Small basement upgrade....ideas for a ceiling


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Old 10-22-16, 07:41 AM
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Small basement upgrade....ideas for a ceiling

I purchase my home in June and this is my first project. Decided to take my grandparents up on their offer of a free pool table. Past two weeks I have been scraping and wire brushing the walls and organizing the clutter. Bought new shelving etc. Also repainted it which I kept the same color. Eventually will be putting a wall up on the one side of the main support "I" beam to make it a room so to speak with a door that goes to the work bench and laundry area.

Question: Is there an easy ceiling covering to give it a more finished look? Something that is easy to put up and take down if wiring needs run etc? There are water pipes and a couple electrical lines that are on the floor joists and I do not want to do the whole drop down ceiling thing. The area with the bikes and the chest freezer is where I am putting the pool table. Name:  IMG_1950.jpg
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Old 10-22-16, 08:08 AM
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A drop ceiling is easy to install, inexpensive and makes it real easy to open up for access in the future. The big drawback is that it will eat up about 6" of headroom. If you've got 9' ceiling height in your basement I'd consider it but with a pool table you want as much ceiling height as possible to avoid cursing and blue dots on the ceiling.

Another option is vinyl soffit. It will eat up less than an inch of ceiling height and will be easy to wipe off chalk dots. If you put it up with screws it can be removed sorta easy but it will be a big enough job that you're not going to want to do it very often.
 
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Old 10-22-16, 08:20 AM
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Yea floor to ceiling is roughly 7ft 3. I guess I will just leave it alone. It's not going to be completely finished. Just want a cozy(so to speak) place to hang out. I am going to get a big remnant piece of carpet and throw down. It stays dry down there. I fixed the drainage problem when I first moved in and it finally has dried up but its in the opposite corner not pictured. I did see a ceiling option that takes up an inch or so of headroom and it would cost me $800. No thanks. HAHA

Well I will keep my options open I suppose but leaning towards doing nothing after researching the internet.
 
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Old 10-22-16, 08:27 AM
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The industrial look would be to paint the floor joists just as they are. Relatively easy, saves all your head room, and maintains access to everything. I've seen some and very functional and look just fine. Here's a link to a bunch of pictures: https://www.google.com/search?q=pain...iw=934&bih=454

Bud
 
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Old 10-22-16, 12:26 PM
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Yea, if you've only got 7'3" go industrial. Paint the ceiling. White will make the space it's brightest but don't be afraid of color. I saw one where the joist bays were bright white and the bottom face of the joist a bright yellow and the pipes a turquoise blue. it was clean, bright and had a fun kick of Caribbean color.
 
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Old 10-23-16, 06:00 AM
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Yes I've thought that to...then I think wow...what a project with a brush! HAHAHAHAHA

I know I would have to spray it. Guess I will start looking into that. It probably wouldn't get done before Nov. 12 which is when I am getting the pool table set up and I still have to get carpet yet. Which I priced at $350 for 12'x18' bound.

I can't really do the black look because of the brown walls. I'm thinking white and then leaving the ceiling side of the joists normal wood? I saw a black ceiling like that on the google page and liked it.(Thanks for the link Bud)

Well thanks for all the info and help.

One last question...I want to paint the floor that the carpet won't be covering. What color should I use? Like a grayish color? I'm horrible with interior design. HAHA
 

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Old 10-23-16, 06:07 AM
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Although this looks ok.....UGH

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Old 10-23-16, 10:54 AM
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Basement Ceiling

1/4 inch plywood screwed to the bottom of the joists would give it a finished look and allow fairly easy removal if you need to access wiring or plumbing. A sketch of where things are above the plywood would be helpful if you do need to access the area.
 
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Old 10-23-16, 10:57 AM
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I've sprayed quite a few open joist ceilings and IMO a dark color looks best [but may require better lighting] White always looks unfinished as it will highlight any crack or shadows along wires, plumbing, etc.

My vote for painting that type of ceiling is flat black.
 
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Old 10-31-16, 02:17 PM
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Hopefully the last question....:wall:

Ok....well that plywood idea is cool for the future for sure. But it won't be til next winter time. Need to space out the projects. Or I will just paint it flat black like the above picture.

Another question...what color should I paint the floor if my walls are brown? I am putting carpet in the pool table area but it won't be wall to wall. Going to be a 12'x18' size. I was thinking a gray color but I am no designer. LOL Want to get that painted by next week.
 
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Old 10-31-16, 02:55 PM
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What color will the carpet be? If you decide the color is wrong it's not a big deal to repaint it another color.
 
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Old 10-31-16, 03:13 PM
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Visit some paint and carpet places and look for someone who really knows their business. Over my too many years I have encountered many people who were skilled in their trade and could make the decisions where I lacked the skills.

Bud
 
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Old 11-03-16, 09:43 AM
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Yeah, I'd say pick the carpet first because that's gonna be the hardest thing to replace if the colors don't match. Maybe something a little more neutral or easy to work with like gray or blue to start?
 
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Old 11-17-16, 04:54 AM
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Please don't pick on me to much! HAHA But I think I need to change the color of the walls. Carpet is thin but soft and if I get water down there will be easy to clean up. I think I got the chimney leak fixed. Rained pretty good here the other day and no problems.

Pool table is coming saturday.

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Old 11-17-16, 04:57 AM
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Not sure why pic is turned. Sorry
 
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Old 01-20-17, 04:44 PM
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Blackout ceiling

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Size:  39.2 KBI'm thinking about blacking out my basement ceiling but I don't know what to do between the joists where the batt insulation is. I've been reading about rigid foam insulation but I'm not sure if I have to put anything up there with it to meet code.
 

Last edited by Steve Baxter; 01-20-17 at 04:47 PM. Reason: Added picture
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Old 01-20-17, 04:56 PM
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Rigid foam must have a covering. You may want to change the fiberglas out for Roxul, which is gray to begin with, and you can probably paint it easier than the fiberglas.
 
 

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