How to Install a Suspended Ceiling in a Basement & the Minimum Height

Measure 4 or 6 inches down the wall from the ceiling joists in two to three locations along one wall. Repeat with the three remaining walls. Ask a friend to help you hold a chalk line along one wall and line it up with the marks you made. Snap the chalk line against the wall. Repeat with the three remaining walls. This chalk line indicates the ceiling's height.

Check that the chalk line is level with a 4-foot level. Make any necessary adjustments. Run a stud finder along the chalk line and mark each wall stud you find. Ask a friend to help you lift a piece of wall perimeter molding up to one wall. Line up its top edge with the chalk line. Hammer a 6d nail through the molding and into each wall stud. Repeat with the three remaining walls.

Measure the basement's length going parallel with the ceiling joists. Divide this measurement by a panel's length to determine how many full panels will fit across the basement. Multiply the number of panels by a panel's length, then subtract the answer from the basement's length to determine the leftover gap. Divide the gap in half and plan to install a row of smaller panels along each wall. Repeat this step with the basement's length going perpendicular to the ceiling joists. Use these measurements to draw a blueprint of the grid's layout on a piece of paper.

Mark the length of one of the rows of smaller panels, measuring from the wall out toward the center of the room along a ceiling joist. Move down a few ceiling joists and repeat this step. Ask a friend to help you hold a chalk line perpendicularly under the ceiling joists, lining it up with the marks you made, and snap the chalk line. From the chalk line, measure one full panel length and snap another chalk line. Continue until you reach the opposite side of the basement.

Screw eye bolts into every third joist along each chalk line. Cut a piece of hanger wire for each eye bolt. The hanger wire's length should equal the ceiling's distance from the joists plus 6 inches. Feed 3 inches of one wire into each eye bolt. Bend the wire down and wrap it around itself three times.

Stretch a piece of string across the ceiling (parallel to the joists) from one piece of perimeter wall molding to another. Move a few feet down and stretch a second string across. Line up a main runner underneath the first chalk line. Lower it so its bottom edge just touches the strings. Bend the wires into an L shape and feed the ends into the main runner's holes. Bend the wires up and wrap them around themselves three times. Continue across the room, installing one main runner under each chalk line. Remove the strings.

Insert cross tees between each main runner by snapping the tabs into the slots. To fit cross tees in the smaller perimeter gaps, transfer the gap's measurement onto the cross tee and cut it with a tin snips. Set the cut end on the perimeter molding and snap the tab into the main runner's slot.

Plan which grid openings will house a light fixture. Trace around a fixture's opening on a piece of cardboard. Cut out the tracing and use it for a template when you cut the holes in the ceiling tiles. Mount the fixtures above the ceiling grid, centered in grid openings, and perform all necessary wiring.

Center the cardboard template on a ceiling tile. Trace around the template with a utility knife to cut out a hole. Tilt the tile and lift it above the grid. Straighten it out and lower it into place. Repeat with the remaining ceiling tiles.