Hi everyone,
Me and my husband are finishing our basement ourselves, and we've run into a problem with our ceiling. We plan to finish it with drywall, and have 24" spaced ceiling joists with already installed sprinklers (from the builder) and recessed lights, registers, etc. We know that we need either 5/8" drywall or 1/2" anti-sag drywall because of our joist spacing. But nowhere around here sells the anti-sag, and 5/8" drywall will be too thick for the installed fixtures. Which leaves...ceiling strapping?? But if we strap below the joists then we come back to the problem of the ceiling being too low for the fixtures.

There's probably an obvious solution to this that we're missing....but is our only option to nail in short segments of 2X4 perpendicular to the joists, on the same level? That way our joist spacing is closer together and we can use regular 1/2" drywall. This seems difficult and might be hard to achieve a level surface for the drywall.

Any ideas? We are SO stuck. Thanks in advance!!

 

which fixtures aren't going to fit? If its just the can lights then don't worry about it. The trim will still cover if you use 5/8.

How big is the ceiling?

 

Thanks for replying! My biggest concern is the sprinklers, which are on a copper pipe, and they appear to be too high for 5/8" drywall. Do you think it'll still fit anyway?

 

So I was inspecting the fixtures and stuff last night-- I think I need to revise my question. The sprinklers are the only thing I'm unsure about...They are on a copper pipe with a removable metal ring that screws on. With the drywall up, this ring won't screw on anymore, so should we somehow caulk it to the ceiling or just fill in the hole with something?