Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[geelo]

Hello,

My house has a relatively low (unfinished) basement ceiling - 6' 8" from slab floor to joists.  It's comfortable enough to walk & work in - however I don't want to lose any more height to ceiling finishing & further acoustic treatment.  

I intend to frame out two rooms for a tracking/control room.  Based on advice on the forums, I intend to make the ceilings fully absorptive - while maintaining as much height as possible.  

An idea I had was to not finish the ceiling traditionally, but rather finish from the joists up - and use the joist cavities for bass trapping & absorptive material.  For example:  make fabric wrapped 2" 703 panels to insert in between the joists - and fill the cavity with additional fiberglass insulation.  The bottoms of the joists would be exposed - perhaps even creating a cool look.  

Furthermore, I though I could add more mass to the underside of the exposed flooring with additional layers of sheetrock.   For isolation, I recognize that I'd have to build the walls up in-between the joists - caulking around all edges.  This is way more work that just framing a room w/ a conventional ceiling - but I believe it will save valuable ceiling height & give me considerable bass trapping & absorptive ceiling qualities.  I understand flanking will not be ideal - since there wouldn't be isolation from the joists.  But this would be my sacrifice to save height.  

Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on this idea, or any other suggestions on how to frame out these two rooms - without losing any ceiling height.

Thanks,
Angelo

[gullfo]

sounds like a reasonable approach given the limitations on the space.

[brett]

if you watch the videos on Ethan's website www.realtraps.com they do that same thing.

[franman]

We have done almost this exact treatment a couple of times in basement studios with good success... best of luck.

[Larrchild]

Make sure that the cloth you wrap the 703 with is a dense enough weave to prevent 703 particles from raining down when the joist cavities start vibrating.

[geelo]

Larrchild wrote on Sun, 27 April 2008 14:59

Make sure that the cloth you wrap the 703 with is a dense enough weave to prevent 703 particles from raining down when the joist cavities start vibrating.

Oh man... that would suck!  For my panels - I've bee using an inexpensive muslin type material - that I found at Walmart for $1.50/yd.  It seems porous enough to allow acoustic waves to pass - but also seems like it contains the 703 fibers fairly well.  However, I haven't tested them upside down like this application would propose.  

I guess when we all start itching, we'll know we have a problem.

Thanks to everyone for your help and reassurance. I was getting nervous that dealing with joists that low would be an impossibility.

Angelo

[Larrchild]

You could add some 1/4" x 1" strips on the bottoms of certain joists in large sections and cover the ceiling in fabric to catch even more,
Cleaner lines, too. The strips would allow the fabric to clear the other joists to avoid that "ribbed" look.

[rdmerrill]

You may want to look into trying this stuff between the joists. I've had good luck with it.  The bass absorption specs are quite good.

http://www.bondedlogic.com/ultratouch.htm

[gullfo]

Larrchild wrote on Thu, 01 May 2008 22:42

The strips would allow the fabric to clear the other joists to avoid that "ribbed" look.

good tip! you can also use felt strips or soft rubber tape over the joists and studs to reduce the effect. painting the studs and joists to match the cloth also helps hide them esp if the cloth is fairly sheer.

[trock]

Hey there

i have the EXACT same height ceiling and built my studio in the basement also. i found a ceiling system that actually is drilled onto the joists themselves and you slide the 2x4 panels into this interlocking grid, thus not losing more than an inch or less of height. i put R30 inso in the ceiling and then this system on the joists. i then treated the walls with bass treatments and other panels etc

here is a pic of the ceiling and a pic where youcan sort of see the treatment i purchased. so far it has worked really well for me

[trock]