Has anyone ever replaced a basement drywall ceiling with a suspended ceiling

Personally, I wouldn't rip out a drywalled ceiling to replace with ceiling tiles.

Toukolou wrote: ↑ Personally, I wouldn't rip out a drywalled ceiling to replace with ceiling tiles.

Im just toying with the idea,

We had neighbours who put this in and it surprisingly looks quite nice.

That looks great, actually - I'm considering finishing a section of my basement, and was not even aware there were other options like this. My previous place was drywall finished, and that was a PITA. Never again.

I am installing Embassy in my basement in 2 rooms (almost done) and it looks really good. Some friends said it looks better than plain drywall. I had no ceilings before in the basement (unfinished basement).

I didn't want to install drywall because you lose access to cables, pipes... IMO drywall is a PITA to install, ceiling would be even worse than walls. I had enough of doing the wall corners without doing the corners between the walls and the ceiling. If you need access with drywall you could always open, repair, mud, sand (dust will get everywhere, even upstairs), paint but it would take more time than simply lifting some tiles. It is more expensive than drywall but personally I really don't like doing drywall and as a DIY I don't mind the extra cost of the material since I don't pay for labor.

Unlike traditional suspended ceilings you don't lose too much height (1 3/4 inch).

I bought these kits at Costco when they had 30% off (I believe it was 30%) a few months ago. I bought some extra parts from Canac because I didn't need a another full kit (the track and anchors I bought are $22.25 at Canac but $38.99 at Rona or $35.92 at Homedepot, same exact brand, same quantity). I don't think there are Canac outside Québec but if you have one in your area, check them out, pretty much everything is cheaper than Rona or Homedepot. Very busy, very crowded (smaller store and more customers) and be prepared to wait to talk to an employee compared to Rona or Homedepot but worth it if you want the best price in many cases.

What's the price to drywall on ceiling? I wonder how much cheaper it is vs. suspended/drop ceiling? I'm guessing drop ceiling would be DIY so cheaper?

i hate that i have a drywalled ceiling in my basement. if it were me who finished it, i would 100% put in a drop ceiling or suspended ceiling. why close off access to the important nuts and bolts of your home. I've been here a year and have already needed access to my water lines, my electrical, my ducts, and my gas line.

Cowboy905 wrote: ↑ i hate that i have a drywalled ceiling in my basement. if it were me who finished it, i would 100% put in a drop ceiling or suspended ceiling. why close off access to the important nuts and bolts of your home. I've been here a year and have already needed access to my water lines, my electrical, my ducts, and my gas line.

This right here is why I want to do it. I could probably solve even more of my HVAC ait flow issues if I could get to all the elbows and joins and seal them with tape, etc.

A recent potlight upgrade in a bedroom means right now we need to cut a hole in the wall to fish the line down, with a suspecded ceiling, no issue.

Time will tell, hard to rip something down that works and looks good. Maybe wait down the road if a potential pipe leak causes issues and had to be torn down anyway

westcoastyvr wrote: ↑ We had neighbours who put this in and it surprisingly looks quite nice.

That looks very good, and gives the area its own look compared to the rest of the flat ceiling.

simplypop wrote: ↑ What's the price to drywall on ceiling? I wonder how much cheaper it is vs. suspended/drop ceiling? I'm guessing drop ceiling would be DIY so cheaper?

Builders do it becaue for sure it is cheaper, easly by over half. Since they have a dedicated drywaller come in and do it all at once.

But for a home owner with an unfinished ceiling. Materials will cost more, but since its DYI and not as hard to do as drywall, time wise it would probably be faster since you dont have to mud, sand and paint.

And as well, have access to things for down the road

WikkiWikki wrote: ↑ This right here is why I want to do it. I could probably solve even more of my HVAC ait flow issues if I could get to all the elbows and joins and seal them with tape, etc.

A recent potlight upgrade in a bedroom means right now we need to cut a hole in the wall to fish the line down, with a suspecded ceiling, no issue.

Time will tell, hard to rip something down that works and looks good. Maybe wait down the road if a potential pipe leak causes issues and had to be torn down anyway

yea i haven't replaced mine yet but i have holes all over it and a huge piece removed as i replaced a galvanized pipe with pvc from my kitchen sink to my stack. i'm not re-patching any of it. it looks like swiss cheese up there and eventually i'll just tear it all down and put in a suspended ceiling. everytime i have a contractor in, they're like "umm, ill need to cut into the ceiling" and i'm just like "yea, go nuts. have at it"

Cowboy905 wrote: ↑ yea i haven't replaced mine yet but i have holes all over it and a huge piece removed as i replaced a galvanized pipe with pvc from my kitchen sink to my stack. i'm not re-patching any of it. it looks like swiss cheese up there and eventually i'll just tear it all down and put in a suspended ceiling. everytime i have a contractor in, they're like "umm, ill need to cut into the ceiling" and i'm just like "yea, go nuts. have at it"

Alot of things the last 3 years I havent done, is because of my finished ceiling. Because of the patchwork needed done later. From extra lights, to even just seeing hvac layout.

How much height does a person lose compared to drywall?

This is great timing.. I just had a dishwasher accident.. and had to rip down the basement ceiling.. and since I want to redo the kitchen in the future was not wanting to drywall it.. will probably go this route.

TLSRULZ wrote: ↑ This is great timing.. I just had a dishwasher accident.. and had to rip down the basement ceiling.. and since I want to redo the kitchen in the future was not wanting to drywall it.. will probably go this route.

For sure thats the time, while what happens sucks, at least now you can rectify it. And if it does in the future again, the access and repair will be way easier

WikkiWikki wrote: ↑ Alot of things the last 3 years I havent done, is because of my finished ceiling. Because of the patchwork needed done later. From extra lights, to even just seeing hvac layout.

How much height does a person lose compared to drywall?

We had a drywalled ceiling in the basement when we bought our house, and it was the one area we thought we'd leave alone (gut job on the top two floors). Turned out we were wrong, and the drywalled ceiling came down, and the Embassy ceiling went up when it was done. All things considered, not upset with the move, as it makes things much easier to access. You don't lose very much height with it; I think it says in the Costco spec sheets (or maybe the Embassy ones), but I think it's less than an inch. We did put up the rockwool insulation for sound deadening. Pot lights were a bit of a challenge, but not too bad. The ease of running wiring makes up for it.

If you want actual pictures of how the mounts were put up, let me know. I've got some panels removed right now.

C

I think u two made up my mind.. oddly costco is 379 but home depot is 349 for the 80sqft pkg.

WikkiWikki wrote: ↑ Alot of things the last 3 years I havent done, is because of my finished ceiling. Because of the patchwork needed done later. From extra lights, to even just seeing hvac layout.

How much height does a person lose compared to drywall?

With Embassy you lose 1 3/4. If you have 5/8 drywall for ceiling (I believe 5/8 is standard for ceiling and 1/2 for walls but I could be wrong), you would lose an extra 1 1/8 over drywall.

TLSRULZ wrote: ↑ I think u two made up my mind.. oddly costco is 379 but home depot is 349 for the 80sqft pkg.

Costco includes shipping (they shipped mine with UPS, it was a bit of a pain for the guy, he could not lift stuff this heavy, I had to go in his truck to get the boxes).

JEDI Force wrote: ↑ With Embassy you lose 1 3/4. If you have 5/8 drywall for ceiling (I believe 5/8 is standard for ceiling and 1/2 for walls but I could be wrong), you would lose an extra 1 1/8 over drywall.

Just measured, and this is correct. My initial estimate was off by quite a bit.

C