I'm finishing a basement. I'm perplexed what to do about the ceiling.
Half the ceiling has been drywalled. The other half has so much pipes
and wires I plan to do a suspended ceiling. The problem is for half
the ceiling I have a little over 4 feet of ductwork to conceal. There
is only about 1.5 inches of clearance from the doorways for me to work
with. Would using 3/4 plywood work or would it sag?

On Jun 5, 4:26 pm, Mike E. Fullerton inforequ...@spam-killer-remove-
techie.com wrote:
I'm finishing a basement. I'm perplexed what to do about the ceiling.
Half the ceiling has been drywalled. The other half has so much pipes
and wires I plan to do a suspended ceiling. The problem is for half
the ceiling I have a little over 4 feet of ductwork to conceal. There
is only about 1.5 inches of clearance from the doorways for me to work
with. Would using 3/4 plywood work or would it sag?

Lots of materials would work, if done well. Meaning- how the framing's
done- spacing & such. OTOH, some inspectors would have problems
with flammable materials like plywood, vice fire-resistant like
sheetrock.

J

On Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:39:59 -0700, wrote:

On Jun 5, 4:26 pm, Mike E. Fullerton inforequ...@spam-killer-remove-
techie.com wrote:
I'm finishing a basement. I'm perplexed what to do about the ceiling.
Half the ceiling has been drywalled. The other half has so much pipes
and wires I plan to do a suspended ceiling. The problem is for half
the ceiling I have a little over 4 feet of ductwork to conceal. There
is only about 1.5 inches of clearance from the doorways for me to work
with. Would using 3/4 plywood work or would it sag?

Lots of materials would work, if done well. Meaning- how the framing's
done- spacing & such. OTOH, some inspectors would have problems
with flammable materials like plywood, vice fire-resistant like
sheetrock.

How can I do framing with 1.5 inches of clearance? In fact I forgot
about the ridges on the ducts. It actually more like 1.25 inches. When
I say 4 feet I mean across and about 15 feet long.

On 2007-06-05, Mike E Fullerton wrote:

How can I do framing with 1.5 inches of clearance? In fact I forgot
about the ridges on the ducts. It actually more like 1.25 inches. When
I say 4 feet I mean across and about 15 feet long.

So to paraphrase, you're looking for a material that can be used as a
ceiling that is at most 1.25" thick and will span 4'. Is that right?
If so, have you considered a drop ceiling or ceiling tile system?

Cheers, Wayne

It takes some creativity and work to make it successful, such as possibly
the ducts could be cinched up tighter to the joists, some metal strapping
may work while it is tight against the ducts, etc, etc., not being there it
is hard to advise.

"Mike E. Fullerton" wrote in
message ...
On Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:39:59 -0700, wrote:

On Jun 5, 4:26 pm, Mike E. Fullerton inforequ...@spam-killer-remove-
techie.com wrote:
I'm finishing a basement. I'm perplexed what to do about the ceiling.
Half the ceiling has been drywalled. The other half has so much pipes
and wires I plan to do a suspended ceiling. The problem is for half
the ceiling I have a little over 4 feet of ductwork to conceal. There
is only about 1.5 inches of clearance from the doorways for me to work
with. Would using 3/4 plywood work or would it sag?

Lots of materials would work, if done well. Meaning- how the framing's
done- spacing & such. OTOH, some inspectors would have problems
with flammable materials like plywood, vice fire-resistant like
sheetrock.

How can I do framing with 1.5 inches of clearance? In fact I forgot
about the ridges on the ducts. It actually more like 1.25 inches. When
I say 4 feet I mean across and about 15 feet long.

On Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:19:17 GMT, Wayne Whitney
wrote:

On 2007-06-05, Mike E Fullerton wrote:

How can I do framing with 1.5 inches of clearance? In fact I forgot
about the ridges on the ducts. It actually more like 1.25 inches. When
I say 4 feet I mean across and about 15 feet long.

So to paraphrase, you're looking for a material that can be used as a
ceiling that is at most 1.25" thick and will span 4'. Is that right?

Right.

If so, have you considered a drop ceiling or ceiling tile system?

A drop ceiling is the same as a suspended ceiling right? I would be
happy to do that. But someone told me it would not span 4 feet. Also
how could I handle the corner? I can't have it that low all over as it
would cover other door openings and the cupboards.

On 2007-06-06, Mike E Fullerton wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:19:17 GMT, Wayne Whitney

So to paraphrase, you're looking for a material that can be used as a
ceiling that is at most 1.25" thick and will span 4'. Is that right?
If so, have you considered a drop ceiling or ceiling tile system?

A drop ceiling is the same as a suspended ceiling right? I would be
happy to do that. But someone told me it would not span 4 feet.

I don't know very much about drop (suspended) ceilings. But I believe
that the hanger wires are typically placed every 4 feet. That would
mean that the metal tracks can span 4 feet . I'm not sure how much
clearance would be required between the tracks and your ductwork.

The basic upshot of my comment is that if you have to span 4' and have
only 1.25" of thickness available, think metal, because I would expect
you to need the greater stiffness. BTW, that's a large duct you have,
4' wide and 15' long.

Also how could I handle the corner? I can't have it that low all
over as it would cover other door openings and the cupboards.

You'd have to figure out a reasonable way to transition to whatever
ceiling you are using elsewhere. For example, if you are using gypsum
board elsewhare, you could frame a small soffit and bring the gypsum
board down and around to meet the suspended ceiling system.

BTW, you could also consider having the duct exposed and painting it.
Might look OK.

Cheers, Wayne