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fabric ceiling over joists/insulation?

ecx

Registered User
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
8
Location
Chicago
Hi all. I've researched this here and elsewhere and my conclusion was I should just ask. (Homeowner here, not a contractor.)

My wife and I just bought a building here in Chicago that was once a mixed use commercial building with an open office plan on the first floor and living upstairs. Just the two floors on a concrete slab, no basement. It was rezoned residential a number of years ago, and we're the only occupants. The first floor currently has a pretty standard T-grid drop ceiling, over 2x10 joists with R-30 batts in between.

The plan for the first floor is music/movies/holidays, etc., with an emphasis on recording music. For both aesthetic and sonic reasons, that drop ceiling has to go. The ideal for the ceiling is a combination of acoustic reflection/diffusion with large zones of absorption. For the reflective areas, I'm planning on using pine T&G. For absorption, the sonic ideal would be to just leave the joists exposed and let the pink stuff eat sound; my plan instead was to cover those areas with the same fabric I use for wall mounted absorbers:


This fabric is Class A fire rated, with a flame spread index of 0. (Independent lab results are linked on the product page.) My first thought is that it should be fine, but my second thought is that I don't understand fire codes and for all I know there's some factoid I'm missing about this. We're getting rid of the fluorescent lamps but want to keep the electrical. The fabric would be mounted about 1/2" under the joists, rather than the 8" or so the T-grid is hanging at.

And, just to be clear, not trying to circumvent anything or play fast and loose. This is our home and I want it to be both safe and correct. Thanks!
-E
 
Welcome

Does the building have a fire sprinkler system??

So will the first floor be a business???

“”The plan for the first floor is music/movies/holidays, etc., with an emphasis on recording music””

I am not into acoustics but the link says

DMD fabric is acoustically transparent,,, do you have to mount it to something to make it work???

Give it a few days for some great replies from others
 
Thanks for the quick reply! A few things:

- No sprinkler system (1st floor is about 1250 square feet total)
- First floor is for private use only
- Was planning to stretch it over a thin mounting frame (3/8" plywood cut into strips is the current plan) to make panels, which would then hang from the joists
 
Please wait for others to reply but sounds like you are ok

Not into Acoustics or insulation requirements.

And this is for personal use / man cave kind of?
 
Essentially---we'll of course have people over for movies, hear music, etc., but nothing that wouldn't comport with our residential zoning.
 
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