It happened a few days ago.
After finishing a Skype session with friends in The Netherlands, I noticed something strange in the corner of my eye.
I was in my studio, ready to write the last lines of a new blog post, when I saw water on the floor. It came from behind the bookshelves.
My studio is in the basement, and it had rained a lot for the past couple of days. Could the water be seeping through the walls?
I stepped out of my booth, right into a big puddle. Outside the house were no signs of leaks, so the source had to be downstairs. After close inspection, the culprit turned out to be a leaking hot water heater. It had done its job for the past 18 years, and we knew it had to be replaced some day. Well, today was that day.
There’s no reason to bother you with every little detail of the clean-up operation. Suffice to say that I spent the next few hours down on my knees mopping up the water while the dehumidifier was running at full capacity.
Of course I emptied out my entire voice-over studio which was filled with thousands of dollars of audio equipment. Fortunately, nothing was damp or damaged, thanks to something simple I had put in place when building my booth.
I had covered the concrete floor of my studio with floor mats made of EVA foam that’s often used as padding in sports equipment (EVA stands for Ethylene Vinyl). My mat was made for children’s playrooms, and it provided a soft, smooth, vibration absorbing layer.
Covering my 7′ by 7′ space cost me less than $40. These types of mats are also available for garage floors, and most of them seem to have interlocking tiles.
Having this rubber layer meant that not only my studio furniture stayed dry, but my carpet as well. Wet carpet is a great place for mould to grow.
Even though it wasn’t soaked, my studio carpet was quite old and from the moment I put it in, I had wanted to replace it. Because the space was now empty, this was the perfect time to do that.
I decided to go with a material that not only dampens the sound, but that absorbs it as well: cork.
Cork is has millions of air cells per cubic inch of which sixty percent is air. These small cellular compartments act as cushions, absorbing vibrations and direct impacts. Cork is a renewable resource (only the bark is harvested, not the tree) and I think it adds a natural warmth to the room.
While a specialist installed a new hot water heater, I was busy laying down a cork studio floor. The prefinished planks I had chosen simply snapped together and it was fairly easy to get the job done.
Forthy-eight hours after I had discovered our leak, all was well again.
Life is unpredictable. Sometimes, pretty good things can come out of very bad things. What started as a home emergency, ended with a nice studio upgrade. Thanks to cork, my recording space never sounded better!
Paul Strikwerda ©nethervoice
Would you work pro bono for a non-profit? Next time I will tackle the pros and cons of giving your freelance work away to a good cause.
I guess your blog could have been titled: “Put a cork in it!” – Glad all is well, or I should say: better than ever. Paul, you ALWAYS sound great!
Normally, I’m a big fan of uncorking things, Uncle Roy. But this flood had me floored. Thank you again for assessing my sound. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, but I think I just did.
Great post once again Paul. Considering I am about to revamp an adjacent room to my current studio, and sound proof it as my new audio booth- this information comes in very handy for cutting corners cost wise, yet maintaining the sound quality I need. Thanks for continuing to provide great advice and information for us in the industry. Cheers!
Hey Monty, part of me wished I hadn’t had to write this short post because I lost a few days of production time cleaning up the mess. On the other hand, it was a nice excuse to do what I’d always wanted to do: install a cork floor. Next time we have a leak, everything will just float out of my studio!
My studio is upstairs, but I liked your idea of a cork floor so much, I’ve already started work on one…I anticipate I only need to get through 1 1/2 more cases of Black Opal Shiraz and I should be ready to go.
Really, I am going to consider putting in a raised floor in the next year or two, and although I hadn’t thought of cork, it makes sense!
@Matt: I love your idea of collecting the materials for your floor. I’ll raise my glass to that!
Okay then, from articles about cork to Studiobricks to prized VO mics to playing by the rules…I was led to a favourite Woodrow Wilson quote:
You are not merely here to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world.
Thank you again for constantly thinking of others’ highest good. You are a benefit to me.
Cheering You Forward,
Debby Barnes
Hi Debby, thank you so much for your wonderful words. Receiving messages like yours are part of the reason why I am blogging. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the only knowledge and experience that is worth something, is the knowledge and experience that is shared with others. Countless people have helped me on my path and many of them still do. My writings are a small way of paying it forward. Cheers!