Basement Ceiling Painting?

[mass_burner]

OK, I'm all over the place on how to "finish" my basement ceiling office/lounge area. I've removed all the badly installed drywall and improperly sized pink insulation, removed all unused wiring and isolated needed wiring so my electrician can wire in 4" buckets.

My latest idea was simply to cut 4x6 drywall rectangles and fasten directly to joist faces over commonly used areas, leaving the exposed ceiling to show between . The cans would be installed in these rectangles.

I put one up as a test but I wasn't feeling it. I'm thinking now, what about just painting the ceiling a soothing gray and installing the buckets between the joists?

 

[heat seeker]

You might want a brighter color so it doesn't feel gloomy overhead. White ceilings are white for a reason, but every situation is different.

 

[ironpony]

if you are leaving the joists and mechanicals exposed, paint everything flat black then hang your cans in-between with or without the tiles.you can paint the tiles a lighter color so they stand out or dark so they blend. look up in restaurants and you will see this is what a lot of them do.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I've seen basement ceilings painted flat black. It looked awesome. It wasn't the best for bouncing light back, but I don't think it looked like the ceiling was lower. It just seemed to disappear.

 

[mass_burner]

I have a gas pipe coming in that runs in the exact channel that all my A/V wires run. Is it safe to use the remaining room in the hole for cable, HDMI, cat5 cable?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

If I understand correctly you have a joist that has a hole drilled in it that a gas line runs through. You want to snake a wire through the hole. As long as it isn't tight I'd do it. Too tight and when the house expands and contracts, moves, it could rip insulation and cause a problem. But if it's a 2" hole with 3/4" black pipe running through it, why not.

 

[semipro]

I've been looking for ways to "finish" our basement ceiling also.
I've seen two ways lately that interested me. On one they installed only the grid for a suspended ceiling, not the panels them selves,and everything else was painted flat black. On another everything was painted black except a grid made of some tensile cord that was laid out in 2x2 squares and only fastened at the sidewalls.

 

[mass_burner]

If I understand correctly you have a joist that has a hole drilled in it that a gas line runs through. You want to snake a wire through the hole. As long as it isn't tight I'd do it. Too tight and when the house expands and contracts, moves, it could rip insulation and cause a problem. But if it's a 2" hole with 3/4" black pipe running through it, why not.

Looks like a 1" pipe in a 2" hole.

 

[mass_burner]

I've been looking for ways to "finish" our basement ceiling also.
I've seen two ways lately that interested me. On one they installed only the grid for a suspended ceiling, not the panels them selves,and everything else was painted flat black. On another everything was painted black except a grid made of some tensile cord that was laid out in 2x2 squares and only fastened at the sidewalls.

Why would you go to the trouble of putting in a grid and not use the tiles?

 

[mass_burner]

My office/lounge area is ~20' x 15 rectangle less the chimney with an open fireplace facing the lounge area. Along one wall is the coffee/snack area, 52" TV and AV area: the other wall has my desk and wraps around to the lounge where a have a sectional in front of the fireplace. The TV is on a rolling cabinet, so it can swivel to face any direction in the basement.

I want to put an insert/ free stander in the FP, but that's another thread.

 

[velvetfoot]

I have fiberglass batts stuffed in the floor joists. They droop, etc.
I was going to do this: http://ceilinglink.com/
Then, I thought, how about cover it all up by stapling up black landscape fabric?
Then, I moved in six tons of pellets on pallets.
Now, my plan is to throw up some wire supports.

 

[maple1]

I like the flat black paint idea.

 

[mass_burner]

X

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Looks like a 1" pipe in a 2" hole.

I think there's more than a enough room for a 12 or 14g wire.

 

[fbelec]

i had a customer that did over his basement and needed 12 recessed can for light but instead i installed 12 ceiling boxes put the 3 dollar basement porcelain fixture and fitted screw in led bulbs. bright as the sun down there for minimal power and can be dimmed. cost was way cheaper and didn't look to bad. his ceiling was brown painted peg board. my basement has a short ceiling. so of course it has recessed lighting but the ceiling is sheetrock and because it is low it is easy to hit the ceiling with hands or something. so i painted it semigloss white and it is easy to wash off marks or finger prints. flat ceiling paint if you get a mark on it good luck.. and the semigloss make it look a little taller.

 

[burnham]

I wanted to clean up my basement, but wasn't ready to put up blue board and plaster the ceiling and walls yet. I just put tyvek on the ceiling with the writing facing up, and installed some 8' fluorescent fixtures. It looks good enough now, and I won't feel bad about tearing it down in a couple years.

 

[semipro]

Why would you go to the trouble of putting in a grid and not use the tiles?

It defines the space and tends to fool the eye/brain into thinking a full ceiling is there where there is none.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I have always wanted to use tin roofing as a ceiling. It is shiney, reflects light, and its industrial.

Need to access plumping? Drop it down for easy access and put it back up.

 

[fbelec]

not everybody has this option but i replaced every pipe and wire in the house so that i could have a drywall ceiling. thinking that would kill some of the noise between floors. WRONG. i should have insulated.

 

[mass_burner]

It's funny, the more options I consider, the simpler it's getting. I am having the space rewired safely and 4" cans installed between the joists. I'm gonna see what it looks like and go from there, may paint, I'm not sure. I also need to address 3 walls and floor.

 

[vinny11950]

I am now slowly tearing down the sheet rock ceiling from the previous owner. I have to do plumbing and electrical work. I am not putting it back up. It is going to be painted or a lite material drop ceiling.

Even now I curse the previous owner for putting up sheet rock in the basement.

Do a Google search for Paint Basement Ceiling.

 

[velvetfoot]

As a followup note, I put up the fiberglass batt insulation support wires yesterday, so it's not drooping. I'll tell myself it looks like clouds.

For the walls I used xps foam and covered with dens armour plus sheetrock, which is supposed to be mold resistant. I just finished taping and painting that a couple of days ago as well-after a waiting period of YEARS.

Of course, one side has got 6 tons of pellets against it, and I'm thinking of shelves for another wall.

I had thought of staining the concrete floor and using area rugs. A lot of preparation, and there's no way to guarantee that a first time job by me would work. There's even similar preparation called for with paint. I also thought of covering the floor with xps and tap conning osb down, but I'm thinking now, in retrospect, that rolling one ton pallets around on that might have a chance of not working out, lol.

 

[mass_burner]

My ideas:

Floors: sand down smooth, and use a few area rugs.

Chimney wall, its already painted a clean white, will just clean up and retouch bad areas.

Fireplace front, its red brick, the coarse type, don't know what it's called, but I'm not particularly a fan. May reface in the future.

Poured walls: leave concrete grey. Accent with walnut here and there.

My daughter suggested to put black construction paper in the ceiling joist bays and add string star lights so it looks like the night sky.

 

[Corey]

I sheet rocked the basement ceiling and painted it flat jet black. We use the room mostly as 'home theater', but surprisingly the black doesn't make it feel 'close' or 'tight'. To me, it's actually the white / bright colors that make things feel 'closed in' because your eye picks up the 'surface' and establishes that as a barrier. When the wall is dark / black...more like walking outside on a starry night.

Some people like to leave the basement ceiling open for 'access', but I didn't see sheet rocking it as any worse than a 2-story house, or the pipe/electrical runs which are already in the walls. Most everything else is going wireless, or nearly so, so 'fishing wires' wasn't a big concern. I didn't want to loose height to a dropped ceiling, plus didn't like the look and leaving the joists open just seemed like a fire hazard... so 'rock it and pretend you're downstairs in a two story!

 

[mass_burner]

Sheet rock is out out of the question., besides, I like the modern/industrial look. I'm going to experiment with flat black paint in joists and see what I think.