My house is 4 years old and I am looking to hire a contractor to finish the basement. One of the contractor suggested a dry wall ceiling instead of a drop ceiling.

Reasons he gave me are:
-Cheaper
-Looks better

When I asked him about the access to plumbing and ventilation, he mentioned that rest of the house does not provide easy access to plumbing and ventilation.

Is it OK to go with dry wall ceiling in basement?

Any advise is very much appreciated.

 

This is a religious argument.

I prefer a drywall ceiling. Probably most people would prefer a drop ceiling.

I make the following arguments to support my case: (1) The drywalled ceiling simply looks better. (2) The drywalled ceiling preserves maximum ceiling height in your basement, (3) I assert (with absolutely no credible evidence) that most people with a drop ceiling have rarely if ever accessed anything up there, (4) the drywall is probably (again, no scientific evidence) better at blocking sound transmission, (5) if you have a spot or two with a likely maintenance need, you can install an access panel in the drywall (either when you put up the drywall, or later when you cut a hole in it for access), and (5) Even if you do need to access something, drywall is easily and cheaply repaired.

If you do go with a drywalled ceiling, I'd take good pictures of the ceiling before the drywall goes up so you know where and what things are.

 

A drop can be easier and quicker than drywall, less mess and installation can be accomplished by one person and looks and works well for a playroom or pool room, however a drywall ceiling makes a finished basement look like a part of the house. With the expense and after paint and furniture, a finished room is far warmer than a finished basement.. An access panel or a vent cover works under prone areas and a larger washout just means the damage is part of the insurance claim..

Back the pictures with some measurements charted out on paper.

 

A drywall ceiling does look nicer, but a dropped ceiling has more utility. The big 2X4 panels don't look good in a small space and are difficult to work with. I would go with 2X2 panels. There's a lot of choices for ceilings panels.

I have accessed things in my basement ceiling several times, cable runs, telephone runs, bathroom plumbing, electrical additions. It makes modifications upstairs, and in the basement, a lot easier with a drop ceiling.

I will be remodeling the basement in my new home soon, and I plan and going with a dropped ceiling.

 

mike-the-diy'er wrote a pretty good summary of where he found nicer looking ceiling panels. See http://209.250.73.60/diyforumtemp/sh...threadid=72942


ken

 

Finished my basement only 6 months ago, and was glad to have a drop ceiling when I installed my home theater system. No wires for the baby to get tangled in and visually much cleaner. You can run the wires before you hang drywall, but if your wife is anything like mine the layout will change before you finish painting!
Matt