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Man Cave Obsticles

8K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  LeafsFan 
#1 ·
I'm looking for some assistance/ideas on finishing my basement so any advice would be great. I have 6 foot ceilings in my basement and I am looking to finish it. I currently have hardwood floors on the first floor but dont have any barrier between the basement and the 1st floor so you can hear everything between the floors almost perfectly. I am going to try insulating the basement tonight to help with the sound dampening. I also have a bunch of rad pipes and water pipes that come down lower than where the ceiling would go if screwed into the floor joists. I obviously cant put in drop ceiling as I am almost 6 feet tall. What is the best option for a ceiling in the basement/should i even put one in? Also what are the best options for flooring in basements as I currently have concrete. Should I finish the concrete or put in a carpeting, does it matter either way?

I know I'm looking for a lot of input.

Thanks in advance,

-DD
 
#4 ·
I have seen several basements where everything on the cieling is just spray painted flat black. It looks ok on some, I thought it would look terrible on mine as there was shit hanging all over the place. Obviously this does nothing for sound dampening, but a coat of paint does not take up much clearance.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Although similar to what Wedge shows there, Ceiling Link is the product I used and strongly recommend.

http://www.ceilinglink.com/

Page 3 of my man cave build (link in sig). Search the forum for more comments/suggestions on it when others have asked.

You'll still have to build some kind of bulkhead around lower pipes or duct work if you want to hide those but this will let you have a tile ceiling at the cost of 1".
 
#6 ·
Great ideas, thanks a ton. I figured i was stuck with open ceilings. I had thought about painting everything black like mike said. The ceiling link looks awesome though. Definitely something to keep in mind.

Do you guys have any thoughts on flooring?

I really appreciate the input so quick. Figured I wouldnt hear from anyone for a week or two.
 
#7 ·
Raise the plumbing by shutting off the water and use shark bites quick connects.No soldering needed.Box in the Heat/ac ducts or raise them up between the floor joists.Being as tall as the ceiling i would sheetrock the ceiling.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I've used DriCore in two basement rooms and as a floor beneath my wet bar. Decent 2x2 interlocking tile product that allows airflow underneath and whatever finish you want on top.

For the open space of the man cave, it's just carpeting. I wanted it comfy and after a dampness test (none detected), figured I'd get decent life out of it before worrying about replacing.

After renovating my upstairs, I might suggest a vinyl board. It's inert, won't rot, easy to work with, and forgiving on uneven surfaces. But it's also pricey so that's going to hurt. I only did my living room but it's well appreciated by wifey and visitors alike.

Let me dig up that... vinyl flooring starts on page 10 of my upstairs reno (see sig).
 
#9 · (Edited)
Let me add: I've no idea how thick rad pipes are but this image shows how you can work around water pipes (and perhaps rad pipes in the same way):



Rather than build a bulkhead, you might be able to get away with screwing some 2x2s or 2x3s (or 2x4s?) into the bottom of the joists and hanging the ceiling link product just beneath the pipes.
Edit: I wouldn't do the whole ceiling lower, just what's needed for the pipe clearance; tile width calculations would be required.

The exposed sides could then just be painted white? Or covered with barkerboard?

...scuse me... have to comment in another thread...
 
#10 ·
I saw the 2x4 idea for added drop. I just dont want to eat too much of my ceiling seeing as it is low already. I liked your setup of painting your pipes white and might go with that idea if I'm not able to raise them up. Dri-core seems like a good idea too, i didnt even think about sub flooring. Thanks for all the input!
 
#18 ·
I have a similar problem with ceiling height in the basement
They put in a French drain & raised the floor, so no room for a ceiling
If I ever fix up the basement it will be a painted black ceiling
All the pipes, electrical, network etc etc run all over the basement
No desire to cover all that up w/minimal room I have
When I moved in the heating pipes were all hanging down at eye level in some places
I've raised as many up as I can...but no way I can do a ceiling
 
#19 ·
@Trann I figured I would have to go with something recessed. I was thinking something like that would work. Now I just have to draw everything out to see if it all makes sense.

@Scuba Dave I have pretty much the same issue on half of the basement. So I'm going to see if I can work around it or if its going to be too much of a pain and just paint everything. I'm really digging the Click together ceilinglink because I'm thinking I can lose an inch or two and still make it work. We will see.
 
#28 ·
Subfloor product called Tyroc that is not cheap, but has one of the lowest profiles in the industry... Hope I don't get kicked out for 'endorsing', but I'm thinking I'll be using this product. Bottom is recycled tires and plastic bottles. Top is magnesium oxide, which will not promote any type of mold growth like the wood portion of dricore can... Also going to be using ceiling link due to the minimal headroom loss...
 
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