Wooden ceiling in basement

[JonazThern]

I have 2 rooms in the basement that I want to furnish. One as a classic Gillestuga, and the other my wife has promised I can have as a Mancave. The floor and ceiling are concrete, walls are lightweight concrete. The floor will be tiled to prevent moisture from coming in. But can I, for example, have beadboard on the ceiling? Should I first install a vapor barrier/brake or plastic, then battens and paneling, or what is the best way to do this?

 

[Testarn]

If you have tiles on the floor, it won't be "sealed" but it is not sensitive to the moisture that comes up through the slab.

If there is a risk of the ceiling getting damp (I'm thinking the concrete is damp), it could lead to mold problems in the long run. Very little risk, though. Moisture in the room (exhaled air, condensation, etc.) can also rise and then collect on the underside of plastic if you put it in the ceiling before the studs, which could eventually lead to the same problem.

What I would recommend is using metal studs in the ceiling to screw the wood paneling into and then having ventilated ceiling moldings, or being very careful when cutting the ceiling panel and leaving a 3-5 mm gap against the wall and skipping the ceiling molding. You can also place the ceiling molding a bit away from the wall up in the ceiling with a gap between the panel and the wall to make it ventilated.

How to solve the construction also depends a bit on the ceiling height. Personally, I have 208-211 cm in ceiling height in the basement where I have only painted directly on the concrete, but I use it as a basement with storage, laundry room, and so on, so it's OK to skip the cladding.

 

[JonazThern]

If you have tiles on the floor, it won't be "tight," but it's not sensitive to the moisture that comes up through the slab.

If there's a risk that the ceiling gets damp (I'm thinking the concrete is damp), it can cause problems with mold in the long run. Very low risk, though.
Moisture in the room (exhaled air, condensation, etc.) can also rise and then collect on the underside of plastic if you install it in the ceiling before studs, which can eventually cause the same issue.

What I would recommend is using metal studs in the ceiling to screw the wood paneling into and then having ventilated ceiling moldings or being very meticulous in cutting the ceiling panel with a 3-5 mm gap from the wall and skipping the molding.
You can also install the molding slightly away from the wall towards the ceiling with a gap between the panel and the wall for ventilation.

How to design the construction also depends a bit on the ceiling height. I personally have a ceiling height of 208-211 cm in my basement, and I've just painted directly on the concrete since I use it as a basement for storage, laundry, etc., so it's OK to skip cladding.

It will become a hobby room for gaming, board games, etc., so I'm considering sprucing it up by installing beadboard on the ceiling, leaving a 5-10cm gap to the wall, with an LED strip there. Nice lighting from above, along with good air circulation in the ceiling. That, together with a 10cm air gap to the concrete, should be enough for any moisture to vent out, right?

 

[Testarn]

That sounds like a good idea to save a little for the wall and make a light string there. That way, you'll get ventilation there too. Should be enough.

 

[mrsnhp]

Unrelated tip: make sure to have fresh air supply in the room, like a trickle vent in the window. It is often forgotten in the basement, and it becomes stale quickly, especially with extra moisture added through walls and floors. We even installed a fan to extract air to an adjacent room from the "cave" (it got the name "cave" without a gender prefix since it was mainly my room). For some reason, there happened to be a ventilation duct to the "garage" next door.

We had wood paneling on both the walls and ceiling from the previous owner (untreated pine paneling, a bit of a sauna feeling) and I felt that it actually evened out the moisture inside. They had framed the walls and added some insulation and plastic. I don't know how they did the ceiling, but it was a wood joist structure and it might simply have been nailed directly into the existing wooden ceiling. High-risk construction with wood paneling on the walls, but we had no problems with mold in the fifteen years we lived in the house 🙂

 

[JonazThern]

Unrelated tip: make sure to have incoming air in the room, such as a trickle vent in the window. It's often forgotten in the basement and it quickly becomes stale, especially with additional moisture via walls and floors. We even installed a fan that extracted air to an adjacent room from the cave (it was called the cave without a gender prefix since it was mainly my room). For some reason, there happened to be a ventilation duct to the "garage" next door.

We had wood paneling on both the walls and ceiling from the previous owner (untreated pine paneling, a bit of a sauna feeling) and I felt that it actually evened out the moisture inside. They had framed the walls and put in some insulation and plastic. I don't know how they did the ceiling, but it was a wooden beam structure and it might simply have been nailed directly to the existing wooden ceiling. It's a high-risk construction with wooden paneling on the walls, but we had no problems with mold for the fifteen years we lived in the house 🙂

If we're going to "derail" from the topic, the plan for this room is as follows:

Floor: Tiles, as it is concrete directly against the foundation. House from 1959, so no ventilation underneath, so tiles to allow the floor to breathe.

Wall: Probably just paint, and have wood on the parts where, for example, the TV will be, a bit like an "accent wall" but wood paneling 2 meters wide or something. The only window is facing north and will be replaced with a trickle vent, and an exhaust vent will be installed at the bottom of the west-facing door.

Ceiling: Plan as above, air gap against concrete and tongue and groove with a gap against the wall.