Removing Drop Ceiling Tiles

[LTVCmedia]

As far as we know, the building owner is ok with any modifications as he is also a contractor and would help us do it. Also, the building has a second floor, we're only using the first floor so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the insulation or not but all we see up there are some wiring for the fire alarm, but no sprinklers, ac ducts on the sides and thats pretty much it. Beams seem sturdy. But if too much of a hassle and painting seems the way to go then I think we might just end up doing that. We just dont like that the ceiling makes the room feel so low and small. These posts about paint really help! Thank you!

[Steve Vanciel]

How much space is there between the drop tiles and the ceiling/floor above?
Are there no room lighting fixtures mounted in the grid?

If it is just the feeling of a low ceiling, black tiles will create the same illusion of height as painting the area above. Chances are it would require less paint since it would be less surface area to cover.

There is also the acoustics of noise intrusion between the upper and lower floors to consider.

Finally, I'm surprised that there is no fire suppression sprinkler system. These are mandated by the uniform building code and the NFPA Life Safety Code for Assembly Occupancy locations.

SteveV

[Brad Weber]

Originally Posted by Steve Vanciel

There is also the acoustics of noise intrusion between the upper and lower floors to consider.

Finally, I'm surprised that there is no fire suppression sprinkler system. These are mandated by the uniform building code and the NFPA Life Safety Code for Assembly Occupancy locations.

Both of which seem to address the possibility that since this apparently involves renting an existing space it could potentially represent a change in use and/or occupancy of that space and that could have numerous implications. This could also affect your actions as the situation may be such that painting the existing ceiling would not necessitate other changes but that removing the ceiling may be considered sufficient change to require other revisions in order to meet the current building and life safety codes. That is a bit extreme and all of this may have already been assessed and addressed if necessary, but if not it definitely should be.

[wogster]

Originally Posted by LTVCmedia

Our church is in the process of moving into a new building that we will be renting and the sanctuary room has uneven drop ceilings. Half of the room is about a foot lower than the other half. I've heard of churches where they've removed the tiles/panels and have all the metal bars and wires showing, they just paint everything black up there and add just lighting. Is this possible? Can anyone show me or direct me to any examples of this? Would that be the way to go? And where can I go to find lighting that is easy to hang or setup for this kind of situation? Much appreciated.

The question that nobody seems to have asked is why that ceiling is lower, there could be a dozen reasons why it's lower, that I can think of. What I always wonder is why they didn't put it all at the lower level.

Painting may or may not be practical, you need to look up there and see what is behind those tiles. I know of buildings where they sprayed asbestos insulation in the space back in the 1950's and 1960's and ceiling tiles were a cheap way of keeping it from invading the user space when they realized it wasn't healthy in the 1970's and 1980's. If you move a tile and the ceiling above looks furry, carefully put the tile back, and don't consider looking up there again.