Basement Ceiling Over Layout

My basement is 1900 square feet and I used rolls of reflective insulation screwed to the floor joists as opposed to drywall or dropped ceiling . Did the entire basement ceiling for less than $400.00 as opposed to spending thousands on drywall or dropped ceiling.

I have a drop ceiling in my basement and over my layout. The are not expensive to install and you can also install your lights right in the tile. I am a contractor so I did all the work myself.

I do not have personal experience with open joists above a layout, but the paint helps to seal the structure and prevent most of the dust generation. I do like the look of a blacked out ceiling as it focuses your attention to the layout. After many years swinging a hammer at old floor joists I can attest to the amount of dust that accumulates, and it is a lot. If you go that route, do it before any other finishes are installed, it's a messy job. Spray painting is the most effective method to get good coverage. Look for dry-fall paint.

Noise transmission is another factor where drop ceilings do help.

Good luck with the house hunting.

Bob

You didn't mention the floor to ceiling height.  An important part of any discussion like this.

I love the black ceiling idea.  The first time I ever saw one was Bob Bartizek's Pennsylvania and Western.  It was great because it was black and boring, and with carefully aimed lighting, the layout "POPS"...meaning all the attention is focused on the layout where it should be.

if I ever do it again, that's what I would do.

I also had insulation between my joists that would settle down on the layout.  I took rolls of black landscape material and stapled them to the bottom of the joists. Cut openings for plumbing valves that I would want to access if needed. Works well and is fairly inexpensive.

There is no doubt you will get dust from an open ceiling. Painting will help but not completely solve the problem. Wood expands and contracts, so any dust in seams or joints will move as well and drop down.

I went with a suspended ceiling in my train room.

I used the landscape material also on my basement ceiling.  It’s light, easy to handle and inexpensive.  No one ever looks up at the ceiling.

Doug

I guess it is up to the OP as to what he wants and can afford.  I personally like a room that is very bright and shows off the trains.  I opted for a drop ceiling with white walls and white shelves for the trains.  I went with 2 x 4 LED troffer lights and the room is great and the trains show very well.

NWL

Suggest trying to visit a couple of basements to see each of the options.

If you opt for a dropped ceiling, I suggest taking pictures of all of the underlying infrastructure in case you need to make repairs or modifications later on.

Ceiling height will vary as I am looking at multiple houses.

Liking the landscape cloth idea.

Thanks for feedback

Bill

My ceiling is painted with black dryfall.  I get very little dust on the layout!

Painting the ceiling does a great job sealing things up.

@ogaugenut posted:

Ceiling height will vary as I am looking at multiple houses.

Liking the landscape cloth idea.

Thanks for feedback

Bill

Yes the ceiling height can make a big difference.  I had my house built in 2002 and I opted to get a 9 foot basement wall, which worked out to c. 8.5 feet of clearance, as the wall height is measured from the foundation to the top and the basement floor is poured at a level above the foundation footings and takes up the first few inches of the wall height.

Even so, my clearance below the drop ceiling is around 7' 11", not quite 8', but all of the HVAC ducting is hidden and I have a flat ceiling throughout the room.

NWL

@Cape Cod Northern posted:

I also had insulation between my joists that would settle down on the layout.  I took rolls of black landscape material and stapled them to the bottom of the joists. Cut openings for plumbing valves that I would want to access if needed. Works well and is fairly inexpensive.

That's inspiring. I am not a fan of basements as living space, unless they are specifically built for it. I understand the need, just not for me.

But black as a covering is a really great idea. I have clear, and it's only over the trains. So now I'll have to change things...arghhh!

@RSJB18 posted:

I have a drop ceiling in my basement and over my layout. The are not expensive to install and you can also install your lights right in the tile.

yep, agree 100%

I ran sheets of plywood down the center of where my layout was going to hang lights on, then ran sky blue fabric from the plywood over to the floor / ceiling joists and stapled it up.  I painted the plywood a match blue to the fabric.  Makes for a nice sky look.  You can see the edge of it in the pictures at my signature block link.

My basement has open joist and is not painted. I have had my layout for over twenty years. I have gotten very little dust. There are hard wood floors upstairs with black paper under hardwood so that may have kept keep  dust down.

Wow, there’s many ways to fix up a ceiling in one’s basement, painting it a dark color, or stapling up house insulation, and one could even leave the beams exposed. We built our home back in 1996, and the basement is totally under the house with our garage on the top level, therefore no cars in the basement. Also, it’s a 9-1/2 foot ceiling so we added a drop ceiling. We did the drop ceiling ourselves and a good friend thats  a licensed electrician did our lights. We installed many electrical outlets in the ceiling making it easier to connect the track lighting over the layout. We used the two by four panels and even had plexiglass-mirror cut to fit in the ceiling to watch trains running from different locations. The other thing we did was have a 60 amp breaker box added for exclusively the train layout. So, by building the house and knowing the basement would be finished for a train layout, this was planned. By having the drop ceiling, there is not much dust and is easily maintained. We were able to cut the plywood and 2 by 4 lumber outside of the basement. All of this was my wife’s idea, so I give her all the credit for my having a train room. So, I recommend a drop ceiling. Merry Christmas Everyone, and Happy Railroading Everyone

Great information !!!

Thank you to all posters !!!

CB&Q Bill

I have a drop ceiling and have also painted the walls, shelves and the layout sides off white. As mentioned by Nation Wide Lines, it makes the trains and layout pop. My layout is 30 years old, but I have made two additions to it.

John

FYI- Acoustic ceiling grid and tile are available in black. Best of both worlds.

Bob

Painted my ceiling and floor, very little dust issues. Primed any metal ducts/pipes.

My house is a 1950s cape, barely 7 ft clearance in the unfinished portion.  I used black landscape material for the layout skirt and as another said stapled to the ceiling with cutouts.  That coupled with a black valence makes it look far better than it probably is.  The landscape material is relatively inexpensive and easy to work with especially is one is all thumbs.

OGaugeNut-

Some great ideas here. One important consideration— make sure any materials that are on the ceilings or walls are fire retardant. Double-check specs of plastic (clear or black) put on walls and ceilings- they may not be fire retardant. Double-check specs on any landscape cloth. Insulation installed cannot have the craft-backed / brown paper backed exposed- must have finished wall board, etc applied after insulation installed.

Carl J

I also read about the dust falling down through the gaps in the floor board. I found myself some flexible paintable caulking and just shot that between/over the gap. It would take some effort to find it now because I then painting the ceiling flat black with a Harbor Freight electric paint sprayer. It was a VERY messy job but well worth the effort.

For anybody considering the electric sprayer: put plastic down on the floor, tape it together. Same with the walls. I did not use dry fall paint and the paint does get everywhere. You have to water it down quite a bit, which makes it messy. You'll also want to keep a piece of scrap plywood or cardboard in the painting area so you can aim the sprayer there and get it dialed in and flowing consistently. It was by far the messiest thing I ever did but it was worth it and it worked well.

I designed and installed my own drop ceiling to access stuff in the ceiling.

I did this AFTER the layout was built.  I do NOT recommend that at all.

Whatever you decide, do it before you build the layout.

@BillYo414 posted:

I also read about the dust falling down through the gaps in the floor board. I found myself some flexible paintable caulking and just shot that between/over the gap. It would take some effort to find it now because I then painting the ceiling flat black with a Harbor Freight electric paint sprayer. It was a VERY messy job but well worth the effort.

For anybody considering the electric sprayer: put plastic down on the floor, tape it together. Same with the walls. I did not use dry fall paint and the paint does get everywhere. You have to water it down quite a bit, which makes it messy. You'll also want to keep a piece of scrap plywood or cardboard in the painting area so you can aim the sprayer there and get it dialed in and flowing consistently. It was by far the messiest thing I ever did but it was worth it and it worked well.

Good points. I have a Wagner sprayer which does the job for small projects. They are tricky to get dialed in so a scrap area to test is a must.

For something like painting a ceiling, I would recommend an airless pump sprayer. The paint is pumped up to pressure to produce the spray, not mixed with air. Pump sprayers produce much less overspray and can be controlled more easily. They can be rented.

@Ron045- Very nice ceiling.

Bob