If you ever need a shoulder workout, just remodel a ceiling. whew! I tell ya, all my overhead presses are paying off (though my neck gets a bit stiff). Today, I’m sharing the next step in my family room remodel with the wall to ceiling transition.

Why is this important?

Well, when you remove a drop-ceiling or any kind of ceiling, you’re exposing either the rafters or floor joists (if in a two-story home).

See in the picture above both the left and right sides have drywall panels that stop at 8′ high. Right side has open insulation exposed on the exterior wall. Meanwhile, the left side has open space, and both have a gap about 7″ high.

And maybe you want to keep the open ceiling style and not sure how to handle that?

What is more, you can see how in my previous ranch home, I gave each of my ceilings a different look via the a few of the links below:

• Family Room Ceiling – where I left the beams open
• Dining Room Ceiling – also where I left the beams open
• Master Bedroom Ceiling (featured by This Old House) where I created faux beams
• and many more

LET’S REVIEW

Okay, but before I get into this wall to ceiling transition, let’s take a quick look at where it started.

Six months ago, this is what I saw when I purchased this new home.

Now, here’s what I’ve done so far just in this space:

• Family Room Demolition Begins
• Family Room Lighting
• Hide Wiring in Open Ceiling
• DIY Open Staircase
• Open Staircase Update
• Family Room Update

whew!

And that doesn’t count the bedroom addition that walled off this space, the entry remodel, nor the outdoor work as well. See all projects HERE.

Now, for this simple fix, I’m choosing to first begin with replacing the drywall where the upstairs commode drain enters the room. You can see in the before picture just above there was an enormous box hiding the plumbing.

Not only was it ugly, but also just not useful.

WATERFALL BE GONE

In order to close this all up, I need to replace the drywall just above the closet.

You can see in my vlog below what I got super-excited about… and then not. tsk.

So I have a question… I explain this, again in my vlog, that I’m debating on what to eventually do with this corner. I have a couple options, but will be finishing it as planned for short-term at the moment.

What would you do?

To finally make this hush-hush (no more waterfall flush sound), I use ⅛” luan (thin plywood) to make a housing and plenty of sound padding.

I’ll be honest that this took far longer than should have because I really wanted a curved edge to that housing. grrr…

After many attempts to score and bend the luan, I finally decide to use strips of iron-on veneer, and it worked like a charm.

While it’s not entirely finished as I’ll get to that later, I’m delighted with the look and function. The previous box and drop ceiling was nearly 8″ lower than this current housing. We’re tall and every bit matters!

DRYWALL TO JOIST

Next, lets tackle the back wall.

There is spray insultation bulging out of the seam where the floor meets the ceiling. That just requires a utility knife to cut and time.

However, as you see in the vlog, the gap is rather wide and I don’t just want to caulk it.

Instead, I always keep the lengths I rip off my 1x boards and this time I have THE EXACT SIZE lengths to fill it. {{happy dance!!}}

After that, I take on the somewhat more challenging walls where the beams enter crosswise.

This time around I’m using ¼” luan that I had the store rip into approx. 8″ widths (you have to account for saw blade width). That means I got 8 lengths from a 4′ x 8′ panel.

With each panel, I hold it up to the floor joists starting in a corner making hashmarks on the front of the panel.

However, when I take the panel to cut each notch, I transfer the measurements to the backside. That’s because when using a saw, I want a nice finish on the face.

What is more, I use a scroll jigsaw blade for a slow, smooth finish as well.

Below, you see the smaller teeth of the scrolling blade whereas the right blade is more for a quick cut with larger teeth.

Last, I do a dry fit to make sure all cuts are snug but not tight. In my vlog, I show how I use a cutter to make adjustments as I go.

I had a few flubs along the way, but truly an amazing feeling when my panels slide right in.

You don’t want to miss the vlog below as it’s a brief, but information-filled video that will surely give you a better picture.

Finally, after all wall to ceiling transitions are in, I can see the fruits of my DIY adventure.

Yes, I still have to caulk and putty all over the ceiling, but that I’ll save for another day.

UPDATES:

• Family Room Demolition Begins
• Family Room Lighting
• Hide Wiring in Open Ceiling
• DIY Open Staircase
• Open Staircase Update
• Family Room Update
• Wall to Ceiling Transition (here)
• UPDATE: Open Staircase Trim

WRAP-UP

Have you ever tackled something like this?

I’m always ready to jump in, then hit the “this is going to take forever” to the “okay… not so bad stage”.  ha!

The drywall still needs mud and I will be working on that on rainy days.

However, the rain has been stopping for more than a few hours and I’M ACHING to be back outside working.

Can you blame me?

Leave some comment love below, but also pin and share to inspire others to tackle the seemingly “hard” stuff.

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Along with the DIY fun of wall to ceiling transition, also check out these other projects: