Hey Skip that's such a great idea im in the process of doin in myself! I however, have an oversized 4 car garage so i am only using part of it and still luckily have alot of room left over for cars and toys. My brand new electrical panel is there with a good concrete floor and elevated ceiling, needless to say, I am as excited as you. Any other great tips your wife has would be appreciated lol. |
Slipknot1,
My home, which was built in 1954, has a breezeway between the two car garage and the rest of the home. This is my dedicated listening room. It measures 23'-6" x 14'-0" with 8'-6" ceiling and concrete floor. It's the same size that a third stall of the garage would be. It's a wonderful room that needs very little in the way of acoustic treatments. If you plan on keeping your home I would suggest removing the garage door and track. If you are likely to sell your home then I would consider retaining the door and it's hardware. Just make sure in either case that you build a shed that is much larger than you think you need. Go for it!!
Patrick |
I converted my garage and am very happy with the results. For one thing I can play music at any time of the day or night without disturbing the rest of the family.
One of the best things about converting a garage is you are starting with a blank slate. Before you move in any audio equipment or furniture give thought to any need of changing the room dimensions, insulation, wall stiffining, etc. If you get the room right it will be like you bought all new speakers and electronics.
Also, think about heat in the winter, how to keep it cool in the summer. |
I did, as a matter of fact mine is my dedicated room now. My garage was attached only at the right rear corner of my home by a small breezeway off the side of the house.
I built a new garage in front of the old one with a new dinning room addition between the two. I now access the dining room from the new garage, I have an 8 foot wide access (two short steps) off of the rear of the new dining room into the new dedicated room.
I had the new garage built complete, the dining room ruffed in and did all the work on the new dedicated room. This has worked out great as all bedrooms are at the other end of the house so music and movies bother no one.
I was going to just move to a larger home at first..once I looked around $$$, I went with this plan. It was a lot of work on my part but I came out way ahead in both price and sq. footage.
The other thing was, by me doing all the design and build on the new room (I did not do the electric or heating) I got a much better room than a builder would have had time to do because I took my time (about six months) to research and implement things down to smallest detail. My advice is to go for it but be prepared for a mess for a while, give as much thought as you can before you start (just like building a good system).
I don't know about your state, I was lucky in that my old garage had footings that met code. You may want to check all codes for your area first.
Dave
Oh yea..I almost forgot, they raised my property taxes soon after I got done so now my system sounds much more expensive than it did in the old room. |
I did. It's better than anyplace in my house because of the high ceiling. |
The previous owners of my current house did so and added an extension. I use this as "my" room. I need to do further modifications as things could be better. I'm having a bit of trouble with heating and odd walls.. As it is the only room in the house with carpeted suspended wood over concrete and down a few steps form the rest of the house, it provides a great deal of isolation and 14 foot ceilings. While ity could and will be better (when?) I love it. |
While you are remodeling your garage, think about building the ASC Iso-wall. It is well worth the trouble and will provide you with a state of the art listening room. You could also contact Rives Audio. They will draw up a plan for you for a nominal fee. |
Thanks for the responses guys! Did you do the work yourself? I'm thinking the ASC Iso-wall, staggered studs, and removing, the doors and tracks. My biggest concern is going to be HVAC. I might be able to extend the ductwork, as there are two runs that go to the rooms that join the garage wall (kitchen and dining room). I am reluctant to use electric baseboard in the room for the obvious AC reasons, and same with smaller, window-style air cond. units. |
Slipknot1,
No, I didn't do the work myself. The home was built this way but this room is long overdo for a remodel. As far as the heating and cooling is concerned you will probably be okay and any heating contractor can do the calculations for you. I don't want to sound like I'm harping on you but the shed needs to be much larger than you probably think. It's the secret to long term happiness with what you are going to do. |
My son and I did most of the rebuild, I laid treated 2x4's on their sides at 24 inch centers on top of the cement floor. Then I put 24" sheets of 1.5 inch insulation between the studs..I then laid .75 inch T&G sheets as floor. This gave me a warm floor in the winter and only raised the floor 2.5 inches. You could go with a gas fireplace or wall furnace for heat, I did not..I had a small gas furnace with 5 heat runs installed. I built a room across the rear and designed a huge muffler system for the cold air return (This setup is dead quiet which was a must). My garage was a drive through with two 8' doors on the front and one on the rear, the rear door was pulled and an 8' doorwall replaced it, I then installed large windows across the rest of that wall.
I framed new walls inside all the way around so as to have double walls (room inside a room) I pulled both front garage doors, one got a new much higher header and is now an 8' entry to the new room from the new dining room area, the other door area is now a double wall with the new garage on it's other side. The room is super insulated to hold heat and you could never tell it used to be a garage.
The power from the pole was moved to the side of the new garage, I had a 100 amp box installed in the new garage which feeds the new room with 3 dedicated 20A lines..a 15A line for a projector and plenty of extra wall outlets. The main house is still on it's own breaker box.
I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the Idea that this is well worth the trouble once you get it done the way you want it. My goal was to end up with a large room with little or no furnature/speaker placement constraints. I also designed this room with multichannel music setup constraints removed (no worry about speaker placement, speaker delay settings or bass management) and with the projector..no TV to muck things up.
Best of all.......NO WAF TO DEAL WITH EVER AGAIN!!!
Dave |
