Drop Ceiling Systems And Tips

The project of renovating the basement would necessarily demand you to get its ceiling done up. You get two options on that subject: drywall or drop ceiling tiles. The first is not as popular as the second one because of the price and ease of installation. Here are the reasons that make it more convenient to go for tiles:

1.) It presents a very easy installation. It’s easy like putting the tiles on the ceiling after the foundation has been setup. It doesn’t take very long to complete the job, as there is no need to put white paste, or do any sanding and subsequent painting. Sanding is the most terrible because all the dust falls on your face. If you continue breathing in dust for long, you may damage your lungs.

2.) Easy to remove – You can easily remove tiles in case of the electrical wires or plumbing job needing any repair and maintenance, whereas in case of drywall, you may be required to damage or destroy it in parts to approach the pipes or wires. That involves a lot of hard work.

3.) Don’t need to remain stuck with the same style – As and when you get tired of looking at the same ceiling time and again, you can easily replace the old tiles and have new ones.

4.) You can have a very cheap and beautiful ceiling. Look for tiles on the Internet and you are most likely to get some special sales deals. Even if you are unable to get a discounted price, you will still be able to save money on having your ceiling done. Putting of drywall is a very laborious job and one often needs to hire the services of someone. So, apart from paying for the material, you will also be paying for labor.

These are the most favorable reasons that encourage homeowners to get tiles over drywall. You can go shopping for these online or may visit your local home improvement store to procure the tiles. If you are doing this project for the first time it will help you to go to the store. This way you can ask the salesperson at the store some useful suggestions and advice. It will also help watching some videos on the internet to better understand the installation of these tiles if you are not too sure of how to do it. Some people like helping others for free and make such videos and post them up on YouTube.

The most practical and affordable way of hiding from view the cables and wires running along the ceiling is to have drop ceiling panels. Well, these accessories are most often hidden in roof space when a new house is built, but when you decide to include lighting or plumbing fixtures at a future date, drop ceiling panels function as a secondary ceiling that covers up any protruding wires. Apart from being useful when you consider aesthetics of the entire place, drop ceiling panels are simple to install and maintain, and that’s why people prefer having those as an attractive addition for homes and office spaces.

Though one finds these panels in homes at times, these are most often used in commercial premises, because the décor there needs more formal looks, compared to residences. Usually plain and simple variety is used, though there is a choice of color and texture. These are easily maintained and can be removed with equal ease for carrying out any maintenance work needing installation of new wires or plumbing fixtures or repairs of the existing ones. The easy access helps to finish the repairs or maintenance quickly without really affecting the efficiency of the office.

Drop ceiling panels used in homes are generally for a functional look that portrays a certain view. They can be built-in the skylights, special overhead strip lighting and heating bathrooms features. Drop ceiling light panels may also be installed next to the ceiling panels. It allows the overhead lighting to be adjoined to the ceiling with easy access and an uninterrupted appearance.

Usually these panels have a plain and simple appearance, but you do get them in attractive pleasant designs. You get stone or wood effect panels as also some allowing for different textured ceiling designs. By reinstating some of the tiles with metal ceiling tiles, you can realize a more modern and clean look, which may be desirable in places like hospitals or kitchens.

Despite their simple appearance, drop-ceiling panels offer a practical and aesthetically pleasing ceiling for your office space or home, while providing easy accessibility to the enclosed space. They pose no maintenance problems, can be removed very conveniently and remain functional all the time.

It’s great to have a finished basement that provides you with additional space that could gainfully be used in any household. Insulation of exterior walls enables you to retain the heat within the room and helps conserving energy, leading to reduced utility bills. Finishing of basement is an excellent renovation project, especially in winters when people tend to stay indoors because of the weather.

When considering the finishing of the ceiling you have only two options:

One option is to install drywall by using drywall screws that are attached the ceiling’s support beams, to which is applied drywall mesh and ‘mud’ (technical slang of home builders /renovators for the white paste that they use) where the drywall boards get joined together. And, finally the entire thing needs sanding, emitting tons of dust, followed by priming and painting with ceiling paint. Quite a long procedure!

The other option is to install a drop ceiling, using metal rods that are hung with wires connected to the ceiling’s support beams criss-crossing the basement, upon which fire-retardant ceiling tiles are positioned. Most of the homeowners prefer having a hung ceiling.

Installation of drywall ceiling is a very time consuming and laborious job. It involves fixing of 8 feet by 4 feet drywall sheets to the ceiling with screws. The sheets are rather heavy, needing a lot of physical effort. Further, it involves the manual application of mud, followed by its sanding before you could finally apply primer followed by painting. Wow, what an effort?

It all depends on the ultimate looks you prefer to have. Do you want your basement to have the traditional looks of a basement? Or, would you like it to look like any other floor in the house? In the latter case, you will need to have a drywall ceiling. So, partly it is a matter of personal preference for asthetics.

However, having gone thru our renovations, I will never recommend a drywall ceiling in any basement to anyone. For carrying out any renovation that calls for wiring and/or plumbing, you will be spending hours and hours, not just for running wires and pipe beneath the main floor, that is your basement ceiling, but you will also have to go along the path of the wires and pipes to understand which wire is leading to where and which pipe is being used for what purpose. I bet you won’t be able to do that efficiently in case of its being a drywall ceiling, unless, of course, you puncture a part of the drywall, and repair it after you have
finished the job at hand. Imagine the time lost and the strain you have to bear for working in tight inaccessible areas!

Moreover in most of the cases with new plumbing you need to have access to the pipes up on the basement ceiling. For instance, the plumbing for the existing en suite in our home needed rerouting for the convenience of a physically challenged member of the family. It had to be redone completely and the bathtub had to be kept in a totally different part of the room.

The approach of most contractors is to fix shut off valves for each hot /cold line and that’s a very logical approach. You can imagine what it means if you have a drywall ceiling! Yes, you have no other option but to break the drywall. On the other hand, if you had a drop ceiling, all you have to do is to remove one or two tiles, finish your plumbing thing and just replace the ceiling tile, taking not more than half a minute!

So, whether it’s a renovation or remodeling project, you will find drop ceilings to be the easiest and most economical to work with.