DIY Network

A Rockin' Basement Rescue From "DIY to the Rescue" episode DTTR-408F

Father Marty Prince and son Chris like to rock out in the basement -- much to the dismay of mom Jacque. While both father and son have bands that practice at the Prince home, Jacque has had enough of making the best of a loud situation. The DIY to the Rescue team arrives on the scene to rescue Jacque from an audio nightmare. The crew will install a new acoustic drop ceiling and carpet tile flooring. Finally, window trims, pipe enclosures, new paint and lighting will add the finishing touches.

Before: This basement practice space was uninspiring to the musical members of the house (Marty and Chris Prince). Mom Jacque, on the other hand, just wanted some peace and quiet.

After the rescue: a space that's a little less "dungeon" and a little less deafening!

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A closer look at the finished acoustic ceiling.

Drop Ceiling Installation

Note: In this example, the basement measures 16' from floor to the floor joists above. As there are many pipes, wires and ductwork, we will be installing the new ceiling at a height of 11-1/2' off the floor. Also, the walls have been drywalled up to the 12' level.

1. Paint a strip of wall paint from the top of the drywall down to the 11' line off the floor. Using a rotating laser projection level, project a level line on all three walls a point that is 11-1/2' off the floor (a regular tape measure will also suffice) and snap a chalk line.

2. Mount the ceiling wall channel to the walls at the line.

3. Using nails and wire, hang 6' long support wires at 4' intervals from the joists above. Install the long ceiling cross framing pieces by putting one end on the wall channel and supporting the rest with the support wires. This will create a grid with spaces 4' wide by 16' long.

4. Install 4' long framing pieces 2' on center in between the long ceiling frame pieces. The first and last piece will be spaced to make an even space beside the wall. As our room is almost 16' wide, this space will be very close to 2' wide. This will create a grid made up of 4' by 2' squares.

5. Install the 2' long framing pieces 2' on center in between the 4' long framing pieces. This will complete the grid with 2' by 2' squares.

6. In this example, the outer run of the ceiling tiles need to be cut to slightly less than 2'. For this reason, the crew uses a typical ceiling tile around the edge, instead of the multi-part soundproofing tiles that will fit the center of the ceiling. Cut and fit the perimeter tiles by dropping them into the metal frame.

7. Install the 2' x 2' soundproofing tiles in the same way by assembling the pieces and dropping into the grid.

Window and Base Trim

1. To install trim on the three bare windows, the crew first measures and cut a stool piece to create the bottom windowsill. The stool piece is secured with finish nails.

2. Miter three pieces of 2-1/4" casing and install on both top and sides of window.

3. Next, cut a 3" casing to fit under stool.

4. Repeat for all windows and modify as necessary. In this example, one double window also received a mull strip and a central vertical seam between the two window parts.

5. Prime and paint as desired.

6. For the base trim, pre-paint the 3-1/3" base trim, measure and miter the corners, then install with finish nails.

Pipe Chase Installation

In this rescue, two pipes run from the floor to ceiling in one corner of the Princes' basement. One measures 4"; the other, 2". The edges of 1 x 12 material is mitered to 45-degrees. Three pieces are joined together to wrap around the pipe in a "U" shape. The chase for the larger pipe will be created from two 1 x 8 pieces; the chase for the smaller pipe will be constructed from three 1 x 6s. The pieces will be attached using adhesive caulk before being painted.

RESOURCES :

Coffer-style drop ceiling
Interior Systems
Website: InteriorSystems.com