Starting a new layout, I’m at the stage where the next step would be finishing the ceiling. I’m in a new house with a large, open, unfinished basement. The plan is to add a drop ceiling along with a 12 to 15 inch valance. Benchwork will be 24" around the wall. I’m wondering if anyone can explain how they fit their valance in with the ceiling components or…a picture of the finished product. I’m planning to use 1/8" Masonite for the valance.
John
You’re planning to do what I’ve nearly finished in my basement train room. I’d like to refer you to the article on layout lighting by David Barrow in Model Railroad Planning 2005 on pages 78-79. In this article, Barrow describes how he mounted single-tube fluorescent strip lights on pieces of 1 x 4 lumber and attached this to the ceiling in his train room. He attached 12" wide hardboard to the edges of these 1 x 4’s to create his valance. I have followed this approach to mount lights and valances to my drop ceiling. I attached the 1 x 4’s to the drop ceiling grid with a T bar hanger and twist clip made by Caddy and available in my area of eastern WV at Tri-State Electric, now owned by Hagemeyer. Hagemeyer is located in Baltimore, MD and can be reached at 800-638-3552. The T bar hanger is a clip that twists onto the steel grid members of the drop ceiling and can be purchased with different length bolts coming down from the hanger. The bolt portion comes with a metal wing-nut. I drilled 1/4" holes through both the 1 x 4 and the sheet metal of the attached strip light. I pushed the bolt end of the hanger through the hole and installed and tightened the wing nut. This gives you a very solid attachment of the 1 x 4/light fixture to the ceiling grid. After attaching the 1 x 4 with strip light to the drop ceiling, I am now ready to attach the 12" wide 1/8" thick hardboard valance to the edge of the 1 x 4 with 3/4" pan-head screws. I would suggest that you paint the hardboard before you install it so you don’t get paint on your drop ceiling. In my area, Lowe’s carries 4’ x 8’ sheets of hardboard painted gloss white on one side. I’m using this material with the white side towards the lights to act as a reflector. I plan to paint the side facing the aisles a dark green brown. Let me know if you have any questions.
Hope this helps,
Bob:
I’m heading for the basement to find the Model RR Planning (2005) with Dave Barrow’s article. Will let you know what happens next. Thanks for the suggestion.
John
Bob gave excellent advice! Any electrical supply house should carry those t-bar clips.
I would like to add that you need to make SURE that the grid is extra well supported above where the lights/valance attach. I’ve seen drop ceilings give way because of too much weight and improper support. You don’t want to have that happen over your layout - or over your head [#oops] then [:(]
Good luck,
Karl
Bob:
I’ve looked over the Dave Barrow article again. I had looked at this several months ago but had set it aside and continued looking. Barrow’s ideas had led me to this option:
Since I’m starting with a clean slate (i.e. the drop ceiling is yet to be installed), I’m thinking that I’ll start by mounting a 1x4 directly to my ceiling joists. To the outer edge of the 1x4, I’ll attach a 1x6 as backing for the valance (1/8" Masonite). Valance will drop down 12". With this done around the perimeter of the layout, I’ll build in the drop ceiling by starting with the 3/4 x 3/4 wall angle attached to the front of the valance about 3" down from the ceiling joists.
Between the back side of the valance and the wall, I would install wall angles to support plastic diffuser lens (as Dave B. did).
How does this sound?
John
John,
I completely agree with Karl about being sure the ceiling is securely attached to the floor joists above. My ceiling has suspension wires every 32" (My floor joists are on 16" centers). The suspension wire is approximately 1/8" in diameter. Don’t use the thin wire that you find at Home Depot or Lowes. I had my ceiling installed by a professional and when I told him what I was going to hang off the ceiling the above suspension system was what he suggested.
I think you’ll find it easier to install your drop ceiling all the way to the walls of the room rather than bring it just to the front side of the valance. This has the advantage of giving the edge of the ceiling grid good support by being attached to the wall studs and when it’s finished, the white ceiling tile above the lighting fixtures will act as a reflector of the light down onto the top of the benchwork. By having the ceiling go all the way to the wall, above the valance, you have more flexibility in how you treat the valance at corners, eg. square corners or rounded corners. I’m using some of both. Another reason I chose to take my drop ceiling to the walls was that in the future the room could revert to “normal” use under a new owner. I guess I’m too considerate.
I think if you look at Barrow’s article again, you’ll see that he does not use plastic diffusers in his new lighting configuration. Using one would hid the light fixtures but, at the same time, would also reduce the amount of light reaching the bench top.
I strongly recommend using the GE Chroma 50 (Sunshine) fluorescent tubes he suggests to get good color rendering.
Where are you located?
Bob
Bob
John,
I re-read your post. I haven’t started to attach the 1/8" hardboard valance to the edge of my 1 x 4’s yet, but I don’t think you’ll need to attach a 1 x 6 to the edge of the 1 x 4 as backing for the hardboard valance. If you attach the valance to the edge of the 1 x 4 with screws every 12-15" this should hold it straight. I plan to give my valance a more finished look by using wall paneling joiners at the joints, corners and edges. Home Depot and Lowes both carry butt joint strips, inside and outside corner joiners for square corners and an edge strip for finishing the edge of the panel.
Bob
Bob or anyone else: Can you tell me exactly which Caddy T bar twist clips you used to mount the 1x4s to the acoustic ceiling T bar? I need to know what size to get.
Bob Helm
The CADDY Twist Clip Tee Bar Hanger that I used was cat. #4G1615. It had a 1-1/2" bolt on it which is long enough to go through the 1x4 and the sheet metal of the fluorescent strip light fixture that I used, leaving enough to screw on the wing nut. These hangers are made by Erico International Corp. (www.erico.com). Search under "CADDY Twist On Fixture Support. I bought a box of 100 directly from Erico when they waived the $100 order minimum. If you only need a few, I’d suggest checking local electrical supply stores or place that do drop ceilings where you might be able to buy them by the piece.
Let me know if you need more details.
Bob
To Bob Helm,
I just sent you a direct message via the “Start a Conversation” link. Let me know if you received it.
Bob