My man cave build - UK edition

[javadog]

This guy has a ton of videos on YouTube about acoustics. He does acoustical consulting work as well, you might check out a few of his videos:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TvNbptI5KCQ

[masraum]

Originally Posted by javadog

This guy has a ton of videos on YouTube about acoustics. He does acoustical consulting work as well, you might check out a few of his videos:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TvNbptI5KCQ

Interesting stuff. I went through a handful of videos. He seems very knowledgeable and is very good about not really giving anything away so that he can charge.

Most of what I see in his videos is probably very high end, not surprising since you would want to showcase the cool stuff. To do sound management really well probably involves a lot of knowledge and know how and is science based.

Wow, one of his walls that he showed was built on 8" studs and was nearly a foot thick because there was nearly 2" of surface on both sides of the wall. Another was just an inner surface of a wall and was >6" without the studs and outside wall surface. That's probably great for studios or other things, but not practical for the avg room/home.

[javadog]

You can actually submit information to him in the way of room dimensions, photographs and intended usage and he will respond with a free series of suggestions on what you should do. Most of his videos revolve around him describing typical solutions for treating existing rooms for sound recording or sound reproduction. In those instances, he makes money selling plans and materials for making your own room treatment devices such as diffusers and bass absorbers. Of course, he will also build such things for you, if that’s what you want. He also gets involved in more serious design work for recording studios and other things that are more of a clean sheet of paper.

There’s a lot of bad information and bad products out there for controlling sound. He seems to know what he’s talking about and I think he probably gets results, if you’re serious about finding a solution to a particular problem.

Most of his videos are concerned with absorbing unwanted reflections, pressures, etc., although there are a few that will give you some clues as to how to reduce the sound transmission between two spaces. Low frequencies are especially difficult to control, which is where you start seeing the larger thicknesses and volumes.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Thanks for all the advice but I've ignored it and listened to billybek

He was right, how could I have ever considered letting you guys down by not keeping the updates coming

Man cave project wins, I'm years behind finishing the house and man cave, my 'finished project' match score is embarrassingly shocking

1 for my finished projects (1 kit car built in m 20's) vs 54 for other peoples car projects

Got a big insulation job on the original house which will keep me warm, going to have a rest over Christmas and then jump on that straight after

Thanks for all the comments on the garage dividing wall, the twin stud wall was for the noise. Also plan to add two separate layers of plasterboard to the garage ceiling which I hope will help stop most noise getting through

Excellent! Enjoy the holidays and keep the updates coming!

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by masraum

Interesting stuff. I went through a handful of videos. He seems very knowledgeable and is very good about not really giving anything away so that he can charge.

Most of what I see in his videos is probably very high end, not surprising since you would want to showcase the cool stuff. To do sound management really well probably involves a lot of knowledge and know how and is science based.

Wow, one of his walls that he showed was built on 8" studs and was nearly a foot thick because there was nearly 2" of surface on both sides of the wall. Another was just an inner surface of a wall and was >6" without the studs and outside wall surface. That's probably great for studios or other things, but not practical for the avg room/home.

IDK what the actual requirements were - but I had an office with nearly 3" layers of rock/butyl/rock and so on. 2-1/2" thick oak doors with many seals. If the HVAC shut off, the silence was deafening. Strange place, and one where they took my speakerphone away because it was too close to the wall. A wall with 20feet of dirt over it and hundreds of miles beyond it.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Thanks for all the advice but I've ignored it and listened to billybek

He was right, how could I have ever considered letting you guys down by not keeping the updates coming

Man cave project wins, I'm years behind finishing the house and man cave, my 'finished project' match score is embarrassingly shocking

1 for my finished projects (1 kit car built in m 20's) vs 54 for other peoples car projects

Got a big insulation job on the original house which will keep me warm, going to have a rest over Christmas and then jump on that straight after

Thanks for all the comments on the garage dividing wall, the twin stud wall was for the noise. Also plan to add two separate layers of plasterboard to the garage ceiling which I hope will help stop most noise getting through

Awesome! I can change that "Unregistered User" handle to "Pelican Influencer!"
I have been pretty busy at the homestead the last while too. My projects belong in the upfixin thread and I will get around to throwing some photos up when I get a chance.
Looking forward to more updates on the progress of your project.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Thanks Bill

The humungous amount of work we've taken on got a little over whelming towards the end of last year which dented motivation and progress so a break from building was overdue

Over Christmas we were lucky to dodge COVID restrictions, even a French border lockdown by mere hours, correctly filled out countless forms and spent a fortune on PCR tests

Travelling isn't what it used to be but all the COVID hoop jumping allowed us 2 weeks away so we wafted in luxury a 1000 miles across Europe for some fresh mountain air at our other house which we haven't been too for over 2 years



The much needed R and R has restored my mojo so we've been back at it again and made some progress!

2022 won't be the completion year of this build but it will be 'My Year of Decluttering', hoping to cull off a couple of unfinished projects this week

Updates and pics to follow......

[astrochex]

Congrats on the R&R, Captain!

Spectacular pic, looks like a gorgeous area.

[Superman]

Do I recall correctly, Captain Ahab, that you are retiring? If so, then your stress will fall as your free time rises.

[stevej37]

Every mancave needs a caveman

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Thanks, Paul

Superman, no plans to retire, quite the opposite really...

For the last 3yrs in between man cave building I've been helping Honda win their 1st F1 championship in 30yrs but at the end of this month my work with Honda F1 ends

Only plans I have is going back to work full time later this year, have no idea where yet

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Every mancave needs a caveman

but what goes in there, beer, beef jerky, hot dogs??

[stevej37]

^^^ A nice thick Rib-Eye steak.
It's an infra-red propane heater on top.
(takes about 5 minutes for a steak)

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Time for an update,

Today's topic is how to turn a window into a door in a 2ft thick stone wall without the roof falling down. Hold my beer and read this

The window is located on the gable end of the original house and a door way opening was needed to gain access to the new part of the build



1st easy job was to remove all the stone from under the window, pour a concrete base, build stone up on the sides of the opening to join the inner/outer stone walls together and then remove the old window



As the height of the new door way would be higher than the top of the window more wall was needed to be removed which would cause the collapse of the the new build roof structure. Not an ideal situation to have happen, so I held the roof up with 3 temporary steel tube jack supports that sat on the 1st floor steel floor joist centre beams.

Apologies for the camera shake but I was kind of crapping myself a bit at this stage



As the original internal wall wasn't under as much load as the external wall the lightweight concrete thermal block work was cut back to fit a 4" thick x 12" wide reclaimed oak lintel

The original external wall held up one end of the 8" steel ridge beam that supports the new roof which is many, many tons of weight so a more heafty approach for this side was required.

I went OTT and fitted a 8" steel column as the lintel to support the roof ridge beam. Could have used a much smaller steel section but it was a local, $30 Ebay bargain so too good to pass up



Then I spent a day whittling with my circular saw another 4" thick x 12" wide reclaimed oak lintel so it was notched out to hide the new steel lintel. Finally the last bit of stone/blockwork was finished which will be plastered over.



Relieved to say the new roof didn't move, is still standing and should be good for the next 100yrs

Mrs Ahab has been busy too smashing a larger hole through a 2ft thick stone wall using only her strength and a few hand tools. The end result is far more impressive than this door opening, easily her finest work yet so worthy of it's own update which will follow shortly

[Superman]

This is just fun. Thank you, Captain and Mrs Ahab.

[masraum]

Outstanding! Glad you've had some rest and got your mojo back.

You said "hold my beer" so I was hoping for explosions! I figured "this guy is smart, instead of regular old dynamite, he'll use shape charges!"

Still, impressive work, and managed to do it without collapsing the house!

[billybek]

Looks great! I don't think I would be able to cover the stonework with plaster. It adds so much texture and interest to that wall.

[A930Rocket]

Another fantastic chapter. Thank you

[daepp]

Thank you for bringing us along on this adventure - it has been very fun, very interesting and quite generous on your part! Bravo!!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

thanks Superman, A930Rocket and David, thanks for following, I'll keep posting if you're still enjoying our progress

Steve, I blew up my parents wooden driveway gate and nearly peppered myself and the dog with shrapnel playing about with gun power when I was a teenager Once nearly blown up, twice shy, so now keep away from explosives

Billy, the stone isn't great quality, a bit crumbly so we'll cover it up, you'll like the below update as it's all about exposed, natural stone on display


Believe it or not this is the pile of left over stone from only turning a window into a door way and making a new door way, just when I'd thought we'd finished with moving mountains



Mrs Ahab wanted the feel of a castle, while creating a seamless transition where the old part of the house met the new build along the 1st floor hall way where is passes through the original 2ft thick external wall. We decided to use the best and largest stone we had and to give a sense of scale the smallest course of stone is 9" high

As she has the skills, I just encouraged her with a 'go on then do it!' . My part was limited to being just the stone cutter, while Mrs Ahab was professor, boss lady, madam on this job

The stone mortar joints on the house are typically around 3/8" to 1/2" wide but we wanted a higher quality, looking job, something a bit closer to an Inca/Mayan paper thickness joints.

In the end we only achieved 1/8"ish thick mortar joints which was massively time consuming (we started this back on page 31) and difficult enough to do but we're very happy with the end result.





To finish it off, we still need to cement in the oak lintels, mortar the joints flush and add a couple of discrete, hidden spot downlights to illuminate the stone sides of the opening before knocking through



As there is a step up from the old to new I've kept aside a single, very large and very heavy 3" thick flagstone. No idea how the hell we'll get it up from the ground floor or lay it place but that's just part of the fun of this project so I'm sure we'll find a way