HT in basement - ceiling questions (1 Viewer)

[Dennis Reno]

My wife and I are about to close on a home. The basement is unfinished. We plan on having it finished before we move in. The one question remaining is about the ceiling. Should we have it drywalled or use a drop ceiling? I would love to drywall the entire thing but we need access to water shut-off valves, gas lines, etc. Any suggestions or real world experiences?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Neil Joseph]

I have a drop ceiling in my setup. I did not buy my home new or do the wiring myself before I could put up a permanent ceiling. One thing I can tell you is the drop ceiling makes it extremely easy to access wiring and other things above the ceiling.

 

[Dennis Reno]

Neil - one additional question (of course!) The home we are currently living in has a drop ceiling installed in the basement. That is also where we watch movies. During particularly loud scenes the SVS has a tendency to make the tiles rattle. Is there anyway to prevent this or at least minimize it? Although it was pretty cool the first couple times it becomes distracting after a while!

 

[Dave Poehlman]

My brother drywalled his ceiling in his rec room. He laid furring strips across perpendicular to the floor joists so he can still fish wire through if he has to. (still a pain) and he put in some small access doors for water shutoffs and such. He used what looked like small electrical panel doors that latch shut. They aren't too noticeable unless you are looking up at the ceiling.

 

[Glenn Baumann]

Dennis,

I would imagine that you could place some type of weights on top of the panels and that should keep things secure. You could probably utilize various lengths of 2 X 4 to do the job but I would utilize the lowest weight possible to do the job so as not to distort the panels, you will have to experiment. Hope this helps!

Regards,

Glenn

 

[Jacques C]

The advice I had heard on drop ceiling rattles was to lay insulation on top of them. Weighs the tiles down and also helps sound transmission.

Take care.

 

[Brett_V]

I would definitely go with the drop ceiling. I did, and I also have an SVS, but I haven't experienced any vibrational problems with the ceiling tiles. In my opinion, a high end drop ceiling looks and performs much better than drywall. However, if the installer does a poor job, the reults can be awful. I installed my own, and took painstaking care to do it right. I love it! I have some hard wood floors above, and when kids or anyone else drops a glass of water or whatever, its a snap to replace the one affected tile as opposed to painting or patching drywall. The benefit of easy access to wiring, plumbing, and HVAC makes the drop ceiling a must anyway. A good quality ceiling tile will be 3/4 inches thick and plenty heavy enough not to rattle during heavy base scenes, not to mention the acoustical damping properties of the ceiling tile. The inexpensive tiles could pose a problem in this regard, and I would agree that laying fiberglass insulation on top of them would be the way to go. There are also many lighting options with drop ceilings. Installing recessed lighting in a drop ceiling is a snap with "halo" and other available drop ceiling lighting kits.

I would reccomend the 2x2 tiles over the 2x4 tiles, and look for the tiles that are actually recessed. By this I mean, the tracks are actually recessed into the tiles.

You will be amazed at how nice a professionally installed drop ceiling can look.

 

[Dennis Reno]

Thanks for the help guys. I think I will install a drop ceiling using the smaller (2x2), thicker tiles. I also plan on installing insulation.

As soon as the project is complete I will post some pics!

 

[Mike LS]

The rattle you may get with the suspended ceiling isn't the tiles rattling, it's the grid vibrating against itself. It's definitely a metal on metal rattle.
If you wind up having to damp it, I doubt the insulations is going to do much good.
After you install the ceiling, give it a good testing and mark all your trouble spots. Then lay some weight across the top of the grid, not on the tiles themselves. Even something very light will bow the tiles in over time, plus it really won't solve the problem

 

[Dennis Reno]

Mike - if that occurs I will do so. What size weights would you recommend? Also, is it possible to isolate the grid pieces from one another? I've never installed a drop ceiling so I'm not sure if thats possible!