[harpua728]

Hi there,

I currently have an unfinished basement that I am going to finish. I've been researching insulation methods and am particularly looking into whether or not to insulate the ceiling before putting up the drywall ceiling.

The main floor of my house is always colder than upstairs and I suspect much of this is due to the cold basement and heat transfer between the floors. I will only be finishing half of the basement and will only be insulating the walls in that section. However, in the unfinished section, there is a vented window outside of the boiler room (for the furnace) in a storage area and that area is cold. Should I insulate the ceiling in this unfinished storage area to help keep the room above it warm? Will this work?

Thanks for your help

 

[Windows on Wash]

If the basement is conditioned, the primary reason would be to help with soundproofing.

Insulation between conditioned walls or floors is not really necessary as you should be keeping the temps in the conditioned spaces consistent.

Look up about air sealing and insulation and insulate the basement walls properly along with air sealing the ribbon boards and the basement should be nice and warm at that point.

 

[cbaur88]

I agree w/ Wash you mostly insulate the exterior walls. Between floors it's mostly for soundproofing. At some point I'll be finishing my basement and I'd like to add insulation between floors for soundproof purposes depending on how I do my ceiling. Not sure if I want to drywall it, suspend or just paint it all black open ceiling look

 

[throrope]

We recently finished our basement with poured concrete foundation. I ran 6 mill plastic on all the walls before framing, framed on 24" centers since non-bearing, spaced outlets on alternating circuits on six to eight foot centers (no extension cords needed), put recessed cans on about 4-5 ft centers on alternating switches, put 6 mill plastic on the floor seamed with 3M tape made for polyethylene, laid up underlayment and floating floor. For heat I found "heat" connections on our new 75 gallon water heater and ran a loop of fin-tube on two walls with a domestic water rated circulator and across the line thermostat. It's the coziest place in the house.

I had drywall delivered to my basement from a local supply house and hired a contractor. Sixty sheets of 10' & 12' x 4' drywall cost around a grand, and install with finishing was another two grand. A crew of 4 showed up as I left for work and was sweeping the scraps when I returned. Two days later all finishing was complete and I was painting that weekend. We have a 9'-6" ceiling and I'm glad I didn't sacrifice more than the 1/2" for drywall.

 

[cbaur88]

My ceilings are low in my basement so I don't want to compromise space not really sure which way to go at this point. I'd love to Sheetrock, but hate not having access to ceiling. Suspended ceiling going to lower the ceiling and just painting black not going to give me any sound proofing or that solid living space feel. We shall see, thanks for post/info

 

[Windows on Wash]

My ceilings are low in my basement so I don't want to compromise space not really sure which way to go at this point. I'd love to Sheetrock, but hate not having access to ceiling. Suspended ceiling going to lower the ceiling and just painting black not going to give me any sound proofing or that solid living space feel. We shall see, thanks for post/info

Take a look at this thread in the General Forum.

http://www.diychatroom.com/f2/grid-ceiling-questions-362633/

Here is the direct link to the grid ceiling: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ceilingm...5001rw&cm_mmc=CJ-_-6158626-_-11210757&cj=true

And a picture of it installed.