Removing Drop Ceiling Tiles

The outdated drop ceiling.

Removing drop ceiling tiles.

By far the worst part of our basement was the old crumbling and yellowed drop ceiling and its accompanying brown frame. If they re glued directly on it will take some extra effort to remove them. The grid for this system is much easier that the drop ceiling grid and the tiles attach directly to the grid. If they were attached to furring strips the job will be easier.

Yes it s not that difficult to remove a t bar grid syste. 4 turn off the breaker powering the lights installed in the ceiling grid. Many tiles will easily break apart if you can t fit them through the frame. Maybe you don t have a grid like we do but the diy decor store has other options that can be installed with nails or adhesive too.

Surface mount ceiling tiles are easy to install. This is the easiest way to make an epic transformation to your ugly or outdated ceiling. Older drop ceilings may be coated with dust rodent droppings or nests or old electrical wiring so be careful when removing dirty tiles. Along with the dust the broken debris can be enough mess to warrant a tarp or dropcloth.

Until the 1970s most ceiling tiles in suspended ceilings contained asbestos. Use a utility knife to score the tiles then a putty knife to loosen and pull loose a tile for inspection image 1. Remove the vent or the tile holding the vent using the method described for the ceiling tiles. I know that many basements or add on rooms like sun porches from this era often have drop ceilings too.

This is another project that can be done by one person and in most cases the tiles that go into place can be easily cut to size using scissors. Removing drop ceiling tiles can sometimes be a messy task depending on the style of tiles and how easily they fit through the frames. Investigate how the ceiling tiles are attached. It was a huge eyesore that we knew we could make look 1000 times better with the help of crisp white ceiling tiles and a painted white frame.