisture away from the wall. Also caulking around all the outside barn framing and wall framing helps. I also insulated the ceiling ith R38. I heat the thing with two 8' baseboard (220V) heaters. I live in Ohio and I keep them on low and it stays pretty warm in there. I have a small window AC unit I put in during the summer and it cools the thing down like a fridge. I plan on installing a mini-split AC unit next year or so. The window unit is quiet and I have yet to hear it in a recording

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:22 am

Bushmaster,

Thanks so much for your reply. Looks like you have a nice place there.

You know, my poles may very well be 4x6 too. I haven't been out to the place in about a week and a half (one reason why I haven't posted a picture yet also). When I go back out there (probably today) I'll take a closer look.

What you did sounds like a pretty good idea.

I look forward to seeing your construction photos.

Here's a sketch I did of what I think I'll build it like. Just a rough sketch (very) of my intial idea.

Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 3:10 pm

Looks great. I think those construction pics are on my wifes pc. Hope to get them up in a few days. I just got back from my daughters college graduation. Im getting ready to head out and finish up my sound panels (building 16). The main thing you want to keep watch on before you build is for water leaks (top and bottom). Also the electric. Make sure you have enough. I put in a 200 amp panel. I tied into the meter box on the back of my house. Meter boxes are usually 400 amp at least. And its cheaper than having you electric company run a seperate meter and service. Some will say "just tap your house panel". Well its easier to go off the meter box. And you can run more amps that way.

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