as the title says,

I want to know what's the better option for my studio,

I currently have a pretty awful hollowcore door, I am very competent with woodworking so that is not a problem, I am planning on re-making the frame first, ripping the whole thing out and starting from scratch to make sure everything is sealed and dead square, I might even put mass layer vinyl all the way around the edge in between the frame and brick work, is that a step too far?

In 'home studio recording build it like the pros' rod suggests using a readily available firedoor blank and lining it with sheet lead and MDF, this is something I could do but I could also easily make a framed door filled with sand which I could also add the layer of sheet lead + MDF.

Just wondering which one would give me the best performance in terms of isolation? I need to know which one is a best use of my time.

I hope to get started on it soon and finish it before the end of the year,

regards,

pencil extremist.

This is easy. The heavier one

I think the sand filled one will be much heavier so will go with that one, do you have any other suggestions?

Sand filled doors can be a PITA and need to be perfectly filled in order to avoid hollow spots.

Presuming you could make either one as massive as necessary the method in rods book is the way to go.

Forget the MLV, Rod’s world class, and his plans are excellent. Just follow the plans precisely and you will not be let down.

Btw he calls for plywood not mdf. MDF I’d more likely to chip and dent.

cool, yes you are right, I will follow it as closely as I can, some of the things are not easy to find in the UK such as the GM trunk rubber seals, so I may have to improvise a bit, when I get further with it I will make some posts about it, the project is going to be a lot of work but should be worth it.

and yes he does say plywood not MDF my mistake.

I also need to sort issues out under the floor as well, so will be taking a look under the floorboards the hopefully closing off any flanking paths as best as I can do, I may do this before even starting the door, there's definitely a lot of work to do! although the door is currently the weakest link.

on page 106 of his book fig 5.6 what is the backer rod made out of? I presume it's just a piece of wood, or is it metal?

Backer Rod (also called “caulk saver”) is just a foam material designed for the purpose. It’s available online and typically any home improvement store. If you need a fair bit like your doing a whole room, buy it bulk it’s significantly cheaper than the little bags at the hardware store.

I had good luck with Facca Fasteners a while back. As long as the weatherstripping creates a continuous seal it doesn’t matter a whole lot what’s used. The trunk rubber is just really durable. You could order some pre made acoustical door seals from a place like TM Hardware (if I remember correctly) carries Mason Industries seals. They are adjustable which is a good thing, but more expensive than the other options.

Everything should be sealed, but unless your doing a double door, the threshold will be a single piece, and Rod doesn’t specify a split jam because he says it’s a small compromise in isolation and wants the jamb to be structurally able to support a heavy door over time. The double door plans also feature a single jamb.

So depending on things you may not have to worry about flanking from the floor. It really depends on the overall design, and if the rest of the floor is isolated or not.

This is backer rod:

https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.c...-x-10mm-back10

so some updates, I have been taking off the architrave and looking at the current door frame, it's very well made, old growth douglas fir from the 1930s, about 35mm thick, but there are some gaps around the edges where it meets the brick wall, I am working out if it's worth making a new frame or not at the moment, it's in good condition but is a little warped on one side.

thanks, I have saved that link.

here are a few pics of the architrave gap, the door is actually at an angle at 45 degrees going into the room, as you can see there are quite large gaps.

I also used my phone as a torch to find the exact spot under the floor where sound could leak through, it's just 3/4" tongue and groove douglas fir, with no insulation or anything underneath, I think I will be able to improve isolation under the floor,

I found some newspapers from 1947 in the gaps, so that's very likely the year it was built!

there is definitely quite a bit of work to do.

Hiya, I got some D type rubber seals last year from these guys in the UK , sealextrusions.com for my sand filled doors

I went with
TSEC-002 Car Door Rubber EDGE TRIM SEAL-VanBoatTruck-BonnetUniversalfit TSEC-002-1

I havent fitted it yet so I can't say how effective it is , it looks good to me though

I got backer rod from these guys sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk
They're also good for caulk , I used Everbuild AC95 which was quite cost effective.

just used the AC95 today for the first time, it's good stuff, started stuffing the gaps with rockwool, need to make a piece of wood for the hinge side to bump it up to double the current thickness and glue it in place with the door off. Will then know the exact size backer rod I will need, wish I'd have discovered backer rod years ago now!

here are some pictures for you all, I sealed any gaps even tiny ones I could find with the AC95, let it dry overnight then stuffed them full of rockwool, next job is to make the long piece of wood on the hinge side to beef up the strength.

somebody thought it'd be a good idea to put the artex on probably in the 90s, I had it tested and it's asbestos free in case you were wondering, the original walls were lathe and plaster and the artex was stuck on top so you can't really take it off without ruining the plasterwork underneath which is a bit of a pain, knocking it off gets very messy so for now I'm leaving it, but in the future would like to get the walls back to brickwork.

Thank you for the update.

here's a rough plan on door so you get an idea of the shape and angles, do you think it's worthwhile creating an airgap in the middle of the insulation? for example 2 inches rockwool, 2 inches air then 2 inches of rockwool, according the rod's book this will increase isolation, currently it's just stuffed full of it, and can only be done on the left side, I still have a chance to alter this.

also thinking of buying these hinges, the door will use 5 of them, do you think they'll be good enough? https://www.toolstation.com/grade-13...r-hinge/p72860

managed to glue on the hinge rail today, got all my f-clamps out, you can never have too many...

I have enough pine to do the other side too, it's not necessarily needed but it does help push the insulation in place so it can't come out again, if I had to I could still get to it from the other side by taking that architrave off.

next stage is to order some backer rod fill then try and seal it as airtight as possible with the AC95.

the clamps are actually off and door put back on, I will update with more pics tomorrow or maybe after christmas is over with.

also been looking at firedoor blanks and the FD60 is 54mm thick, it's more cost effective to get the FD30, will order the firedoor blank soon, maybe in between christmas and new year.

the finished rail..

happy new year!

finished gluing the wooden slats in place now, just waiting for the backer rod to arrive, then I can continue with the next steps.

Looks good, nice and clean!

Regarding doors, I found the BBC research articles interesting - doesn't change my use of found, very solid core heavy fire doors though as it means I dont have to make anything, but if you did make a door, they're interesting.

A shame they dont bother testing sand filled.

Conclusions were that some lighter constructions had better isolation, their own lead-lined doors weren't as good.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/search?query=1994-15&submit=

very interesting read thanks

Because they concluded that ply was too stiff and transmitted sound more readily, I was also surpised they didnt try any plasterboard, perhaps as a core. But maybe they were worried about consistancy and ease of construction too for all their facilities.

I bought some things from the BBC strip-out of BBC Wales a while ago - Would have been great if there had been someone to ok me taking some doors too!

Plasterboard crumbles.