[Rob S.]

HI,
    I have a drop ceiling ( 4' x 2' white tiles)  in my basement that I had hoped to replace with something less reflective and darker in color.   Wife wants to investigate drywalling the ceiling....  Has anyone redone a basement ceiling with drywall instead of a ceiling tiles?

What are the disadvantages of the drywall?

Thanks,

Rob S.

[Rob S.]

Here's a few pictures of the basement:  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=1648
All wood paneling will be covered up by drywall.

other half of basement has 5th BR w/ drywalled ceiling, and my 2ch audio room w/ drop ceiling and no WAF constraints.

[thunderbrick]

I like drywall, and have a very sicko propensity towards mudding and taping, at least on occasion.

I think drywall looks better, but a drop ceiling gives you accessibility to plumbing, ducting, etc.  You can certainly remove drop panels and paint them darker, as well as the frame. 

How many protrusions come down below the floor joists?  If there is plumbing or wire in the way you'll have to install battens or stand-offs.

Hanging the ceiling requires some strong friends and what is called a pair of deadmen.  T-shaped 2x4s that you jam under the drywall while you screw the sheets into place.  And hire out the mudding, taping and sanding to a good pro.  You won't regret it.

[bpape]

The main issue is purely access. 

If you want isolation, then filling the joists with insulation and drywalling is the only way to go.

Bryan

[thunderbrick]

Agreed.  I think it looks a lot better than drop ceiling.

[rodge827]

Rob S,

Dry wall is a great way to go, but can be a serious mess to do. If you find it too much to handle consider ACP CeilingMax products. They can be purchased at HDepot and a good alternative to a very messy and time consuming job.

http://www.acpideas.com/index.cfm?XlinkID=13

Chris

[Bob in St. Louis]

Wow, I would have thought the majority would have gone with suspended ceilings.

Personally, I can't think of a more boring ceiling than one that looks as smooth and flat as my garage floor. Like looking at the surface of a small pond on a calm day. That's what drywall ceilings in basements do for me. Granted, the typical 2'X4' white flat and smooth tiles are what's commonly found nowadays and they're pretty boring too. that is, until they sag in the middle, that creates a nice visual interest. But there's more colors and textures that you'd think. Rob already has a USG catalog and a few sample tiles, so he already knows this.
But....looks are in the eye of the beholder as we all know.

Here's my "advantage list" for dropped:

- Access to floor above (got future wiring projects? plumbing repairs)
- Main floor plumbing springs a leak will destroy drywall ceiling = Big mess (happened to me) Tiles repaired nearly instantly.
- Tiles acoustically better that drywall??? WAF won't let you put first reflection panels on ceiling. 
- Need to know now, locations for rear surround speaker outlets (Rob's building a HT) and a big PITA to change your mind later.
- Less light reflects from tiles (again, the home theater thing.....)
- Easier to add wiring to your room if you're not working in a drywall cube. (trust me, I've added on plenty)

Ok Rob, I lied. I told you I could come up with ten reasons. There's six. 

I've had my tiles off more times than I can count. Maybe that's because I didn't do things right the first time. But for those of you capable of that, knock yourself out and go drywall that sucker! 


Bob

[Rob S.]

The wiring alone and my propensity to tinker with cabling, speaker locations, may make me stay on the drop ceiling route.

Sound isolation is not a big deal (I hope).  Middle floor to our home is LR, DR, Kitchen, Family room etc. and no real sound proofing need.  With the basement door closed I don't imagine much sound will bother my family on our middle floor.   Upstairs is the other 4 BR's and it's real quiet.

Thanks for letting me talk out loud.

Rob S.

[woodsyi]

Good choice Rob.

Drop ceiling is a godsend for wiring.  Dedicated power outlets, ethernet, attic FM antenna and FIOS hook up to laundryroom were all done easily thanks to my drop ceiling.  I can't imagine the PITA they would have been if I couldn't run wires over the ceiling tiles.  You can also pack a lot of fiberglass batting up there for bass trapping. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

You can also pack a lot of fiberglass batting up there for bass trapping. 

Amen brother. A little harder to do with drywall.
If a fella really wanted to, he could insulate the joist cavities with R-19 or R-30, then glue and screw drywall directly to the bottom of the joists. Then do a drop ceiling (with bass traps in between).

This is me just thinking out loud, not sure if there would be any negative side effects to this idea.
The smart guys can verify.

Bob

[Rob S.]

Yep,  I was planning on doing the corners with the fiberglass batts just as I did in my stereo room.  Not fun putting it in but the bass definitely gets better. 

Rob s.

[jqp]

Wow, I would have thought the majority would have gone with suspended ceilings.

Personally, I can't think of a more boring ceiling than one that looks as smooth and flat as my garage floor. Like looking at the surface of a small pond on a calm day. That's what drywall ceilings in basements do for me. Granted, the typical 2'X4' white flat and smooth tiles are what's commonly found nowadays and they're pretty boring too. that is, until they sag in the middle, that creates a nice visual interest. But there's more colors and textures that you'd think. Rob already has a USG catalog and a few sample tiles, so he already knows this.
But....looks are in the eye of the beholder as we all know.

Here's my "advantage list" for dropped:

- Access to floor above (got future wiring projects? plumbing repairs)
- Main floor plumbing springs a leak will destroy drywall ceiling = Big mess (happened to me) Tiles repaired nearly instantly.
- Tiles acoustically better that drywall??? WAF won't let you put first reflection panels on ceiling. 
- Need to know now, locations for rear surround speaker outlets (Rob's building a HT) and a big PITA to change your mind later.
- Less light reflects from tiles (again, the home theater thing.....)
- Easier to add wiring to your room if you're not working in a drywall cube. (trust me, I've added on plenty)

Ok Rob, I lied. I told you I could come up with ten reasons. There's six. 

I've had my tiles off more times than I can count. Maybe that's because I didn't do things right the first time. But for those of you capable of that, knock yourself out and go drywall that sucker! 


Bob

When your ceiling is drywall, you just do things in the walls. Granted you probably do fewer things...

In the southeast I think there is a prejudice against suspended ceilings because they are usually cheap looking - more of a money saving thing for the basement. I think it has to do with the flourescent lighting that usually is there like in a low budget strip mall. But I am sure it can be well done and made to look just as good as sheetrock.


My great room is really the lower level of a split level, on a slab. The drywall in the section of the room against the front wall, where my systems are, that row of the sheetrock against the wall is sagging (4x8 sheets are bowing down when you see them at a certain angle). Perhaps I should put in drop ceiling here - there are ducts in the ceiling already   aa

[BobM]

Stuffing a bunch of insulation into my drop ceiling really made a difference in my basement audio den, as far as bass boominess was concerned. I put it at the speaker end only (doing a kind of live/dead end thing).

Bob

[Bill A]

This may be something to investigate. http://www.audioholics.com/education/acoustics-principles/helmholtz-resonant-absorber

Since you have access to the floor joist above, build a cavity between the floor joist and tune it to a low frequency mode of the room with a slot or round port.  If there are seveal offending peaks, build several tuned to those frequencies.

Bill

[BillB]

I converted from drop to drywall last year.

I have a large AC duct running about 1/3 distance back in the room...it ended up making a handy projector mount with the box-frame and drywall installed around it.

I left the front of it un-drywalled and (I suck at completing projects) will cover it with a cloth panel, I stuffed the holly hannah out of it with insulation.

I ran RG6 and speaker wire to every position except channel 6&7 prior to drywalling in case I move to active speakers in the future...just in case.

I replaced the florescent lights with recessed IC lights, 4 up front, 4 in back...maybe should've done more, but it is a theater afterall.

Sound insulation is much better with the drywall but the room of course is more echo-y with it...I have a ton of foam crap down there now.

Overall...yeah I like the drywall better...makes it feel like a room and not a temporary space.

[catastrofe]

Have you considered not installing either and spraying the ceiling black?  My contractor suggested this when we finished our basement and it looks great.  Since it's black, it absorbs light and your eyes are not drawn upward.  It makes any type of wiring or other work a piece of cake.  You also have the ability to fill the joist spaces with insulation.

The only negative is that you would need to paint any the work involved with updated wiring, plumbing, etc.

[PDR]

I've been in the wall and ceiling biz for about 30yrs.........I agree drywall ceilings look really nice, with a nice knock down texture..REALLY nice. They are also the hardest to finish properly, and do look boring if just painted.  My advice to you would be to add another 2' cross tee so instead of a 2x4 grid you have a 2x2. Then instead of going to Home Depot etc go to a Drywall supply house and ask to see a selection of their Tegular tiles. These tiles do not sit flush to the grid, they are proud (hang down). There are huge varieties of these tiles available and they can look beautiful when done. You will be quite pleased with the results, and you have all the access to tinker in the plenum to your hearts desire.   You can also paint the grid and tiles any color you like, but I would suggest painting them separate.
If you do decide to paint the tile remember to lay them flat, horizontally, while drying so they dont bend.

Perry

[thunderbrick]

Yup!  That can look pretty classy, especially on a higher ceiling.