Hello, everyone. For the past few months, I have been renovating my father’s basement, building an apartment for myself. The water, electrical, subfloors, and walls are in. All that really remains are the Kitchen Sink, the kitchen floor, and the doors. (And the bathroom, but thats another can of worms. And the ceiling.

I have been going back and forth on the ceiling for a while. I have been resisting drywall, and my dad is dead set against it; there is a lot of infrastructure down there that would both make it difficult to install, and needs to remain accessible. Furthermore, its only 8feet to the joists, so losing half an inch is kind of a problem. I had considered leaving it alone. I really liked the exposed look, and was even looking into Joist Shelving.

The last few weeks have proven to me though, that I really need to soundproof the ceiling. There is an entire cottage industry on youtube based around recommending soundproofing products. I had one handyman recommend streamer foam, which is different from accoustic foam (apparently!?), Ive seen people recommend Green Glue, and then someone else say, you get the same results with carpet glue. I see some people say Mass Loaded Vinyl could be useful, and then some one else say its expensive and supplemental (but might still be handy for pipes and HVAC). I was looking at sound proof blankets, and the big blocks of Styrofoam insulation they sell at home depot. I was considering hiring someone to install a drop ceiling.

Does anyone have any insight that might help me? I have nothing up in the ceiling currently. I have no real issue mixing and matching solutions, although I am somewhat still resistant to drywall ceilings.