"RonABC" wrote in message
...
The ceiling joists are uneven -- not by a whole lot, but maybe as much as
half and inch difference between the various joists. I want to have a new
sheetrock ceiling put in and do not want a dropped ceiling.

I was assuming that the way people usually install new sheetrock ceilings
is to raise the sheetrock up to the joists and pack out any spaces between
the joists that are too high and the sheetrock so the sheetrock will be
flat. Is that what contractors usually do?



A variation of 1/4" would not be noticed if you did nothing. All 2x
material has some crowning.

I can assure you that no one shims the board after it is hung.

I have never used steel studs for this but it should work.

How you go about this depends on how many joists are off. If most are low
and relatively level I would simply rip up some scrap plywood in 1/4, 3/8
and 1/2" thickness' to a width of 1.5" and secure the correct thickness to
the bottom of the high hangers until I had all the joists within a nominal
1/8" level plane.

The nails and screw used to hold the drywall in place will still have plenty
of bite into the old solid joist.

This method may take a bit more time but is easily done by one person using
scrap material.

Colbyt