Drywall vs suspended ceilings

[TyreeUM]

Would love to hear thoughts as I am still trying to decide what I want to do for our basement. It is currently framed, plumber and electrician will be in this week. Ceiling height would be just under 10 ft with drywall, aside from the bulkhead concealing the duct work. I am interested in hearing some of the pros and cons other than access to plumbing etc. I would also appreciate insight on suspended products you have experience with and any recommendations. Thanks so much!

[hornhead]

ceiling tile gives access to the u/s of the joists. it would depend on how level the u/s of the floor is. ceiling tile would be level because of the grid suspension. throw some insulation to the ceiling space for noise in either case.

[grant]

I chose to go with drywall. Cost is a little higher however drywall with insulation greatly reduces noise between up and down. I ran conduit for all the speaker wire and projector through out the basement to help future proof the space.

Drop ceiling is cheaper and you can do it all yourself. Access for maintenance for plumbing or electrical in the future is easy.

Both have pros and cons. Are you going to have a nice stereo down there? Of so drop has a higher probability to rattle.

[Ken07AOVette]

If you never want to change anything, run new Ethernet wiring or speakers do drywall.

[twofifty]

To drywall, you'll need to strap the underside of the floor joists, plus frame up the soffits and chases for ducting, pipes, etc. Then board, tape, mud, prime, paint, texture?. This takes time and is messy. You also lose easy mess free access to the floor diaphragm. If there's a water leak, well, it's not much fun. If you want to run an extra circuit or drain pipe, it's work. For real soundproofing, the drywall needs to be fastened to resilient metal channeling instead of wood strapping.

Drop ceiling is easy to do by yourself; add one helper when putting up the main Ts. GSW makes good heavy duty Ts. Armstrong makes good panels.

There are quite a few texture choices for the panels, which can be 2x2, 2x4. The key to a good job is figuring out the grid layout so that the pattern is visually pleasing at wall and soffit interfaces. A rotary laser will help you mark elevation reference points to which your wall angles are then fastened. Buying the special lags screws, the special wire ties, and the special driver bit is a good idea.

[Sooner]

I built out my basement 15 + yrs ago and dry walled everything, ceiling included and have no regrets. One wall is real nice paneling to break up the room. Only now I have to run a new tv cable and I can't get to the far corner of the upstairs room. No access to push up through the floor. I did run speaker wire upstairs and behind the wall and out before we closed it in so I may be able to "fish" something through if I make the hole bigger. I like the stippled ceiling although my kids have knocked some of it off over the years playing down stairs with balls etc.

[Hunter65]

If you think you might need access to the floor system for running wires, troubleshooting something or for whatever reason, go with a suspended ceiling. There are tons of options for a suspended ceiling appearance, not just the "office look". I will always opt for a suspended ceiling simply for access after the fact.

[fishhawk1850]

Along with everything already mentioned, it is also easier to change color pop out tile and paint in garage reinstall. If the ceiling is installed proper it will never rattle , I have installed a few T-bar ceilings over the last 29 years and never had one rattle. If you are doing it your self just make sure you tie your hanger wire tight to the main tees. Go to a drywall supplier and get good grid not the cheap stuff sold at hardware stores. In Saskatoon you have Winroc and Kenroc or Consolidated , Consolidated is probably your cheapest they did good by me when I was there 2 years ago. Fishhawk

[Who Da Fisherman]

Drywall, tour a couple of finished walkout bungalows by the builders in the area and you will see how nice they look. T-bar IMHO is a cheap look.
WDF

[WCTHEMI]

Just went through this myself. Chose to go with T-bar everywhere but in the bathroom. I think drywall looks nicer, but in the end I didn't want to give up access to the ceiling.

[Mudzbogger]

Drywall is the only way to go. How many times have people with drop ceilings actually had an issue, not many of them.. Probably the same who did drywall.

Its more expensive yes but does not look like an office, does not look cheap, but do it right insulate and use the channel for the ceiling to ensure as much sound proofing as possible especially if hardwood above.

[30Cal]

A basement doesn't have to look like an office with the variety or types of ceiling tiles that are available today. In fact ceiling tiles can make a basement look more expensive than regular drywall. They come in various styles and can be purchased with better sound proofing properties than drywall. It all depends on how much you want to spend and how great you want your basement to look. They can also make your basement very quite from your upper level or visa versa. Safe & Sound insulation also works great in combination with a high rated ceiling for sound and fire proofing.

[bruceba]

Drywalled the whole basement minus the central utility room. I can drop a line anywhere in the whole house and access the whole basement ceiling area through the truss flooring. I did have to open the ceiling to run gas and electric lines for the new gas stove. Patched the openings up floated in the textured ceiling and resprayed the knock down. Nice if you can do it yourself and have the tools. I also framed in a 12 x 12 opening basement to attic for future wiring if need be.

[fishead]

Plan it well use drywall with finished surface and paint no popcorn texture. More work but the finished product is way nicer. Just my two cents.

[Twisted Canuck]

I do drywall install and finishing for a living, so no contest. Plan all your electrical and plumbing well (I used a home run PEX system for all my plumbing so no joints to leak), drywall and do a nice knock down texture....and it looks so much nicer than tile. I can't help feeling that T-bar looks cheap and industrial. Not for my home. TC

[Huntasauras]

Drywall has significant advantage over tbar when it comes to fire resistance. It will keep your house standing in the event of a fire in your basement for much longer. It would be my choice for that reason alone.

[twofifty]

You could combine each method: a drop ceiling soffit under the pipe runs, and a drywall ceiling elsewhere. Bonus, it's a great way to one-up your man-cave friends.

[Junglefisher]

Originally Posted by Huntasauras

Drywall has significant advantage over tbar when it comes to fire resistance. It will keep your house standing in the event of a fire in your basement for much longer. It would be my choice for that reason alone.

You can get fire rated T-bar.

[fn1949]

30 years after the basement was developed with suspended ceiling I am thankful that there was know drywall as we are renovatinging the main level and rewiring and plumbing and gas lines and we are living down stairs so no drywall no big mess.

[hunterfisher]

I went with dropped because if rather not give up the access. Did the job two years ago and had to access it 3 times since for Ethernet, speaker and cable. I will admit that for the majority of suspended done it doesn't look as nice as drywall and you do loose some ceiling height with suspended. I boxes in the duct work and came into the sides of the box work which saved me some head space. I've seen camo tiles you can install but to much camo is sometimes overwhelming.

[Mohr74]

Originally Posted by twofifty

You could combine each method: a drop ceiling soffit under the pipe runs, and a drywall ceiling elsewhere. Bonus, it's a great way to one-up your man-cave friends.

This is a good idea, I learned the hard way. Went with a fully dry walled ceiling in my basement which looked great until some fittings on my jet tub in our ensuite bathroom decided to spring a leak. Had an ugly water stain building in my livingroom ceiling. Luckily it was in a small section framed with bulkheads, ended up ripping a 10x12 section out and installing a drop ceiling in that small section. Glad I did cuz the damn tub has had a few more leaks since and I just change tiles. If you have a jetted tub, install tiles below it...that's my $0.02

[thumper]

Drop ceiling using acoustic tile. Terrific sound in basement.
Too much drywall, combined with a laminate floor and lots of glass, makes for pretty poor acoustics.

[TyreeUM]

Thanks everyone for the feedback and great ideas, I really appreciate everyone's time! I like the idea of the combination and am going to explore drywalling in my main ducts and using a higher end suspended for the remainder of the ceiling. Again, I appreciate all the feedback!

[CptnBlues63]

The house I bought where I presently live had the basement all finished before we bought it. The ceiling in the basement is dry walled. Short of destroying the existing drywall ceiling and redoing it (or portions of it), I cannot pull network cables, phone lines, coax cable (satellite TV) anywhere in my house. This is a major PITA for me.

I also can't move heating registers or electrical outlets or add new electrical either without major issues.

My preference would be for a drop ceiling.