Need input - finishing basement and ducts are in the way

tophatne1

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Need input - finishing basement and ducts are in the way

I'm looking to start finishing the basement this fall and I'm wondering about the ceiling.

I live in a moduler house that was put together in 2 pieces which created a "seem" that runs the entire length of the house. Seeing that it's basically a large beam right down the middle and part of the support system, they had to work around it when they installed the duct work. It's really low in some spots where they have to go down and around the beam and the larger ducts to get to the other side of the house.

The system is forced hot air.

Any ideas of what to do with this so I can get the giant pipes somewhat out of the way? Are there such a thing as efficient ducts that are shorter in height and maybe fatter to let the same amount of volume flow through?

I already decided on a painted ceiling since no matter what we do the ducts are going to be lower than 7 ft in many spots which will not be up to the building code.

The funny thing is the builder was like "you'll have 8 ft ceiling and plenty of room to finish it off real nice someday."

He never mentioned all the willy wonka duct work craziness I would have to deal with!

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Do they have to come out of the bottom like that? Looks almost like they used floor registers from the plenum (is that even the right word?) to feed the pipes. If they could be relocated up to the sides of the plenum and the bottom patched, it would save you a lot of space.

I live in a Cape Cod with neither a basement or central air and heat, so I probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about! Thats gonna be a nice setup! ;)
 
either you move the angle pipes and frame/dry wall them in, also move the hot/cold lines to drywall the ceiling

or drop ceiling to the lowest point.. thats your options
 
Not sure why the HVAC guy came off the bottom like that. We had a similar problem. Giant duct runs the length of the house. However, all the secondary pipes run off of the side of the main duct between the joists. When we finished our basement off, we have a low spot where the main duct runs the length, but most of the ceiling is up against the joists.

Another suggestion...we also had some low plumbing against one of our walls. the guy that finished our basement had a good suggestion that we used. He created a set of built in shelves that hid the pipes in the top part of the wall that extended to accommodate the shelves. Let me know if you need pics.

Good luck!
 
Drop the ceiling and or get flexible pipe to make the bends sharper and hidden. Frame in anything that's exposed.
 
Not sure why the HVAC guy came off the bottom like that. We had a similar problem. Giant duct runs the length of the house. However, all the secondary pipes run off of the side of the main duct between the joists.

Another suggestion...we also had some low plumbing against one of our walls. the guy that finished our basement had a good suggestion that we used. He created a set of built in shelves that hid the pipes in the top part of the wall that extended to accommodate the shelves. Let me know if you need pics.

Good luck!
I asked the builder about the ducts coming out of the bottom and they said it helps to balance out the distribution of air and they had to do it to run lines to both sides of the house.

I have a few ideas to move some where I can get them up closer to the joists (like at the bottom of the stairs near the pinball) but the damn center beam is throwing the whole thing off.

I have some other ideas for the other stuff. I'm half hoping someone says "hey use this new type of duct work that's creates more headroom" but I know I only have so much to work with and I don't want to have to pay to relocate the entire furnace.
 
That IS weird how they come off the bottom...
I have a modular home as well with that spine down the middle and they ran the feeders much closer to the center.

Painted ceiling is the way to go, just a pain in the ass to do :) Really makes the ceiling seem higher!

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I think they look kind of cool, paint them with some florescent paints and hang up some black lights.
 
I asked the builder about the ducts coming out of the bottom and they said it helps to balance out the distribution of air and they had to do it to run lines to both sides of the house.

Sounds fishy to me. It seems the extra bends would just restrict the air flow more and make the system less efficient. I'd get an HVAC guy in to see if they can redo those ducts to come off the side instead. My basement has a main duct running under the joists (perpendicular to them) with the smaller ducts coming off the side of that, and running to each room up in between the joists. So there's about a 3-foot-wide section down the middle of the basement with decreased headroom (finished with drywall) but otherwise, there's nothing hanging below the bottom of the joists. There's one room in the basement where a drain pipe runs along the wall and out to the septic tank, so I boxed that in with drywall and now it acts as a shelf.

Your basement has tons of potential anyways. Lots of room for games!
 
I like the way your game room and ceiling turned out. Do you have any shots that show the duct work in the first picture after it was painted?

That IS weird how they come off the bottom...
I have a modular home as well with that spine down the middle and they ran the feeders much closer to the center.

Painted ceiling is the way to go, just a pain in the ass to do :) Really makes the ceiling seem higher!

paint2.JPG


paint4.JPG
 
Your basement has tons of potential anyways. Lots of room for games!

I will be able to use enough room for about 6 games.

1/4 of it is going to be a workshop, The rest will be for a family room type area, play area, and my games.

I can't wait to get it done. All my stuff has been in those boxes you see in the pics for over 5 years. I went from a house with a full man cave basement to one that is not finished. It's been tough. It's time to get my own space again!
 
Like someone else said, I am not sure if they're feeding you the whole story about the ducts coming out of the main like that. I would call out a HVAC company for another opinion. Even if it is just to see what they say. The only kinds of ductwork I know about are square sheet metal, round (which is what you have), and some kind of square fiberboard, and lastly flex duct. metal round usually can be smaller in size and typically feeds registers. So what you have should be correct and work best for your situation. Get 2 other opinions, most hvac companies do free estimates.
 
Wow, I am glad I did my own ductwork.

I am not really sure why he told you the ducts needed to be run off the bottom to balance the airflow. They make internal dampers that you can adjust to balance circulation. Top or Bottom mounted ducts, it doesn't matter you just have to be a little more creative to get the ducts to run into the joists. Sounds like they got lazy.

How close are you to banging you head on those low ducts? I would be worried about that more than anything. Especially once you paint it black and can't see it in the dark.

You can change the duct to 2"x12" or 2"x14" rectangular duct if your up for some minor sheetmetal cutting. They sell it at home depot. You just want to make sure you keep the same volume of air flowing that the 6" round pipes were letting through.
 
It looks like the same problem I had/have. Cold air return went into the joists, no space for the rest so they bent them down around steel support. The only other way was to drill holes into the joists which would compomise the structure, not gonna happen. While I think they could have done better, in some respects it looks like there really wasn't anywhere else for it to go.

FYI - low profile duct work does exist. It cost a bit more BUT you'll be happier in the long run. I drywalled in my stuff and have to back up games on either side to utilize the space...otherwise I'd smack my head on it. Good luck
 
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