[jcims]

Hi folks,

I'm finishing my basement, and am in a conundrum about the ceiling. We had 9' walls poured, so i have room for a drop ceiling, but i like the looks and soundproofing of drywall with a knock down finish.

Problem is, i like to tinker, and a drywall ceiling makes me nervous because i know i'll have it up for 6 months and realize that i want to change things up.

Now i have to run a 4' wide soffit down the center of the ceiling to route some hvac/electric/low voltage/plumbing. Has anyone tried building a 'removable' soffit? The idea would be to maybe make it a foot wider than it has to be so i can remove a section of the soffit and access the area above the drywall to run wires, plumbing, whatever. I'm thinking if i make the soffit out of timber, beadboard or somesuch, i could screw it up (literally, lol) and tack in some molding to cover up my tracks.

Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Bob Mariani]

I have made them with MDF. which paints fine and will be easy to work with. Use trim head screws and you not even notice them.

 

[flyboy2610]

I dislike drywall on a basement ceiling for the reasons you mentioned. If you ever want to run any wiring or plumbing, you have to tear down the ceiling. Go with a drop ceiling with acoustic tiles.

 

[bjbatlanta]

And if you were considering the need to run wiring or plumbing (in the future) between the main floor and second story of your home,would you put a drop ceiling on the main floor. Drywall the ceiling and make access in the soffit. It could be as simple as a couple of return air grills, strategically located. Realistically, how often are you going to add a long length of plumbing pipe?? You could even stick a couple of lengths up there for future use and cut them to length when you need to. Drop ceilings are for commercial buildings unless there's no other option.........