8' Versus 9' Basement Ceilings

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Phyl

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The project studio I plan to build will be in a new house. The builder will do 9' foot ceilings in the basement for about $5k extra and I'm thinking about going for it, mainly because of the extra headroom I would have after floating a floor and adding two layers of sheetrock and RC to the ceiling.

Any opinions? Are there any other significant benefits I'm missing, or would it be $5k wasted?
 
Do it. Remember you'll have ducts and pipes and stuff too. Do it.
 
I agree go for the 9' ceilings..... By the way Cincinnati Rocks! :D
 
Phyl... double check with the city zoning. In Spanish Fork we cant go above 8' for basement height. - It might be statewide.
 
9' ceiling

9' ceiling in the basement is well worth the extra money. I had my builder do that, they only charged me $1100 extra, so it was a no-brainer. After finishing my studio, I got 7'10" of ceiling height. You will lose a lot of height after you cover the duct work, pipes, RC and whatever else you'll have up there.
 
dcwave said:
Phyl... double check with the city zoning. In Spanish Fork we cant go above 8' for basement height. - It might be statewide.
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Another Utahn! A bunch of the model homes we visited had 9' basement ceilings so I think we're okay. I'm up in Davis county.

shaz said:
9' ceiling in the basement is well worth the extra money. I had my builder do that, they only charged me $1100 extra, so it was a no-brainer. After finishing my studio, I got 7'10" of ceiling height. You will lose a lot of height after you cover the duct work, pipes, RC and whatever else you'll have up there.
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I'm hoping to build my rooms such that the supply and return ducts are in the hallways. I plan on getting supply and return vents into the rooms by running flex tubing or somesuch...we'll see how that works out.

In my little pea brain I figured I would lose ~1.5" to drywall (two layers) and another ~1" to the RC. Am I missing anything?
 
It takes alot of extra effort to pull pipe and wiring through holes in the joists as opposed to just running them on the bottom of the joist. Find out what your builder intends to do. That may be another added cost?
 
In my little pea brain I figured I would lose ~1.5" to drywall (two layers) and another ~1" to the RC. Am I missing anything?
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Hello Phyl. Say, I don't know how much isolation you are looking for, but if you really want to improve it, line all the joist cavities with 2 layers of drywall too. Pull them up tight so no air is between layers or between the drywall and the subfloor too. Seal all joints, penetrations etc. Do this now before running pipes and stuff. Then install ENOUGH batt type insulation whereby it is dampening BOTH the subfloor and the suspended drywall ceiling. That is key no matter the method of decoupling.

Second, again, if you want substantially better isolation, use Risc isolators and hat channel to fasten the drywall to. This allows to lower the drywall below pipes etc, if you can't run them through the joists. Plus, they have a better rating than RC. Far more expensive and time consuming, but you get what you pay for. This assumes all other flanking paths, walls, doors, grills, ducts and construction detailing etc meet the same rating.
fitZ
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
Hello Phyl. Say, I don't know how much isolation you are looking for, but if you really want to improve it, line all the joist cavities with 2 layers of drywall too. Pull them up tight so no air is between layers or between the drywall and the subfloor too. Seal all joints, penetrations etc. Do this now before running pipes and stuff. Then install ENOUGH batt type insulation whereby it is dampening BOTH the subfloor and the suspended drywall ceiling. That is key no matter the method of decoupling.

Second, again, if you want substantially better isolation, use Risc isolators and hat channel to fasten the drywall to. This allows to lower the drywall below pipes etc, if you can't run them through the joists. Plus, they have a better rating than RC. Far more expensive and time consuming, but you get what you pay for. This assumes all other flanking paths, walls, doors, grills, ducts and construction detailing etc meet the same rating.
fitZ
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Great stuff Rick - thanks.

I'll look into Risc isolators and hat channel; I haven't run across these terms yet. Is one of them the same thing as Resilient Channel?
 
Hello Phyl. Actually these come in a wide variety of types and applications. Many more than these link to. Some of the pages have a link to others. Most of these are isolation "hanger" systems, with some designed to incorporate the hatchannel within the isolation hanger themself, where others allow hanging and adjustment via T-grid "wires", or other approved wire types. The key here is research and weight calculations/vs spacing etc. There are details to be aware of though, and drywall fastening/sealing/caulking to consider too.
Many details effect the overall perfomance of the installation.

And no, hatchannel is NOT the same as RC. Similar in appearance, but not the same at all. It is a double flanged sheetmetal channel designed for fastening drywall to walls or ceilings. MUCH stronger than RC. And used in conjunction with Risc clips/hangers the ceiling membrane is totally decoupled from the structure above via the hangers which are neoprene or springs, whereas RC depends on distributing the vibrations along its length.

http://searcht.netscape.com/ns/boom...ove_url=http://www.silentsource.com/rsic.html

http://searcht.netscape.com/ns/boom...ove_url=http://www.silentsource.com/rsic.html


http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomf...com/vibration_mounts/iso_hangers.htm%3Fd%3D24

http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomf...com/vibration_mounts/iso_hangers.htm%3Fd%3D24
http://www.kineticsnoise.com/arch/srh.html


http://www.kineticsnoise.com/arch/icw/index.html

ere is one for use on walls. There are many types for this application as well.
http://www.kineticsnoise.com/arch/isomax/index.html

fitZ
 
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Hello again. I forgot to mention this little tidbid. What these allow you to do, is increase the airgap between the leafs of a Mass Air Mass system. You do NOT want more than TWO leafs of mass. The floor is one(which you increase the mass from below with drywall in between the joists) and the other is the suspended(decoupled) drywall ceiling. Increasing the air gap depth lowers the resonant frequency that will transmitt through the assembly. Here is a link to explain it far better than I can. These principles are applicable to walls, floors and ceilings.
Another method to consider for maximum isolation is a "floating room". However, it is super expensive and time consuming. But, thats up to you. There are many many people doing this. If you want to explore the possibilities, go here. Then read all the "stickys"

Let me forewarn you though. There are people that claim building floating floors or rooms is a useless endeavor unless critical weight vs dampening calculations are performed, while there are other schools of thought that use of simple neoprene or pre calculated fiberglass "pucks or pads" are fine for most home studio applications. Also, the performance of your build will be directly determined by your adherance to recommended installation guidelines, which in turn is determined by the calculations. And these are NOT simple.
To this end, RESEARCH is your friend. :D

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=f8f186822f24bb012e5d73978154c7ca
fitZ
 
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