Suspended Ceiling or Bulkheads in Basements?

Question: Suspended Ceiling or Bulkheads in Basements?

The reader goes on to say, "I want to install a ceiling in my basement. I have a significant number of things hanging down…water pipes, wires, etc. Cannot decide if I should bulkhead everything in or install a suspended ceiling. Advice?"

Answer: The natural tendency is to think that the suspended ceiling will solve all your woes. After staring up at wires, pipes, sprinklers, and HVAC ductwork long enough, you want to give up the idea of installing a real ceiling against the joists above. Covering it with a suspended ceiling begins to look pretty good.

One thing to keep in mind is that installing a suspended ceiling is not the quickie job it appears. You can easily spend a couple of weekends installing a suspended ceiling in a 450 square foot basement. Also, some people just don’t like the way suspended ceilings look.

Yes, the ceiling industry (Armstrong in particular) has made great strides in making suspended ceilings look less “office-y,” but I think they have a ways to go.

Finally, putting in a suspended ceiling is the ultimate in “throwing out the baby with the bathwater.” Because select areas of your basement ceiling need to be dropped to cover obstructions, you end up dropping the entire thing. If you have a low ceiling to start with, you simply cannot afford this.

If that is the case, you’ll need to construct soffits or bulkheads to cover up each obstruction individually.