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Design Dilemma Basements Lighting

Basement Ceiling Ideas Needed

3 years ago

Trying to decide what to do with the basement ceiling here. It will be an office space. Sorry for the grainy picture! We don’t want a drop ceiling as it will take too much height away. I’ve seen the painted ceilings with open ductwork —- is it worth the money for that? How much on average for a 10x10 space? Has anyone ever NOT done anything? (we’d go with some industrial lights and a wall sconce).

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Comments (4)

PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
You have to use a special black paint designed for ceilings so that when it falls to the ground it can just be swept up.

https://www.grandmashousediy.com/basement-ceilings-black/

You can still use a drop ceiling, only take maybe two inches, and simply frame out a bulkhead for around where the pipes drop below the ceiling height.
functionthenlook
3 years ago
My son painted his ceiling in his basement family room a soft black. Not a harsh black. He sprayed it. Paint on the concrete was of no concern because he put in flooring. The soft black really does make all the duct work, wiring, etc all blend together. The ceiling recedes and looks higher. I was surprised at how well it looks.
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@S Rodriguez - Good point. Will have to check. @Jmc101 - Responses below: No refrigerator. While it is not depicted, I intend to have a small refrigerator either in the cabinetry under the stove or as a stand alone. is "Storage" intended to be the ONLY storage for clothes and linen/towels? What about a dresser? Mmm...yes. I had not thought of a dresser. There is room to expand the right wall, behind the area marked "storage", further into the basement. However, due to the vents behind the wall the ceiling height would be lower than the rest of the room. is there additional storage outside of this room? The rest of the basement has a lot of empty room but I wasn't planning on giving any additional storage to the occupant. There is no room to move between the counter and sink in sketch 2. The sketch is not drawn to scale but that is a valid point. Need to double check. is the only access through the sliding door? There is a door (first pic above) which leads to the basement and the laundry room. However, the sliding door (which will be replaced by an entry door) is the primary access.
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Spray foam is the easiest way to seal rim joist cavities. I've never understood the point of insulating between the basement and the first floor-- it is code required here and no one can tell me why, There's typically little, if any, temperature differential, it's all inside the house's conditioned envelope. Rigid foam on the basement walls would be my second step, with, as Worthy says, the top half being more important than the bottom half-- sealing the rims would be first because that's typically a source of a lot of air infiltration. In a small house it's an easy (and fun) DIY project with the spray kits available at the big box stores.
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You probably don't. You are going to heat and cool the basement as a finished space so heat transfer from one part of the home to another is not a big problem. Sound insulation might be an issue to think about.
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need help with paint ideas for walkout basement
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Comments (2)
A very rustic looking floor why that choice if you love grays? Paint the bar and then choose a wall color I have no clue what you are doing with the space so maybe tell us bit about that . Waht is that space that looks like a low bed? I think the space looks too small for the huge bar so IMO I would remove the bar and you should be able to still get enough flooring to fit it into that area, Maybe post a to scale floor plan too . I like nice light walls in basements even walk outs and I think you need a lot more ceiling lights too and make sure all those bulbs both new and existing are LEDs 4000K.
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
IMO black ceilings in a basement gobble light and I think exposed pipes only work in lofts with 20’ ceilings . Dropped ceilings are now pretty attractive and for sure nicer than a bunch of exposed not very attractive pipes . Check out the options for ceilings there are many and IMO finish all the ceiling in the basement not just one space .
PRO
Norwood Architects
3 years ago
You could install a gypsum board (drywall or sheetrock) ceiling to the underside of the existing floor joist and box around the duct work creating a drop soffit. This would keep your ceiling height throughout most of the room. Would suggest painting the ceiling white and not black especially if there are no windows. Good luck!

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