insulating basement ceiling for soundproof

[Cubfan]

I have a finished basment, but I'm redoing the ceiling. There was a drop ceiling in place but I just tore out the 2x4 ceiling tiles. The reason for this is that they simply did a crappy job on the ceiling, they literally bent some of the tiles around duct work, it was really wavey and just plain shitty. So I'm redoing it. I still haven't made up my mind if I want to drywall it (which will be a bear given all the conduit, ducts, etc.) or do another suspended ceiling, just nicer this time.

I know the pros/cons for drywalling vs. suspended, but what would you do?

2nd issue, now that I have removed the tiles, I've been thinking about insulating the basement ceiling for sound. Would your basic fiberglass insulation in rolls help with this? I read somewhere that insulating a basement ceiling could actually make it colder (something about reducing conductivity between the colder air in the basement and slightly warmer air upstairs...?)

Anyway, any input/advice on insulating the basement ceiling? Again, I would only be doing this for sound reduction. My basement is my sanctuary so I'd like mine to be as quiet as possible. Plus a surround sound will eventually go down there so less sound traveling upstairs would be nice.

Thanks.

[Don-Dad]

I plan on doing a drop ceiling in my basement. Just makes it easier to get at wires and pipes if needed. I haev a shoot load of cate5 for a network and home automation stuff.

Some really nice drop ceilings have sound proofing qualities. Them do make some foam type stuff you can put between the joists. It's been a while since I researched it but at one time I found a bunch of places that make acoustical tiles that could be secured to your ceiling.

[sao95]

if the basement is finished well, and has enough vents I don't think soundproofing is going to cause a major temp change. If you do tile make sure you do it right and start in the center, sorry it's a pet peeve of mine

[Cubfan]

Yeah I really want it drywalled because it would look sweet, but I just dont know if sealing off access is the best idea. There are some tiles that look nicer than others, so if it's done right it should still look good.

I have no idea how much it's going to cost to just do the ceiling. I've had 3 different guys come to look at it to give me a quote, but none of them have gotten back to me with a quote. One guy came over twice, still hasn't called me back. My dad keeps urging me for him and I to do it, but he lives 3 hours away and comes into town maybe once a month, so it will never get done. I just want a friggin' quote so I know what I'm dealing with!!!

[MIDAD]

My dad has a drop ceiling...looks nice but it seems to close the basement in height wise. I have seen a couple drywalled ceilings and it really seems to make the basement look bigger....does suck for access though.

[Don-Dad]

I guess it depends on how many courses of brick you have, I have 13 so we have very high ceilings in the basement. 11 is standards for most newer homes, I think.

[Cubfan]

brick? you lost me there. Our house is aluminum siding, no brick...

[MIDAD]

Him and I both have poured basements, and from floor to the top is 7 ft. I would much rather have the taller ceiling, but unless you are buying a newer home around here, that is pretty much the standard...kinda sucks.

[Cubfan]

oh you're talking a brick foundation? Yeah, ours is poured. I just measured, the floor to the joists is just under 8'. But there is conduit, several junction boxes, support beams, and the main duct work running perpendicular to the joists.

So I'd like to raise the ceiling as high as possible and obviously it will be lower around the ducts.

It's looking more and more like a suspended ceiling is the way to go...

[SteveH]

We just finished our basement this summer (well, we hired someone to finish it). We debated the two options, but went with drywall because it looks so much more "finished". The more I thought about it, the more I realized there's not much chance I'll actually be running any kind of wiring, etc. through the ceiling, since I'm fairly useless when it comes to that stuff, so we made sure that the whole room was wired really well for cable, phone, power and speakers, just to cover all the things we might want to do in the future.

[Don-Dad]

brick, I should have said block :) I forget that some "real" builders used poured foundations, hahaha.

I know I would end up putting holes in the ceiling if it were drywall. I like experimenting with techie stuff and I had a drop celing at my last place that I liked. I figure the upper level is nice, anything I do in the basement will be an improvement. I have a ranch and about 1800 sq of finishable space. That's alot of ceiling tiles.

[sao95]

brick, I should have said block :)

I made that mistake once, in the military during training, so for the next three months I had to carry a brick around with me everywhere I went, sleep with it, et cetera, then I had to plant it and water it several times a day in hopes that it would grow into a block :roll: Ya the military has a sense of humor :lol:

you don't have to lose much space using drop ceiling, should be able to hang it fairly close and then go around the ductwork and what not..

[tt3]

We did sheetrock in the office and bathroom, mostly because we had maybe 7ft if we were lucky. Our plan for finishing the rest had most of the plumbing routed specifically for soffits and then wiring would be done as well. Lots of cat5 was going to go it too. But, since we are selling, I won't be able to finish the basement as I wanted. Hell, maybe I can since the house still hasn't sold...

[ministermatt]

Try putting styrofoam in between the floor joist before you put what ever ceiling up you decide. We did a room like that with sheetrock ceiling and it really cut down the noise level from up stairs. We used 2'' styrofoam and just cut it and pushed it up inbetween the joist.

[woodchuck]

Menards sells a 4x8 sheet good of soundproofing/subfloor material, pretty neat stuff, you could rip it and line the ceiling joist cavities with it, then use a zero clearance drop ceiling system, there is a frame, but it fastenes right to the joists. Overall height loss is only 2".

I've done the fiberglass batting 10" then drywall(PITA) and recessed lighting, plywood ceiling in the workshop area, and I ran my planer, and shopvac at 1:00 am and the wife didn't even wake up, nor did our tenants on the second floor.

So, as far as soundproofing, that setup worked for me. Next time I'll be adding the soundproof board from Menards, it wasn't available when I did my first basement.

My .02.

[Cubfan]

Thanks Woodchuck. I've seen the ceilings that mount right to the joists. Unfortunately they wont work for me, as I have tons of conduit, junction boxes, ducts, that are below the joists. If I didn't, I would be drywalling it.

I'm going to drywall in the ductwork, and drop panel the rest. I've recently bought the tiles and I need to get going on knocking down a wall to moving some roamex, then I should be able to start the drywalling then drop ceiling.

It's slow going over here with the kid and everything else I've gotten myself into!

[stretch]

It's slow going over here with the kid and everything else I've gotten myself into!
Keep your chin up. Think how loud you'll be able to play Pink Floyd down there when you're done! ;)

[Cubfan]

Keep your chin up. Think how loud you'll be able to play Pink Floyd down there when you're done! ;)

Oh yea! Is there such a thing as aroma-proof? :weedman:

[Domestic Engineer]

In our last house I installed a drop ceiling with the thin brackets and a very heavy, sound rated tile. I was always adding to the networks and home automation system I installed. You can’t add any thing with drywall without cutting it open. Also, if your HVAC is in the basement, you should not have heating problems. This house will have a drop when I get to it.

If you do go with drywall, they recommend 2 layers with a sound fabric in between. You can Google sound proofing to get some more info. Also, check out this article http://www.electronichouse.com/article/home_theater_design_ideas/ for some ideas.

Good Luck.