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The below is a homeowner's manual created by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. I know your Internet speed is dog-slow, so start the download when you get ready to go to sleep.
It covers a lot about the care and feeding of the average Canadian home:
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/schl-cmhc/NH15-386-2003-eng.pdf
As far as basic books, this manual is pretty comprehensive:
https://www.amazon.ca/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018
Lots to go on.. but start with the Rod Gervais book
Go by this and you'll be OK. Walls with double drywall + green glue will do you right... take care with ANYTHING ELSE that goes through a wall. Doors, HVAC, electrical... that's the tricky part.
Buy this book and read it. When your done, read it again. When your finally done that, read it a third time.
https://www.amazon.ca/Home-Recording-Studio-Build-Like/dp/143545717X
Then join this forum;
http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
And read all you can and ask your questions. You can also upload your design and the community there is very good at giving honest feedback.
Gearslutz.com is a great resource as well.
Studio building is 90% planning and 10% construction.
my uncle gave me an old copy of his from the 80s when i moved into my house a couple years ago. some of the things like electrical are outdated but a lot of it is still relevant. it makes all of these big projects sound doable, even for someone like me who can’t drill a screw in straight.
i believe the most current edition on sale for only $24 on amazon right now.
https://www.amazon.com/Audel-Millwrights-Mechanics-Guide-Thomas/dp/0764541714
This is a good book. The uglys electrical is good. For YouTube “ave” or “this old tony.” He’s more of a machinist though. For ave look at his older stuff. He takes apart valves and stuff. Lots of good welding videos out there. “The engineering mindset” is a great Chanel for electrical work.
- Google for a list of home maintenance tasks. Make it into a calendar.
- Google (or save if you already have them) the manuals for your major appliances. Maybe skim them for upkeep instructions, but at least consult them if you have an issue.
- Buy a couple of books about home maintenance. (I got How Your House Works and Ultimate Guide to Home Repair and Improvement.) It's okay to speed read or skim them, you can always go back if you have a specific problem.
- If you call a maintenance person, they probably won't volunteer a ton of info, but if you ask basic questions like "how does that work" or "what should I be doing to maintain it" they'll often be happy to explain.
- Reach out to friends and family to see if they know. Just because they aren't "teaching" you, doesn't mean they don't have the knowledge. Also, if other people around you do own or maintain a home, talk to them about it. They'll be happy to talk about the pitfalls and successes of their own home projects and you'll absorb things that maybe you can use down the line.
- When something specific does come up, use Google or YouTube to learn what's going on even if you're going to call somebody in to fix it.
- In general, be a sponge and take in every sort of "how X works" kind of thing that you come across.
IPT's Rotating Equipment training manual
Audels Millwrights and Mechanics manual
These will give you all the info for the mechanical aspects. Might want to check out /r/millwrights as well. I'm not sure what the testing is like, however the guys over there were sharing books that were specific to actual pre-apprenticeship tests. Math is not listed as a topic, however I'd definitely spend time brushing up on that.
​
I saw the job posting a couple weeks ago, do you know how many apprentices they are taking?
2 things:
This book, How Your House Works.
The apartment I had before buying my house was real piece of garbage. It was old, unkept, and hadn't been updated since the 90s. To add insult, as is often the case with apartments like this, my landlord didn't care at all if something broke, and I couldn't get them to fix anything.
One day my faucet started to leak, and my bedroom was right next to the bathroom so I could just barely hear that blop, blop, blop when I was trying to sleep at night and it drove me mad.
I had never been super handy at this point in my life but I was desperate, so I bought that book at Barnes and Noble(I think it was an older edition) and that exact cheap as sin tool kit and I eventually fixed it myself. Then I fixed a light switch that buzzed, and then a lock that always stuck, and then a hole in the drywall in the dining room. I left that apartment better than I found it and the skills those two purchases taught me have saved me literally thousands of dollars now that I own my own home.
Congratulations! You're welcome and there's a ton of information out there but if you like books I would pick up any one of the all encompassing diy books. https://www.amazon.com/dp/158011783X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_ZfHaGb9H4KAWW
Remember, it's good to have around because it's not like you can use the internet when the power's out. All the best
I would order diy handyman or guide to home repair
i did a quick google to see if leaf springs were ideal and they are so i put out feelers for some of those.
And also in the course of that found recommendation for the $50 knife shop book so I bought him that on amazon. link: https://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482254778&sr=8-1&keywords=50+knife+shop
Thanks folks You both got me exactly what I needed!
We're closing on our first home, and I just purchased this book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119467616
Really helpful and technical knowledge along with detailed sketches on, well, how your house works. This is my first time living in a house, so I'm going in with zero structural knowledge, plus I'm not all that strong in Physics, so it's a lot to take in. That said, I already know way more about plumbing than I did 3 days ago; it just takes me a little more time to understand and digest the information.
Highly recommended for getting your foundational knowledge on all the different parts of your home.
I picked up The Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual after seeing it recommended in the /r/homeimprovement subreddit. It isn't as comprehensive as YouTube, but it is kinda nice having something to just flip through to get a general idea of what elements are involved in each area of the house. Also provides a good jumping off point for further deep dives into Google and YouTube.
These two books have helped me with tackling all sorts of issues
The Complete Do-it-Yourself Manual Newly Updated https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621452018/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_MNBK4S8FAT8DNXQ6JH4Y
Home Improvement 1-2-3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0696238500/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_HS5NH8CBXCW2JK256C1K
They might not have the exact answer but they have great suggestions, as well as tools needed and steps you should take. I am on my 3rd house and these are the first places I go when ever I am tackling a project as YouTube and other places can be overwhelming with too much information.
Thanks! Those all seem like great suggestions. And yea, I can see how it may be tough with the current market.. Regarding the book, I suppose you're referring to this?
Thanks again!
I also highly suggest these two books: The Complete Do-it-Yourself Manual Newly Updated https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621452018/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_JM778348PY9G102B7KZD and Home Improvement 1-2-3: Expert Advice from The Home Depot (Home Depot ... 1-2-3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0696213273/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_H5DNWK6QFG86H81N9K53. These have always helped me at least get started and understand the scope of what I need
You need this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1621452018/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Or something like it. You can sometimes find older versions at thrift shops, which would be fine for doing basic electrical.
Audels is more of an all around reference book for on the job stuff. 1200 pages of everything you can think of for millwrights. amazon link
But it is available on Zlibrary along with many other Audel trade books.
Books!
Home Recording Studio: Build It Like the Pros: Gervais, Rod: 8601406362468: Amazon.com: Books
Hope you didn't expect someone to ELI5 it. Your topic is large and doing the wrong things will be useless *and* expensive.
No problem! I was a bit nervous I was rambling on, but the more I thought about the work I've done in my apartment, the more I remembered tips I learned through trial and error. Love that you lived in Norway, so you already have a good base for clean interior design. I studied furniture design and architecture in college, and only found a use for that knowledge now haha.
The internet is an absolutely vital tool for anything DIY, however, I recommend picking up a maintenance guide like this one (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018) The Martha (Stewart) Manual is also pretty fantastic for all things home related, from basic maintenance to hosting a party (https://www.amazon.com/Martha-Manual-How-Almost-Everything/dp/1328927326)
I'm hoping to start my house hunt again in the middle of 2021. I promise I'll keep everyone posted!
Basic survival needs include food, water, and shelter (including protection from dangers\weather, clothing, and a safe place to get enough sleep). It looks like your fiance is working hard on the shelter part and on catching food. I would urge you to work on your food sources. What are you going to eat the first spring? Where will it come from. What will you plant first so that you can eat in the summer and into the fall. How much do you need to plant and how will you preserve your harvest for winter?
There are a lot of good resources out there. When we first started we bought "The Backyard Homestead" (book link below). There are probably better books out there, but this one is usually available used and it really helped me with ideas on what we could do. It has basic info on foraging, vegetables, meat, fruit & nuts, herbs and grains. Also includes info on canning and preserving.
Start off small. Practice with some gardening this next year if you can. TX is wonderful to try out a small fall garden right now, and you can plant this coming spring (usually in Feb) and start understanding what works for you. The Backyard Homestead
My best advice would be to buy and read this before you move any farther:
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Recording-Studio-Build-Like/dp/143545717X
Next sketch up your design and post it here after you read everything you can find in the forums that relates to your design.
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/
I can almost guarantee someone has already built your room.
Based off your post I can already tell you’ve missed a few big things.
(Friendly note: stop using the term STC. That standard is no where near thorough enough to mean anything when building a studio. It doesn’t take into account low frequencies and those are the biggest culprits when soundproofing for Recording/Music)
There are absolutely beginner level ways to make knives. I've heard good things about this book on cheap knife making. I may have gotten a little fancier than most beginners, but I'm one of those crafty people who's always making things.
I learned 90 percent of my starting information from bladeforums.com . Once I had a basic understanding and didn't feel like a complete idiot, I reached out to a couple other makers.
You can get started for a lot less then you think if you're willing to put in some dedication and elbow grease.
http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956
Is a decent book and not terribly expensive.
Get a copy of Rod Gervais’ book Build It Like the Pros and you’ll get some fairly detailed explanation of how to design and construct isolated rooms.
Note that it all starts with design criteria — how much iso do you really need?
Because floating a room could mean just the walls (I did this in my basement control room build), the walls and ceiling, or all the above plus the floor. Each level up increases the cost, complexity and difficult of execution significantly.
The book will also explain which details you can’t afford to mess up. Unfortunately many people run headlong into studio projects without having a really solid plan considering all elements of the build, and end up blowing a bunch of money for poor results because they messed up a critical element. Little things like shorting out resilient channel because you screwed into a stud, or failing to seal every crack and seam in your drywall, can really kill the isolation gains you fought to make.
At any rate, it’s a cheap way to learn what you’re getting into.
I redid our whole supply system as a homeowner and part of the DWV too. Yes it’s doable. I loved it, it was my favorite part of renovation.
I read our entire state plumbing code (the sections relevant to single family homes) which was enormously valuable.
Watching lots of YouTube videos is a good idea too, from different channels, and from real licensed plumbers.
Some books were helpful. This is a general one but has good info on plumbing: https://www.amazon.com/Renovation-5th-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1631869590
Buy extra parts and fittings. Post here for advice if you’re unsure, before doing the work. Make sure you have lots of time on your hands. Use PEX-A (expansion style) if you can get locally. Copper soldering is fun and let’s you do more visually attractive fixture connections, but definitely learn the right way to do it, and practice. Buy plumbing tools and the right parts for the job. Get a ratcheting pipe cutter. Always bevel and rough sand the ends of cut PVC/ABS before gluing into fittings, and follow all product instructions. Use appropriate primer always.
Don’t forget to design your DWV with pressure testing in mind too. Always run your own tests before testing with an inspector there. You may need to buy inflatable test plugs. Remember to follow code (or better) regarding clean-outs.
Watch out for asbestos insulation on your old plumbing, or in your wall cavities (like vermiculite) and avoid disturbing.
Wear a P-100 respirator at all time when making dust or disturbing old construction.
I’ve heard cast iron is difficult to DIY but is still the best for soil stacks and main drains. So consider getting a plumber for the heavy duty stuff, and keep all the supply and other interior DWV for yourself.
when we originally bought our first home, my folks gave us the reader's digest complete do-it-yourself book. its hefty and comprehensive with tons of diagrams, easy to follow details, specs, handy homeowner info, etc. it has since been updated to the current version:
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated-dp-1621452018/dp/1621452018/
still have this book to this day and use it to keep my home maintained and cared for. it has been invaluable time and again for referencing simple and complex projects.
It covers everything you'll need to know/consider
Yup, it's a big project, even for a fairly basic build. Had to do it so I could record in a basement right next to a fairly active railway.
Your sound proofing is only as good as your weakest point. Don't neglect a really sound proof door (that was the weak point for me) and good ventilation (tricky to get enough air in an still keep quiet, mine had enough air exchange, but did get hot with multiple people inside.)
The Rod Gervais book is a great place to start.