Basement Ceiling- Combo of Drywall and Drop ceiling? - DIY Chatroom

H Thomas · 03-21-2006, 02:17 PM

We're in the process of finishing the basement of our new house (built 2 years ago). The builder put all the ducts and mechanicals that run along ceiling running right through the middle of the area to be finished. We'd like to use drywall on the majority of the ceiling (not an issue for about 3/4 the area) and then build a "box" around the area with the lower ducts/pipes, and put in ceiling tiles just for that area. Has anyone else done anything like this? Have any suggestions? We thought about spraying the ceiling, but decided it wouldn't look good due to the configuration of the room. My husband is very skilled at this kind of thing, but we've never tackled a ceiling before.

Any advise would be great!

jbfan · 03-21-2006, 03:10 PM

If there are no valves or anything that has to be gotten to after the ceiling is in, just box it and use sheetrock. your isea works also.

H Thomas · 03-21-2006, 03:39 PM

Yes, there are mechanicals that might need to be reached later...specifically to open and close the ductwork to certain parts of the house. The ducts are two wide in most of this area.

MinConst · 03-21-2006, 03:49 PM

You will need a minimum of 3" for a drop ceiling normally I go to about 5" If you use rock all over you can pop in access panels anyplace you might need them. They are pretty cheap and you just cut a hole in the rock and pop the panel in. They can be painted or left white. You should be able to find them in your big box stores.

H Thomas · 03-21-2006, 03:59 PM

That sounds like a good idea. Thank you!

H Thomas · 03-27-2006, 10:27 AM

A portion of this basement ceiling has double wide ductword and diagonally crossing drain pipes. There are very limited spaces for "boxes" to be built around the utilities. Any suggestions? What is the maximum span you can go with sheetrock between the connections to the ceiling structure?