I'd been searching for a solution and was considering spraying "dry-fall" flat black for my 7' ceiling height - but this is awesome -so glad I found this post !!! THANKS!!!!!
You just made my day , year , decade lol amazing idea , I'm looking for a removable ceiling to do in my basement and kind sound proof for my wife ,she loves to play piano n she asked for drums
The concept of the panels is pretty flexible. You could mix in a solid panel using 1/4 inch plywood instead of slats, you could paint or stain different colors, you could use different fabric above the slats. i would say--if you can afford a better grade of wood than I used then go for it!
This is FANTASTIC! As someone who doesn't have a lot of experience doing this type of work, I really appreciate all of the informative details that you put into your videos! Thank you! 😀👍
I think it looks pretty good, considering the budget limitations. I bet down the road that a coat of paint could cover some of the imperfections of the wood. In the end a really nice solution, John!
Yes, you could easily paint these panels for a different look--even do a different color for each panel if you like. It's a flexible solution for sure.
needs some fluffy pink behind them. or did i miss that? even better if you use the paper faced rolls and have that closest to the slats. you still get a destructive parallel floor / ceiling bounce but its manageable if the LF is being absorbed into the insulation. the overall end job here looks fantastic btw.
Yes, installing an insulating material behind the panels would be best, though the budget was already tight in this case. However, rather than fiberglass insulation I would recommend mineral wool insulation, which is also known as "rock wool" or "rotten cotton."
This is a great idea, and exactly what in looking for that meets my budget and aesthetic I'm hoping for. The only question I have is how to mount the to the joists. You mentioned you screwed them in, but how did you do that in such a way to hide the screws?
The project in the video was intended to be just the least expensive as possible, so I just countersunk some holes along the perimeter of the frame and screwed into the joist. The frames are stiff enough that they don't need many screws. You don't really see the screw heads. However, if you want to step it up a level, perhaps using a better quality wood and hiding the screws, there are options. You could use small steel "L" brackets to screw into the joist and the side of the frames, which would be hidden. You'd just have to face-screw part of the the last frame. You might look into hidden deck fasteners, which are available in many styles now. Or you could simply plug the screw holes if it won't be necessary to remove the frames in the future.
LOVE this!! We're kinda, sorta finishing off our basement: new insulation, putting up drywall (we may even just leave it 'raw'), and some kind of flooring to accommodate a pool table. Question: Do you know if this ceiling approach would mean the basement is actually FINISHED for property tax purposes? I've been told, not sure if it's true, that if you leave the ceiling unfinished, the basement doesn't count as finished regardless of what other work's been done and therefore, no increase in property taxes. Do you - or any of your subscribers - know the answer to this? Thanks! It looks great and is exactly what hubby and I want to do for our basement. Julie Allyn Johnson
That's a great question, but the answer will lie with your local building & tax departments. There are differences among municipalities even in the same state or county. If you are installing walls with drywall you are already partway there, I would think. These panels are removable, but that may or may not make a difference.
You can get that landscape fabric at Lowes or Home Depot, and the brand is not that important. Just make sure it's the style shown in the video versus the cheaper perforated plastic style which will rip and not look as nice.
I have to say that I love this project. The 4'x4' module looks really nice. For not a lot of money you made a really cool treatment for your studio. If I ever have a home with a basement space for my recording / music studio I will def. install a similar ceiling. Have you been able to notice / test the sound qualities at all yet? Does just one layer of fabric behind do enough to control some of the reflections? I was kind of expecting you to put in some type of wool insulation on top of the fabric to make it a bit denser. do you know what the total area of the ceiling is? how long did the project take for you to complete? Great job!
You could definitely improve the sound insulation quality by using "rock wool" between the joists. There are some downsides to that, including cost and the potential for fibers coming loose over time. The fabric backing that I installed is more about appearance than about acoustics, but the opening between the slats allows sound waves to travel though and dissipate rather than reflect. It did make a difference as far as reflective sound, along with other factors such as carpeting. I don't recall now the total area, but the time it took to complete the project was primarily in the shop. Actually hanging the panels took a few minutes each.
It did cut down on excessive echo. However, if the budget allowed I would have installed mineral wool insulation in the joist bays first, so that sound waves that do get past the slats are absorbed. High end recording studios use a similar method, with a slatted false wall behind the mixing desk and then 5-10 feet of space behind the false wall filled with various sound absorbing materials.
This addresses most of my concerns and looks great!👍 One question: Could moisture get trapped in between the ceiling and the panels and potentially cause mold to grow? Is the landscape fabric breathable? How could accumulation of moisture be avoided or proper ventilation be maintained behind the panels if necessary ? Thank you!
Well, first, if you have so much humidity in a basement or room that mold could develop, then you already have a problem. You wouldn't want musical instruments in that environment and you would want to install a dehumidifier. If you have humidity in a normal range, then mold will certainly not develop under a slatted panel. Plus, the landscape fabric is breathable, which is more than can be said for drywall or suspended ceiling panels.
Typically the inexpensive 1x2 furring strips that I used are sold in bundles of 15, and each bundle will do a panel. So check locally on that cost, and just add a roll of that landscaping fabric and fasteners. Now, if you use a better quality wood your costs will go up, but the furring strips work fine for many applications.
That's tempting, but I think you would find two problems with that approach. One is that the plywood strips would not have enough rigidity for the application and you'd get sagging. The other is that the edges of the plywood would show, and that isn't particularly attractive.
@@enduringcharm question on 4 X 4 square. How many 8 ft strips did you need to do one square ? I have a fairly large area of 260 square foot so I'm trying to make up my wood list
One really inexpensive way to improve the sound quality... (and the mental heath of any folks upstairs....) would be to add insulation between the rafters before putting up the panels. 😂
Rather than fiberglass insulation I use what is known as "rock wool" in that situation. However, to really sound proof one level from another it takes a lot more than that.
It's very interesting to see how one can offer a creative design at reasonable cost. I like the final look, and I imagine your clients were happy too.
The landscape fabric... GENIUS! Thank you for sharing!
I'd been searching for a solution and was considering spraying "dry-fall" flat black for my 7' ceiling height - but this is awesome -so glad I found this post !!! THANKS!!!!!
Glad it was helpful!
Looks Rock n' Roll to me! Thanks for sharing!
You just made my day , year , decade lol amazing idea , I'm looking for a removable ceiling to do in my basement and kind sound proof for my wife ,she loves to play piano n she asked for drums
Thanks John! One of my first retirement projects is to remodel the basement-this is perfect-add little paint and my grand-daughters will LOVE it!
The concept of the panels is pretty flexible. You could mix in a solid panel using 1/4 inch plywood instead of slats, you could paint or stain different colors, you could use different fabric above the slats. i would say--if you can afford a better grade of wood than I used then go for it!
Nice kit!
This is FANTASTIC! As someone who doesn't have a lot of experience doing this type of work, I really appreciate all of the informative details that you put into your videos! Thank you! 😀👍
Nice job John.
Such a great idea. Exactly what I needed. 💯
Did you try this? How did it go? I‘m considering trying this method.
Fantastic job!!! This is a brilliant idea!!
Looks great!
I love this!! Looks amazing 🤩
I think it looks pretty good, considering the budget limitations. I bet down the road that a coat of paint could cover some of the imperfections of the wood. In the end a really nice solution, John!
Yes, you could easily paint these panels for a different look--even do a different color for each panel if you like. It's a flexible solution for sure.
Can you please tell the spacing . Looks awesome thank you
You can see at 8:11 I just used a plywood spacer. Something in the range of 3/4 inch to a full inch is fine.
@enduringcharm thank you 😊
I like the idea.
Exactly what I'm looking for!!!!!!!
needs some fluffy pink behind them. or did i miss that? even better if you use the paper faced rolls and have that closest to the slats. you still get a destructive parallel floor / ceiling bounce but its manageable if the LF is being absorbed into the insulation. the overall end job here looks fantastic btw.
Yes, installing an insulating material behind the panels would be best, though the budget was already tight in this case. However, rather than fiberglass insulation I would recommend mineral wool insulation, which is also known as "rock wool" or "rotten cotton."
This is a great idea, and exactly what in looking for that meets my budget and aesthetic I'm hoping for. The only question I have is how to mount the to the joists.
You mentioned you screwed them in, but how did you do that in such a way to hide the screws?
The project in the video was intended to be just the least expensive as possible, so I just countersunk some holes along the perimeter of the frame and screwed into the joist. The frames are stiff enough that they don't need many screws. You don't really see the screw heads. However, if you want to step it up a level, perhaps using a better quality wood and hiding the screws, there are options. You could use small steel "L" brackets to screw into the joist and the side of the frames, which would be hidden. You'd just have to face-screw part of the the last frame. You might look into hidden deck fasteners, which are available in many styles now. Or you could simply plug the screw holes if it won't be necessary to remove the frames in the future.
LOVE this!! We're kinda, sorta finishing off our basement: new insulation, putting up drywall (we may even just leave it 'raw'), and some kind of flooring to accommodate a pool table.
Question: Do you know if this ceiling approach would mean the basement is actually FINISHED for property tax purposes? I've been told, not sure if it's true, that if you leave the ceiling unfinished, the basement doesn't count as finished regardless of what other work's been done and therefore, no increase in property taxes. Do you - or any of your subscribers - know the answer to this? Thanks! It looks great and is exactly what hubby and I want to do for our basement. Julie Allyn Johnson
That's a great question, but the answer will lie with your local building & tax departments. There are differences among municipalities even in the same state or county. If you are installing walls with drywall you are already partway there, I would think. These panels are removable, but that may or may not make a difference.
Do you have a link to the black fabric that you used behind the slats?
You can get that landscape fabric at Lowes or Home Depot, and the brand is not that important. Just make sure it's the style shown in the video versus the cheaper perforated plastic style which will rip and not look as nice.
I have to say that I love this project. The 4'x4' module looks really nice. For not a lot of money you made a really cool treatment for your studio. If I ever have a home with a basement space for my recording / music studio I will def. install a similar ceiling. Have you been able to notice / test the sound qualities at all yet? Does just one layer of fabric behind do enough to control some of the reflections? I was kind of expecting you to put in some type of wool insulation on top of the fabric to make it a bit denser. do you know what the total area of the ceiling is? how long did the project take for you to complete? Great job!
You could definitely improve the sound insulation quality by using "rock wool" between the joists. There are some downsides to that, including cost and the potential for fibers coming loose over time. The fabric backing that I installed is more about appearance than about acoustics, but the opening between the slats allows sound waves to travel though and dissipate rather than reflect. It did make a difference as far as reflective sound, along with other factors such as carpeting. I don't recall now the total area, but the time it took to complete the project was primarily in the shop. Actually hanging the panels took a few minutes each.
Nice budget solution. Despite the drawbacks it does vastly improve the appearance. Any feedback on how well it worked out acoustically?
It did cut down on excessive echo. However, if the budget allowed I would have installed mineral wool insulation in the joist bays first, so that sound waves that do get past the slats are absorbed. High end recording studios use a similar method, with a slatted false wall behind the mixing desk and then 5-10 feet of space behind the false wall filled with various sound absorbing materials.
This addresses most of my concerns and looks great!👍 One question: Could moisture get trapped in between the ceiling and the panels and potentially cause mold to grow? Is the landscape fabric breathable? How could accumulation of moisture be avoided or proper ventilation be maintained behind the panels if necessary ?
Thank you!
Well, first, if you have so much humidity in a basement or room that mold could develop, then you already have a problem. You wouldn't want musical instruments in that environment and you would want to install a dehumidifier. If you have humidity in a normal range, then mold will certainly not develop under a slatted panel. Plus, the landscape fabric is breathable, which is more than can be said for drywall or suspended ceiling panels.
What spacing did you use between slats?
The slats themselves are about 1.5 inches wide, and the spacing between each slat about 1 inch. That makes 19 slats between the frame sides.
Awesome thank you
What was the material cost per 4x4 panel?
Typically the inexpensive 1x2 furring strips that I used are sold in bundles of 15, and each bundle will do a panel. So check locally on that cost, and just add a roll of that landscaping fabric and fasteners. Now, if you use a better quality wood your costs will go up, but the furring strips work fine for many applications.
Plywood strips?
That's tempting, but I think you would find two problems with that approach. One is that the plywood strips would not have enough rigidity for the application and you'd get sagging. The other is that the edges of the plywood would show, and that isn't particularly attractive.
what is the black material used as the back drop ? How was it mounted ?
That's in the video--see 5:51.
@@enduringcharm thanks!
@@enduringcharm question on 4 X 4 square. How many 8 ft strips did you need to do one square ? I have a fairly large area of 260 square foot so I'm trying to make up my wood list
The bundles of furring strips are typically 15 in number, which is enough for one 4x4 panel. Expect some strips to be unusable.
One really inexpensive way to improve the sound quality... (and the mental heath of any folks upstairs....) would be to add insulation between the rafters before putting up the panels.
😂
Rather than fiberglass insulation I use what is known as "rock wool" in that situation. However, to really sound proof one level from another it takes a lot more than that.