Drywall Ceiling In Basement

[malamilia]

I am planning to install a drywall ceiling in my basement to gain a couple of inches in head room. Any suggestions or links that might help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Frank K.]

Rent a drywall jack if you're doing it by yourself. It can save injuries or accidents.

[Paul Franklin]

Drywall on a basement ceiling is a pain if you need to access any mechanicals, run wires, pipes etc., but you probably know that.

You might consider the Ceiling Max system that allows you to mount 2x2 o 2x4 ceiling tile flush against the ceiling joists:

I used it in a small area of my basement. It was a bit fussy to put up (no worse than a dropped ceiling), but looks nice enough if you don't hate ceiling tile. And while it's not as easy to access the space above as with a dropped ceiling, it's a lot easier than drywall.

IIRC, one of the major ceiling tile manufacturers also has a zero or low clearance mounting system.

HTH,

Paul [e-mail]

(you know what to leave out)

[malamilia]

I looked at the tile system but I understand that you can not box around HVAC Ducts. I have the main HVAC supply line that I have to box around. I've also moved all my electrical wires to one side of the wall next to a gas pipe and would also box around this too. The gas line and the wires are on one side abut 20 in from the wall. I intend to box around them unless I can find something removable.

Is is ok to leave a juction box or two under the ceiling - they are just passthrough connections.

Thanks.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

By code, no. Make a cutout if you must.

[hallerb]

Save yourself a LOT of grief, put up a suspended cieling.

Otherwise any leaking pipe, wiring upgrade, or other repair will be a royal PIA

no doubt you will put the cieling up anyway....

just remember my warning when you have the problem, because eventually you will

covered workboxes are not legal, and might cause home sale problems someday

[Tom]

You might consider taking photos of the ceiling before applying the drywall...also make a map showing where the wiring, piping, ducts, etc are with dimensions locating them from wall, corners, etc so that should you have a problem later above the drywall, you'll have an idea of whats above that might be causing the problem. Maybe avoid removing more drywall than necessary to get at problem.

Tom G.

[Doug Miller]

The trouble with that stuff is that the evenness of the ceiling tiles depends on the evenness of the bottoms of the joists -- which is to say you can't get it anywhere near as straight and flat as you can a conventional suspended ceiling.

[malamilia]

Thanks guys ...here is an update:

I have succeded in moving all but two junction boxes to an area along an exterior wall. If necessary, I can have the section below the boxes removable ( Its 2 ft wide by 6 ft long). Any lighting sytems will alos be supplied from this area.

Having done all these, I am still open to other ideas. I was at the local Home Depot (Toronto, Canada) and the only alternative to suspended ceiling that I saw was a ceiling tile 12 x 12 in that could be stapled to wood strips.

I have seem the CeilingMax system suggested in one of the posts - I'll look around the other hardware stores tomorrow.

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks.

[WConner]

I cut rough sawn strips 2-3/4" wide, plane one side smooth to 1/2" thick, nail smooth side to the bottom of the floor joists with finish nails, centered (use screws to attach ones where there may not be room to raise panels for removal), cut 1/2" drywall to lay on top of these strips between the floor joists, install by turning up at an angle and laying in between the floor joists, stain rough sawn strips, paint drywall panels.

I ran a solid strip length wise below the joist bridging and where lights were installed, this made a natural breaking point for the 8' pcs. running crosswise.

A person from the list who did this, from my suggestion recently, used sound deadening panels instead of drywall for the panels between the joists and was very pleased with the results.

Walt Conner

[Paul Franklin]

True, but I shimmed the worse couple of spots; minor variations really aren't noticeable.

It also doesn't work if you have pipes or wiring below the bottom of the joists, unless you furr it out past them.

Paul

[roger61611]

Just piling on. I have ripped drywalled ceilings out of two (very old) houses cause (a) there are inevitably problems in old houses and (b) you can't find anything with that drywall in the way. Also if you get a little water leak it can make a bloody mess by the time you find out you have a problem.

[meanie]

Don't forget to add the potential for molding also when it's detected too late.

[No]

I got a download book called Basement Ideas, not too bad of a reference. Despite all the nay sayers on the drywall I would say go for it. It looks

100X better and is much less expensive. you can cut and patch the drywall many times over and still not come close to the cost of some type of drop ceiling. May everything out, install access panels for things like shutoff valves. Plan on cover plates for electrical junction boxes or re-route them to a utility area. use a flat paint as to not exasperate any irregularities.

[malamilia]

[Bob M.]

My suggestion is to not do it at all. I had to rip out a permanent ceiling (12 inch square tiles) to get at the phone system wiring last month.

[malamilia]