A Basement Drop Ceiling Provides Easy Access To Plumbing
Are you looking to replace your basement ceiling? Specifically, why not install a basement drop ceiling? Basements make excellent extra living spaces for your home; be it a den, kids play room, mom's laundry room or dad's games room - a basement drop ceiling can also conserve energy by reducing heat loss through insulated walls.
"Why a drop ceiling?" I hear you asking. Why not just install drywall to the ceiling's support beams using drywall screws, and then apply drywall mesh & 'mud' (renovators/home builders terms for a white glue) to where the boards meet. Then sand it all down ,prime and paint it with drywall paint. "What's so special about a 'drop' ceiling with metal bars hanging from wires that are affixed in a criss-cross fashion to the ceiling's support beams and upon which fire-retardant ceiling tiles are fixed?"
Well, for starters, there is much less effort needed when installing a drop ceiling from start to finish, compared with the installation of drywall. Think about it... How on earth would you attach eight by four feet drywall sheets to your ceiling anyway? Just imagine the physical labor involved; those sheets of drywall are heavy! On top of that, imagine the actual method of spreading on the mud, and then sanding it down. Have you ever painted a ceiling before? Trust me, that's hard enough.
You could argue that it depends how you want your basement to look. Do you want it to look like a basement, or do you want it to look like any other room in your house? If the industrial look is not your style, then a drywall ceiling is probably the better option. That said drop ceiling panels have come a long way any there is a massive variety of styles to choose from.
When doing renovations that involve plumbing / wiring, countless hours will be spent not only laying pipe and wires under your primary floor (which would be your basement ceiling if you have one), but you will also need to track their path in order to make out which pipe goes where and what wire is used for what. You won't be able to do that effectively if the ceiling is dry walled - unless of course, you break down the drywall and patch it up again when you're done.
If you're installing new plumbing, you will also need to have free access to the pipes on your basement's ceiling - for maintenance and repairs. Usually you have a "stop cock" (shut off valve) for each water pipe; in case of a burst pipe etc. Needless to say, if you've had a drywall ceiling installed, you'll have to break it down before you'll be able to reach the pipes or the stop cocks.
On the other hand, if you install a drop ceiling, all you would have to do is take off the ceiling tile, do whatever maintenance or repair is needed and then re-connect the ceiling tile (which doesn't take long at all). From a money, maintenance, renovation and basic ease-of-use point of view the basement drop ceiling will win every time.
