In August last year I decided to convert the large (by Australian standards) cellar in our 1920s bungalow into a music space. Initially, my aim was to create a rehearsal room with a desk for monitors and DAW at the far end. The room is 6.1 x 3.4 x 3.0m.

I wanted to avoid leaving my wife an kids alone when I rehearsed, so I thought I would put drums, amps, keyboards, etc in the room and attract other musicians by removing the schlepping element. Therefore, my primary goal was sound transmission reduction. I needed to be able to rehearse (jazz/funk) with the kids sleeping. I also thought of treating the first reflection points with simple traps. I soon moved on from that position into much deeper water...

In order to meet the sound attenuation and treatment needs, I engaged Gearslutz' own John Brandt. I also engaged a carpenter (/general builder) to do all but the specialist jobs. Both have been outstanding.

I have been enjoying the process. It has taken longer and cost more than I expected but I am very pleased with the emerging results. I am now on the cusp of having a well treated and well soundproofed space that will serve me for years.

Once I have the final treatments in place I will post before and after REW files. In the meantime, here are some photos of the construction. I will separate the photos by construction element rather than strict chronology.

Cheers

Sorry for the delayed pictures - I have requested IMG rights so I can post pics to this thread. I the meantime, photos showing:

- The original room
- Floor
- Ceiling (sound attenuation and treatments)
- Limp membrane and broadband trapping

can be found here:

Cellar Photos by Linz1au | Photobucket

Cheers

OK, all set. Here is the original room at the start of the demolition phase.

Stairs to cellar:


Front wall with columns and lintel still in place:


Back wall:


Ceiling (/floor above):

Here's the floor. The old pine boards were removed and a concrete slab was poured through the window. I originally planned to lay jarrah floorboards but then decided to polish the concrete.

Floorboards gone:


Concrete slab poured:


Concrete ground and coated:

The ceiling is in two basic parts:

1) the soundproofing, which consists of 2 x 16mm drywall sealed with backer rod and caulk, 400mm of light, fluffy insulation and a suspended double drywall layer, also sealed with backer rod an caulk.

2) the treatment: 200mm of light fluffy and a T-bar frame with acoustic ceiling tiles

We seriously reinforced the existing minimal cross beans with an extra 10 laminated beans. Cutting, mounting and caulking the drywall between the joists was a time consuming job - possibly the toughest part of the build.

Original beams:


New beams going in:


New beams cemented into the walls:


Double, 16mm, fire rated drywall with 8mm gap for backer rod:


Nearly there:


C-section and hat channel suspended from resilient hangers for the next double drywall layer:


Double drywall, backer rod and caulk:


T-bar frame for acoustic tiles:

Building the limp membrane traps. Six are installed - two on the front wall and two on each side wall at the first reflection points. I will make another two for the back wall.

Hey Barry, I'm in Adelaide too and about to do the same thing except building a new house with a basement. Keen to know how much isolation you achieved from the main house. I'm guessing you worked with John Brandt just via email and phone calls?

Very cool!

I’d have loved to do this back in Melbourne back in the day but was too busy..

Can you post completed pics?

Cheers
Wiggy

Hey, Kimfidz. From memory, John achieved ~63db reduction at all frequencies above 100 or 125hz. I was amazed at the results. There is a lot of treatment in the ceiling and the door is 100kg, 10cm thick, sand filled with rubber trunk seals.

Yes, I worked with John via skype and emails. He was very attentive and pushed me to achieve the best result. I know a good carpenter who can build bass traps and diffusers!

I have more plenty more photos. I'll teach myself how to post them and upload more.

Drop me a line if you're near Norwood. You're welcome to have a look.

Oh wow!! So many of us in Radelaide.
Great stuff... thanks for sharing your experience!

That sounds like amazing work Barry!

I’m very interested in what you’ve done here as I’m looking at doing something similar. It sounds like I’m actually not far away from you (in Tranmere) is there any way of getting in touch to discuss further?