Building a coffered ceiling

[BobSch]

Our basement has an ugly drop ceiling that I'd like to replace. I'd like to keep the access the DS gave me and was thinking of a coffered ceiling with removable center panels. Has anyone tried that and how'd it work?

[JoeyGee]

I did the very same thing you are talking about. We knew we wouldn't be in that house long, so I went cheap. I made "beams" of MDF--basically a 3 sided long open box. I nailed 2x4's across the ceiling, and nailed the open side of the MDF beams over those (in a grid pattern. I used drywall panels which I put on 3/4" x 3/4" cleats. It worked out pretty well.

You can kinda see it in this picture. It was my very first time using MDF, and didn't realize how much the ends would suck up the paint. I never got around to fixing it before we moved.