Drop Ceiling in a 1907 walk out basement

fullhouse1997

6 years ago

We bought a 1907 Arts and crafts/craftsman style house that has been remodeled a few times over the years. The basement is circa late 80s with peach colored tile and carpet. When we chose this house 6 months ago we said that it has a lot of potential (oops, maybe money pit). I don’t want a drop ceiling if we remodel the basement. My contractor’s bid came back with partial drop ceiling in the family room area (yuck). I understand that there may be a day that I’ll wish that I had a drop ceiling but my thought is that when they have the ceiling exposed, shouldn’t they see any potential problems? I’d be willing to take the chance that one day we may need to cut/repair for access. What are your thoughts? Too risky?

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Comments (2)

wishiwereintheup
6 years ago
There is nothing risky about it. For any repairs or changes, you'll have to open the ceiling and then repair the opening. If you are willing to put up with that and don't intend on staying in the house for a long time, go with drywall. I say 'long time' because a shorter stay will mean less likelihood of repairs or changes.

Decades ago, I finished my basement and wanted a drop ceiling because I specifically wanted access. Dry wall would have been cheaper (at that time). I went with plain white even though the "in" thing was a black or dark brown grid. Over the years, there have been repairs and changes/additions - like running another phone line or running a new cable line for a TV location. I've been very glad that I have access and was able to do those repairs/changes quickly without the added task of patching drywall and repainting.

There is another option - just leave it open and pretend you are going for a 'loft' look. A sub-option is to install all your lighting and other pipes, wiring, etc. and then spraying the entire ceiling black (after masking the lights and other items, of course). This was also a popular option when I did my basement but I didn't consider it for a moment. Basements are dark as it is and I can't imagine a basement with a black ceiling. However some people like this approach.
Mags438
6 years ago
I am in a similar aged house with a similar delimma. My basement update is currently taking place; unfortunately not planned. Some parts of my basement ceiling only went to about 7’. Then there are the heating pipes that hang a bit lower at about 74” high. Thinking I would go with a smart-looking drop ceiling tiles (even ordered a box), but I didn’t feel comfy with the height. It has required quite a bit of effort to clean up the all the ceiling wiring. There’s a ton all over - knob/tube and newer electrical! My basement is an open space that houses my hobby shop with a small seating area, storage, and utilities, so the exposed ceiling will fit in. Speaking with my contractor we decided to do the black painted exposed ceiling. I’ve seen some of his work photos and Pinterest photos. From pics I’ve seen, Black painted seemed nicer than white painted and may not feel as closed in. I’ve decided to embrace the ‘look’ and do interlocking mats to cover cement floor, etc.

I learned from my kitchen project that lighting can remove the dark basement feel. I’ve added extra lighting EVERYWHERE.
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We just built a walk out basement and love it! We came from Missouri so we were VERY accustomed to walk outs with the hills, but when we moved to Oklahoma, the land is just to flat. But we found a hill! Most people here have no idea what a walk out basement is until they see a picture. We have very young boys but I am not nervous about having the walk out. The deck is high but really the railing is tall and tight so I have no worries about them falling. I like having a level front yard and level backyard. Our landscaping is simple, we built a boulder retaining wall to hold back the dirt on one side of the house but the other side has a gentle slope so we just graded it off. Most people see the front of your house anyway and it just looks like a normal house. The basement ceiling is over 9ft and with huge windows so it is very bright open and doesn't feel like a basement at all. There is no doubt that we would do a walk out basement again. I love being able to access the backyard from the basement and having a patio and deck is nice. We planned the deck so we could add stairs from the deck to the backyard later if we decide to, but I like how useable the space is without stairs. The energy efficiency of the basement is so much better than a normal 2 story would be and we still get the space without a huge footprint.
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wow jrldh- I suppose I should have been more clear since Saftgeek is doing a NEW build. By all means design it to have all major tie in's etc. in the utility (unfinished) space so you can drywall the whole rest of the living space. In our case - I was referring to a purchased home that had horrible placement of ducting/plumbing/electrical - you name it in the basement making it nearly impossible to drywall it in it's entirety when we finished it. Likewise the dishwasher was already installed when we purchased the home. I would not drywall over major plumbing tie in's and shut offs, no matter what, UGLY and all. IMO, even if it would have been an extravagant dishwasher installed by the best of the best that money can buy nothing is 100%... ever. It is not a perfect world. We chose to take our unfinished basement - lemons and all and make lemonade. There are decent tiles out there if you HAVE to use them.
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I always see "daylight basement" and "walkout basement" used as interchangeable terms. Because of this, I think the expectation by most people will be that there is a normal-sized door to the outside, and larger-than-typical windows in the basement. This is how my walkout basement is set up, and it creates a number of possibilities which would be appealing to buyers. We can finish off a bedroom, we can finish off other rooms which will have a lot of natural light, we can create a patio directly outside the basement door, etc.. Right now we use the basement entrance all the time to directly access the back yard. MAYBE your realtor can technically call it a walkout basement, but as others have mentioned, it won't meet the expectations of most people. My realtor wanted to overstate features in my house and it was something I absolutely didn't want to get into.
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Drop Ceiling in a 1907 walk out basement

Comments (2)

wishiwereintheup

Mags438

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