basement ceiling options?

[eugene thomas]

going to build a house next year and not sure what options are out their for finished ceiling in basement. would sheet rock it but want to have access down the road.

[George Bokros]

Suspended ceiling is the only way to go.

George

[eugene thomas]

was kind of thinking that my wife not really like look of suspended ceiling.

[Matt Meiser]

A few years back there was a really cool system in one of the woodworking mags. Would not be cheap or quick to make though when you start adding it all up. Just the finishing alone

[Larry Frank]

I kind of wish that I had the chance to build a new house as there are some things that I would do better in the basement

- get as high a ceiling as possible
- do a better plan for the furnace ducts
- take time to lay out the electrical runs
- add extra water shut off valves
- put in runs for computer and tv cable
- pay more attention to how the drains and drainage systems are put in

And most of all....be a real pain in the back side when they are building to make certain they do it right.

I think that some of these things are just left up to the person building or installing and they can make a huge difference down the road when something needs replaced or repaired. It is so much easier to do things right when you build the house.

I might also look at how they tax the basement depending on if it is finished with a ceiling or not.

[eugene thomas]

i was not planning to have basement finished wright away but we changed the plans of the house so now the two bedrooms in basement have to be counted to make the house 3 bedroom. seems not all banks have same criteria for finished space.

[Jeff Erbele]

Install a "future chase", (or 2 or 3) a conduit from the attic to the basement, preferably near the electrical panel or mechanical room. You may want to stuff some insulation in the top end and/or cap one or both ends. Our present house was built with one and remains unused. We requested one in our future house under construction because it is inexpensive now, could make future upgrades easy and we are installing a solar system after the house is completed.

If you want a removable ceiling but not the ordinary inverted T rail, creativity is in order.

Your home design and floor plan may allow for sheet rocking some rooms yet still having access to those things (utilities & spaces or chases) of concern. Two houses ago all of the mechanical, plumbing and major electrical was one half or one side of the house. Nearly all of the basement was finished in drywall including the ceilings yet I could access all of the aforementioned utilities if needed. The one half of the basement of concern was in order a nicely finished 1.) utility / storage room with 2' deep shelves on 3 walls, next space in line was the 2.) furnace room with water heater, the space under the stairs, a walkway and another space opposite the furnace perhaps 7 wide x 8 long. Next was a 3.) bathroom with shower and finally the 4.) laundry room.

1. The ceiling was covered with Blandex / chip board; 1/4 x 4 x 8 sheets. The seams were sealed with latex chaulking and troweled flat. The sheets were painted white and screwed to the joists with flat head screws. Four foot fluorescent light fixtures were mounted between the joists (recessed).
I had an outside faucet freeze once and had to take down a full sheet and a partial sheet to replace the faucet and a section of ruptured 3/4" copper pipe.
2. The ceiling was unfinished, open joists. The extra space was converted and used as a photographic dark room.
3. The bathroom only had a 7' ceiling which was just fine in every way. Basically the bath was a 2x4 box with space above it yet below the main floor joists. I could access the space above it from the furnace room on one side or from the laundry on the other.
4. I installed a suspended ceiling in the laundry room.
The rest of the basement was "dry" with an office, a large bedroom and a huge family / rec room. And even those were partially accessible from one side, or one end, and some of the joists / space above them from the rooms described above.

With a little planning, plumbing and other major wiring could run above closets and hallways or utility spaces. Those spaces could have a drop ceiling and not be noticed much or at all. Or in chases or sofits.

You can put up all kinds of things in different ways; drywall squares (2'x2' or 4'x'4) untapped but textured and cover the seams with nice looking, quality battens or hollow box beams; or use acoustical tiles, or wood panels. You can hide screws with wooden buttons or leave them exposed as part of "the look", countersunk or pan head.

New metal or antique reclaimed tin panels are another option as are cork panels. One of local upscale restaurants has a private dining room for groups of about 30 people. The room is called the wine cellar and actually is used for such with wine inventory stored horizontally in racks on the walls. The ceiling in that room is completely covered with wine bottle corks. The corks are vertical, so you just seen the end of the cork. I suspect they glued the corks to panels or maybe tongue and groove strips. So if you have a couple truck loads of corks saved up....


Not your ordinary suspended ceilings; Scroll & Click:
http://www.csol-inc.com/low-cost-bas...ceiling-ideas/

74,032 basement ceiling ideas Home Design Photos
http://www.houzz.com/basement-ceiling-ideas

[Brian W Smith]

Coffered would certainly be one option,which in effect is what "suspended" ceilings are trying to emulate.Their general failing is packaging(limited sizes)and general price point.

Another way as posted above is in some ways more fun.That is....you will use SR as a rms main body.By strategically locating rooms,closets,chases....always have some way of accessing.You really have to put your thinking cap on here.Be aware of vertical chase/fire hazard potentials(more of a commercial consideration,but can be a problem in residential if carried to an extreme).

Theres only a few downsides to higher ceilings.Obviously cost,but generally the stairs trip up(ha)most folks.The added "run" of stairs was never considered in house's design change.It will also show up outside with window/door fenestration.Start paying attention in your travels,looking at houses.It shows up all too often over garage headers(as viewed from the street,or outside).....the space over the header,below eaves/soffit/cornice.It looks terrible if this space isn't proportionate.It happens when customer wants a higher ceiling...and design is flying by seat of pants.

Start with the stairs...then move to mechanicals(plumbing,HVAC)...then strategically arranging floor plan to fill in the design,when considering higher ceiling.And always "scale" your work out on the drafting table....paper being cheap compared to mistakes.

[phil harold]

Frank has it right

- get as high a ceiling as possible
- do a better plan for the furnace ducts
- take time to lay out the electrical runs
- add extra water shut off valves
- put in runs for computer and tv cable
- pay more attention to how the drains and drainage systems are put in
And most of all....be a real pain in the back side when they are building to make certain they do it right.

Also I would start with 9'walls for the basement somewhere there is going mechanicals (plumping and ductwork) below the joists this will keep them higher
Suspended ceilings suck they squeak, get dirty,expensive, and sag
Plan ahead and sheetrock if you are worried about noise transmission add some hat channel to the floor joists before sheet rockin

[Jerome Stanek]

Look into concealed spline ceilings I used to do them in high end offices when I worked for a ceiling company.

[Stephen Musial]

One of my occupations is designing swimming pools, fountains, etc. I was recently at a customer's house and once we got the pool figured out, we went to the basement to look at electrical panels, gas runs, etc.

This was a 2.5 million dollar house with a 10' basement pour. The entire basement was done in a very high end suspended ceiling and the guy owns his own drywall company. He said that too many things change over the course of owning a home and he would NEVER have a drywall ceiling in a basement.

[Brian Elfert]

For a new house I strongly suggest using floor trusses instead of joists. The floor trusses have room inside to hold all plumbing/HVAC/electrical/etc leaving a nice clean flat surface to install a ceiling. My house was built in 2001 with floor trusses. I used a suspended ceiling system that actually installs directly onto the floor trusses to make the ceiling as high as possible. Floor trusses also allow for no load bearing walls, beams, or columns in the basement.

[Jim Matthews]

I'm going to "finish" my basement shop ceiling with Foam core or gator board stapled in place.
http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/...hite-Foamboard

The idea is to keep so much light as my fixtures provide bouncing down where I'm looking for itty-bitty screws under the bench.

My only experience with a suspended ceiling in the basement was unpleasant, it became a rodent playground every Winter.

[Brian Elfert]

If you have rodent issues in your basement does it really matter what type of ceiling you have?

[Bill Bukovec]

For our basement I put in a suspended ceiling made of wood.

I used solid oak for rails and stiles (the same type of rails and stiles on a kitchen door with raised panels)

These were spaced about 2 feet apart.

The panels were just 1/4" pieces of plywood that rest in rabbets.

The panels stay in place by gravity alone, so if you need access to the mechanicals, the panels are easily removed.

Bill