I am finishing my basement w/a drywall ceiling
i furred down the ceiling w2x4's
can I run the electrical line between the furring strips or drill more holes in the joists

 

Play it safe, use the joist.

 

If the wiring is at least 1 1/4" from the edge of the framing members(in this case,the furring strips) there is no problem.

 

jckftrds,
Why did you have to fur down your ceiling? Why didnt' you install drywall directly to the joists? I'm about to install my drywall ceiling. I will install it directly to the joist although one of the book about framing that i read suggested furring with 1x3's first but it didnt give any reason. It surely requires more labor and costs. Thanks.

 

If your joists are even with each other and free of hanging obstructions, there's no reason not to drywall directly to the joists. I would imagine that the furring strips are often used because one of the above two conditions is not true. Also, the furring would help reduce sound transmission (but resiliant channels would do better, so I don't see any reason to do the furring strips just for that).

 

You were astute by installing the furring which eleminates drilling holes in the joists-possibly you wanted to conceal copper tubing for water and heating lines. Furring an existing ceiling with 1" X 4" fur-strips is recommened when a house is being completely re-wired for several reasons. Cables can be routed between the joists and the fur-stips which eliminates much cutting of the existing ceiling.The installing of recessed-liting fixtures is much easier and neater. If it's the ceiling under the attic, the space between the old and new ceilings forms an insulation barrier and if you use 5/8" SR you have a substanial fire-proof ceiling. With careful planning, each SR joint will be centered on a fur-strip.

 

the reason that I furred down is that i have some copper plunbing and a/c lines running along the ceiling in a couple of spots...plus i rather a more of a consistent ceiling height

I ran the circuit lines through the joists already but I now want to connect the recessed lighting in a series fashion and dont want to drill yet more holes in the joists.

 

As stated earlier, you can run the wiring along the furring strips as long as there is 1 1/4" from the edge of the cable to the edge of the furring strip. My suggestion would be to run the cables between the furring strips, stapled perpindicular to the floor joists in the same manner as your a/c and plumbing lines. I don't know if it would be possible to maintain the proper clearance on the side of a 1 1/2" 2 x 4. Simply turn your wire and run up between the joist cavities when you need to head the other direction. I see no reason for you to have to drill any holes at all for running your wire, but remember if you do drill any holes in the joists don't do it in the middle third of the span (stay toward edges).

I would also suggest using 3/8" sheetrock on the ceiling. It is easier to work with and you don't really need the extra bulk or weight on the ceiling. An added benefit of your 3 1/2" wide furring strip is that it will be a lot easier to hit wood when hanging your sheetrock.

 

Just my opinion, but I would not use 3/8" drywall on a ceiling. It does not have the required sag resistance.

 

John, your opinion is better than mine in this case. I hope your wrong though, because I just redid my kitchen and screwed 1 x 4 furring to the old ceiling and put 3/8" sheetrock over that. I guess time will tell...

 

I am not sure how this would apply to a basement but in the upper part of the house it is 5/8 for ceilings due to fire codes. Personally in a basement it would be drop ceiling for me. Something I could easily remove for utility service.