Acoustic Music Shed

I really cannot come up with a name that describes what we built behind our house as I was speaking about in the last post. Let me explain the steps we followed as we built the shed mostly on weekends over a span of months (looking back I wish I had photos for each step):

1. Since we wanted an shed larger than 12' x 12' with a concrete foundation, we needed a $65 permit from the Town of Fuquay Varina. Filing the paper and getting the permit took about a month.


2. My middle son, who wanted to do all of the research on the internet found many sites that explained what were the best techniques (I do not have links since he was the foreman and I was the worker bee).


3. We found plans on the internet that explained how to build a 20' x 12' shed so we paid $45 to get the complete plans from Just Sheds Inc. This same site had free general instructions on building a shed, which really helped since we had no idea what we were doing. We had to slightly modify the plans as my son wanted to make the inside dimensions 19' x 14'!


4. The location we choose in our backyard had a wooden playset that had to be dismantled and a couple of mostly dead branches that needed to be trimmed. The wood posts for the playset were buried about 3 feet deep, encased in cement, so that was a fun beginning.


5. We had to dig out an area for the foundation as the ground was mostly level, but we had to dig down one foot for the concrete slab. Placing the wooden 2'x12'x14' edges and getting the level took us days and exactly at right angles was a chore.


6. Our neighbor drives a dump truck, so I asked him to get me a complete load of small gravel one evening on his way home. This filled the bottom of the dirt area we had dug out.


7. After leveling the gravel, we put think black plastic on top and then laid re-bar on top in a specific pattern.


8. I called the local cement company and they brought out a full dump truck of super high density concrete. When he arrove, we found out that it was our responsibility to pour it from the truck and to spread it and smooth it. Normally no big deal, but with high density concrete, this was really hard. The driver was so helpful in every way and without him we would have wasted $800 we spent on this part of the shed. The finished surface was not perfect, but good enough for me as it was level at least. This was the first compromise and my son got used to it eventually but he did not like the imperfections. Before the concrete dried you have to put in 1' long anchor bolts, on which the shed frame rests and is attached to the foundation. This is important since hurricanes come through this area occasionally.


9. Once the concrete dried and cured, we had to frame the shed. Looks easy when you watch workers building new homes. Guess what? They are professionals with tons of practical experience. Just trimming and placing the salt treated 2'x8'x14' attached to the anchor bolts took us several weekends. Once we had them close enough for my foreman son, although far from perfectly level and trim, we moved onto the actual framing of the sides and roof.


10. I think my son enjoyed the framing the most. Since we wanted extra thick walls we could not follow normal plans. We alternated 2'x4' studs offset from each other, one on the outside wall and one on the inside wall on top of the 2'x8' on the floor attached to the anchor bolts and separated from each other stud by one foot.


11. We hand notched the rafters and attaching them to the ridge pole was a challenge. Since most lumber comes in 14' lengths and our shed was 21' feet long that provided just the confusion we needed as newbees to the construction trade. We finally got them up somehow, but I mostly had to do it on my own since my son got so fed up with our imperfections. The whole framing process took us weeks to complete.


12. The roof and side sheeting was fairly easy and once all of the sheeting was in place we had a very sturdy shed. It was about this time that I really showed how little I understood. I called the inspector to asked him a question and found out that I was supposed to call him at each stage and get him to inspect that stage before we moved on. I had skipped about five inspections by accident. When the inspector showed up at house many days later I begged for forgiveness. Once he saw the shed and I told him what we were doing he was fine and approved all of the missing inspections. Just one of many shed miracles we witnessed during the many months of building!


13. With the walls all in place, the electrical lines had to be run all over the shed before we put up the insulation. This was such an easy job, my son did not want to be bothered with it and did more research on the best acoustical insulation.


14. The insulation was critical to our success in making the shed sound proof. We got special rock wool, which the most nasty thing I have used. I was covered head to toe with head covering and thick gloves with goggles protecting my eyes. Still that stuff got in my skin and itched like crazy. As we were weaving the rock wool insulation between the wall studs, you could hear the sound proofing working as we went along. In the ceiling we put the thickest fiberglass insulation we could find. I was so happy when the insulation was done as that was a dirty job.


15. A friend suggested an electrician for me to use as we needed a line run from the house to the shed. It could not just be an extension cord on the lawn! We needed real power in the shed. Another friend rented a ditch witch to dig an 18" deep trench from the house to the shed. I looked at the plans the builder gave me who built our house and decided where the lay the electric line. Turns out the builder had not followed the plans very well and the ditch witch ran right into our sewer line! Apparently this is just as bad as it gets as wet mud flying all over you is bad but when it is sewage, now that is not fun. We started all over and re-routed the new trench way around my original plans and this time we were fine.


16. It took the electrician about three major trips to the house to finish the electrical lines before we had lights and power at the shed. Since the shed is about 65' from our house, the normal activity was running a couple of extensions from the back porch to the shed every time we needed power for our circular saw or drill or lights.


17. The next exciting event was the drywall. We had to have the thickness drywall made at 5/8", which is called fireproof drywall. Then I learned from my foreman son that we had to make two layers all around the walls and ceiling! he made me feel better when he told me "real" music studios use four layers. The walls were straight forward except you have to stagger the drywall so none of the seams overlap. The ceiling was a really big challenge. I rented a dry wall lift from Home Depot to lift up this very heavy fireproof drywall to the ceiling. Since we used normal fiberglass insulation, my foreman son told me the secret to acoustic ceiling are that they are suspended. We bought metal tracks and attached them to the ceiling joists and then had to use special metal screws to attach the drywall to the tracks without going all of the way into the wooden joists.


18. Adding shingles to the roof was the part I had been dreading the most. The roof had a good 45 degree angle to it and if you stand inside the attic, there was about 6 feet of clearance, so the roof was steep. I did not buy enough singles, nor did I know what I was doing so I had to go back three times for more shingles. The roof does not look horrible, but I will always look at it and wonder what I was thinking when I was putting them on.


19. Somehow I had to find matching siding so the shed looked like it belonged to the house, so I found the local distributor of the siding we had on our house. They told me they do not sell to home owners and I would have to find an installer. They gave me several names and only one called me back. I explained to him that was son and I were building a music shed. He told me he would help me for free! He came by the house and met my son and then told me what I needed and bought it for me (I paid him for all of the material at least). Most of the family came out for the lessons on how to put up siding. He left and we began the process. We had the walls covered and looking pretty good. The siding expert returned to help bend the metal to cover the soffits and the trim around the edge below the roof. I would guess he spent over ten hours helping me and it was the most special miracle of the all.


20. There are no windows in the shed, as those are the worst thing you can use if you are trying to sound proof a room. And since we used such high grade insulation, the shed was liked a sealed can of tuna. We had to find a way to pump air into the shed all of the time. There is just such a thing called an Air Recovery Ventilator, which are normally used in doctor and dentist offices to keep the air clean and fresh. We bought the smallest model we could find. For the vents into the ceiling we built what I call coffins in the attic. They are really air dampers, which are boxes lined with special thick board insulation with baffles in them.


21. A good friend of mine installs A/C unit mostly for commercial uses, but he volunteered to help me install the mini-split in the shed. This is a special A/C unit that mounts on the wall at head level and the tubes are inside the wall and go out to to a fan unit at the back of the shed on the outside. This is to prevent sound house from leaving the shed. Or in our case very loud drums and guitar amplifiers!


22. Besides the paint and berber carpet and footer moulding to cover up our imprefections, the final task was a set of doors. What is interesting about that it the fact we only have one door to get into the shed! We have a solid core door on the outside and a solid wood door on the inside, so we have double doors. This took many weekends to figure this out and to get it to work. Even now the only place you hear noise coming from the shed when band practice is in session is from the doors. The oddest thing I found out is that there is special acoustical chaulk. There was nothing routine or normal about our shed building process.

It has been almost a year now since we have completed the shed and I am exhausted from typing about it. For my foreman son, I think it was the process that was important and we spent many father-son hours together on our creation. His older brother uses the Acoustic Music Shed all of the time for band practice as well as all night games and movie watching. The shed just cannot be cleanly named as it has so many purposes, but the best part is that it is sound proof!