Comments on: Painted Basement Ceiling (How-To, Tips, and Lessons Learned)

By: Fred

Fred — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:43:12 +0000

Krystal, either will be fine to use…

By: krystal

krystal — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:50:16 +0000

the basement is already framed and has some paneling up but no insulation so needless to say that during winters in chicago no one went down there.

we had a closet or what someone considered a weird version of a closet on the back wall. i say this because it had only one door but expanded the entire length of the wall and was only maybe 18 inches deep. so anything that was in the back u had to either crawl over a mountain of other thing to get to it or take everything out to get to it. last week i took the paneling off that wall and put up some drylok.

i want to insulated the other three wall because there is nothing behind the panels other than frames and brick.

ok so the R13 i should use is that fiberglass or the styrofoam ?

By: Fred

Fred — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:02:21 +0000

Hi krystal, here’s your answers:

(1) I would definitely recommend insulating. You can use standard R13 “pink” insulation on the walls. If you plan to frame out the basement, you’ll space the studs on 16″ centers and put the insulation between the studs. Otherwise, you can buy R13 in large sheets that can be fastened directly to the concrete walls with a special tool.

(2) No, it doesn’t matter about spraying over the pipes with standard latex paint. The paint may not form a good bond and might peel, though.

By: krystal

krystal — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:56:58 +0000

im a beginner do it yourselfer. i love the look of the ceiling. we currently have a drop ceiling that take away probably more than a foot of headroom and have been looking for an alternative
anyways my questions are (1)how did u go about insulation. we live in chicago and out basement is curently not insulated. but we plan on doing this to make it more livable. from the pic it look as if u just pained over the insulation (or at least thats what i think i saw) what kind of insulation do u recommend and question (2) does it matter about spraying paint over the pipes?

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:25:01 +0000

This was the greatest solution for an unfinished small efficiency apartment I have. Worked great. The Wagner Crew Plus Painter was terrific. Didn’t take as much paint as I thought it would. The process was great and the room ceiling looks awesome for the type of ceiling that it is.

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:10:23 +0000

Cincy, I’m really glad this inspired you! Chuck did a wonderful job on their ceiling. We considered doing a brown-out ceiling in our room (a little different look). We’ve since decided to go ahead and sheetrock it … but I still think a painted ceiling can really go a long way in making a space look better on the cheap.

By: Cincy

Cincy — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:40:57 +0000

This is EXACTLY what Im looking for! I have an unfinished basement but with a little (affordable) Love - a white ceiling to brighten it up, a classy color on the concrete walls, and maybe some all-weather carpeting, it could turn into a very functional space! Your pics have inspired our new summer project. My husband will be pissed!!!

By: southsideandy

southsideandy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:10:44 +0000

This looks great, although, as I said before, I don’t think it’s what I want for my basement. Just personal preference.

But check out my blog, Fred, as I know you’re brainstorming your basement ceiling as well…the hamsters are turning the wheels in my head now.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:12:57 +0000

It does look a lot nicer! I would say that is a fairly quick, easy, and cheap way to create a good looking basement space.

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:21:57 +0000

Corey, don’t quote me on this because I’m not an expert, but here’s my understanding: If the basement is completely unfinished, you can have neatly secured romex wire that is not in conduit. This also applies in a garage. If the basement is converted to living space, you cannot have any romex showing and all exposed romex must be in conduit.

Now, I don’t know what officially constitutes converting a basement to living space, but I would guess it has to do with how a house is marketed. You can’t include unfinished space in the square foot count, and you can’t advertise bedrooms in unfinished spaces. There’s probably some judgment involved in this. I’ve never heard of a locale penalizing someone for using an unfinished basement as living space, even if you haven’t converted the space.

In Maryland, the codes differ from county to county and Baltimore City. I’m only familiar with Balto. County, so this might be different for you.