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We were recently called by a homeowner to bid a new ceiling for a newly remodeled section of their basement. The following pictures show the project from start to finish. 

The portion of the basement where the ceiling was to be installed had lower than normal ceiling height so I recommended a zero-clearance ceiling. With a zero clearance system the grid is fastened directly to the floor joists overhead increasing the overall ceiling height, hence the hanging wires that are normally used in a conventional dropped ceiling are eliminated. 

This is a shot of the room as I first saw it.

Another shot of the basement. The drywall that you see was installed by the homeowner prior to calling us. Note the exposed hanging lights, the heating ducts hanging below the ceiling line, the exposed ductwork, and the wood lath that originally served as a base for some funky ceiling tiles that were removed prior to our arrival. All the aforementioned items will need to be dealt with to finish this area.

The first thing that we did was to remove the old wood lath and box the heating ducts. The bottom of the ducts all have individual dampers to control the heating & cooling airflow to the individual upstairs rooms so we will need to make sure that access to them is not lost.

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Recessed can lighting is installed & the round heating diffusers that originally hung below the ceiling joists are temporarily removed.  The drywall is now fastened to the framing with a cutout provided for a rectangular duct register, and the grid system is starting to go up and take shape. The grid system used for this project is a composite, no rusting, no scratching,  and cuts with a pair of heavy snips. 1-1/2" drywall screws are used to affix the grid to the wood floor joists as recommended by the manufacturer.

Another shot of the grid system as it is assembled. I like to use a string-line stretched taught from wall to wall assuring that the main runners are straight before they are screwed to the wood.

Here's a shot showing the first few ceiling panels being placed into the grid.

This is our high-tech field cutting table. Actually it consists of nothing more than a couple of saw-horses on which we set a couple of pieces of drywall to support the ceiling panels while we trim them. Here you see a panel being trimmed for one of the trim-rings used for the recessed can lights. Accurate measurements are required or panels are reduced to waste. I use a keyhole-drywall saw and drywall rasp (upper right item on ceiling panel) to square-up the cut edges on each ceiling panel as it makes for a neater job. In this picture you can also see the round heating diffusers sitting on the floor (upper left in picture). You can also see one of my high-intensity lights sitting on the floor. I like the area well-lighted when working and a little music playing in the background makes the day pass quicker.

The grid is almost finished and you can see one of the round ceiling diffusers now installed. Layout, assembly of the grid and accurate cuts for the can lights & round diffusers takes a considerable amount of time but done correctly really looks nice.

Ceiling tile being placed in the grid row by row. As the ceiling tile are placed in the grid it stabilizes the cross tees and firms up the entire grid system.

The main portion of the ceiling is now complete. The bottom of the boxed trunk-line (soffit) has yet to be finished.

Here we are laying out the grid on the soffit that was used to box in the furnace trunk-line

It was necessary to use furring strips as a means of fastening the grid on this portion of the soffit.

In this picture the ceiling & soffit is now finished. The homeowner was very happy with the finished ceiling. Take a look back at the first picture that we took of the basement and I think you'll agree that this was quite a transformation. The homeowner will be finishing the drywall and then he has plans for the addition of new carpet.

We would be pleased to install a zero-clearance ceiling in your basement

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