Ceiling Ideas for Basement Shop

[Eric Brabender]

I am in the process of building my first ever woodshop in the basement of my home. It will be approximately 13' x 25' long. I plan on doing 1/2" OSB on the walls. What I am struggling with right now is what do I do with the ceiling? I want to fully enclose the shop as there is some ductwork, waterlines, and electrical wiring all above where the shop is going. My thoughts are to do wood all the way around but thought I would reach out to this group and see what you all suggest.

Thanks

[sean meltvedt]

Eric-I had the ceiling height to allow for a drop ceiling. This cuts down the transmission of noise to the upstairs and gives a place to drop in the lights. Before and after shots are attached
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[Bill Dufour]

You will want to get into the ceiling space to run wires, water and air lines, dust collector ducts, sound proofing insulation, etc. I would do a drop ceiling or at least screwed on 1/4 sheets of plywood. Fire code will probably say use drywall or hardi plank.
Bill D

[James Cheever]

Like Sean, I did a drop ceiling. It really does reduce the noise in the main living space and is a life saver if you ever need to get to something to make changes.

[Eric Brabender]

Thanks for the feedback, I will have to do some research and look into the drop ceiling. Never worked with it before so will have to look at how its installed, what options there are, and then price as I gave the boss a budget to do the layout. Not an overly large area its approximately going to be 13.5'x25'

[Bill Dufour]

My garage shop when we moved in they had made their own ceiling from rigid 2" fiberglass panels and 1x4. The 1x4 ran crosswise to the ceiling joists about every 24". They cut the panels to be about 2x4 feet. I gradually added 3/8 OSB as the fiber glass was crude, used with dents/hole poor fitting.
I ended up refitting more then 1/2 of it as I ran wires up there anyway.
Bill D

[Bryan Lisowski]

Are you sure you are allowed to use plywood on the walls in a house, normally this wouldn't be allowed with a living area above, per most fire codes.

[Don Parker]

I think Bryan is right about the fire codes. I think I have read that the solution is to include a layer of drywall. So, either plywood behind drywall, or drywall behind plywood. But it is important to check with a licensed contractor in your area.

For the ceiling, the fact that you need to get to things up there is a great reason to not close it up at all. It’s a workshop, not a living room. But if you feel the need to close it up, a drop ceiling is best. Anything you have to screw and unscrew is going to be a hassle, and probably another fire code problem.

[Nike Nihiser]

Eric, I kind of did a hybrid version of a drop ceiling. I used 2' x 4' acoustic panels (the cheapest ones with no holes or other openings to catch dust). BUT, I did not want to lose any ceiling height so I put rock wool between the joists and stapled the panels directly to the joists. I then ripped luan plywood into 3 and 1/2 " strips and stapled those over the panel joints. I was going to caulk the edges of the luan, but after I tried just paint they didn't need caulking. This was easier and cheaper than the associated hardware for a drop ceiling, If I need to access anything above a panel, I'll just tear it out and replace, I don't think it will happen often, if at all

[Adam Herman]

i think i would go with one of the low clearance grid systems, like CeilingMax. which is available through overstock.com and similar. it does not require the extra height and works with regular ceiling tiles. I may end up with something like this in my garage shop.

[Bill Dufour]

If the shop is attached to the shop I think you need 5/8 or maybe two layers of 1/2 on any connecting wall or ceiling. Any connecting doors have to be fire rated as well. Fire sealed around wires and plumbing connecting as well.
I have no idea if connecting duct work for heating and AC is allowed by code or not.
Bill

[Deb Malloy]

Sounds interesting. Can you post a few pictures ? Not sure how you stapled the panels to the joists.
Thanks

[Nike Nihiser]

Deb, I think you were responding to me. I'm an old neanderthal and don't know how to post pictures. I used an 18 gauge stapler with 1 1/4 inch staples, the joists are on 16 inch centers, so a 48 inch panel fits perfectly, staple on the 2 foot long ages and on the edges where the panel grosses the "middle" joists. It's been up for about a year now and no problems yet. I also painted them to give it a little "slicker" surface to minimize dust clinging to it. I'll see if I can figure out how to post pictures.

[Bill Space]

I use the space between the floor joists in my basement shop for storage. Not sure how congested the space between yours are, so this may not work for you.

I screwed some strips of plywood about two inches wide to the bottom of the floor joists crosswise, and use them to hold strips of wood and miscellaneous stuff between the joists. Works well for me.

in my case I did not feel the need for a smooth ceiling.

Just a thought... Bill

[Jamie Buxton]

If the shop is attached to the shop I think you need 5/8 or maybe two layers of 1/2 on any connecting wall or ceiling. Any connecting doors have to be fire rated as well. Fire sealed around wires and plumbing connecting as well.
I have no idea if connecting duct work for heating and AC is allowed by code or not.
Bill

A fire-rated wall is required between a garage and a house, because of the gasoline in a car. But the OP's shop is in a basement -- where no car will go. I can't see that a fire-rated ceiling would be required.

[Deb Malloy]

Deb, I think you were responding to me. I'm an old neanderthal and don't know how to post pictures. I used an 18 gauge stapler with 1 1/4 inch staples, the joists are on 16 inch centers, so a 48 inch panel fits perfectly, staple on the 2 foot long ages and on the edges where the panel grosses the "middle" joists. It's been up for about a year now and no problems yet. I also painted them to give it a little "slicker" surface to minimize dust clinging to it. I'll see if I can figure out how to post pictures.

Thanks for responding. I got it now. I thought you had put the panels between the joists.
Totally mis-read the original post. I'm looking to go between the joists.

[Ted Derryberry]

How high are the joists? In my basement shop the bottom of the 2x10 joists (1970 house) are only 7'-8" or so above the floor. I'm 6'3" so I can easily reach 8'. Everything is exposed and I have all kinds of stuff stored between the joists and quick grip clamps on the joists themselves. Its also much easier to add receptacles where I need them if I change the tool layout.

Code smode, I don't really care, its my house and I'll use it how I want to.

[Tom Bender]

Not wanting to give up even an inch of my 98" of headroom I did this;

Resawed Aspen 1 x 3 (a little expensive but really nice to work with) to 2 1/2" x 5/16" and rounded over two of the edges. (rounded before resawing)

Painted this white then screwed it to the bottom of all the floor joists. Bought plastic faced fiberglass ceiling tiles. These are cheap, you wouldn't use them in you living space, but they can be bent in half and just spring back.

Cut these into 14" wide x 24" long panels and popped them in.

This left exposed joints,,, it's a shop.

Easy access to the ducts and wires above. Only gave up 5/16" plus some screw heads.

This made the shop a much nicer place to spend time and allows better dust management.

[Eric Brabender]

Are your lights just regular fluorescent lights for drop ceilings? Was hoping to find and LED option

[sean meltvedt]

Are your lights just regular fluorescent lights for drop ceilings? Was hoping to find and LED option
Erik - the bulk are dual ballast fluorescent fixtures. I have a few led fixtures that are on motion switches for visibility when just traveling through or looking for something. With the price and output now, I would probably do all led’s