I am going to be framing up my soffits this weekend and wanted to see some ideas. I have a beam that runs the length of my basement. The HVAC runs beside it and water lines run beside that. I can either have a 3 ft wide and 10" depth soffit the same size the entire lenth or have a two tier soffit. First tier would be 1.5" depth for the water lines and then it would step up to 10" depth for the duct work and beam, the entire length of the basement. The ceiling is 9'.

the key to satisfying soffit design is to blend it in as best you can.

for one, a single sized soffit is better, IMO.

also, don't end the sofft oddly, continue it to the next verticle wall to blend it in.

I have a few soffits in my room if you want to check them out.

Send me a PM with your email if you'd like some schematics. Sofits can do different things.

- Box out ducts and beams to protect them from sound.

- House the supply and return air runs.

- Install ceiling cans etc.

- Simply be there to balance the look of the basement.

The soffit construction would be different depending on the soffit function. This is largely moot if you have no goal of sound isolation, however.

Don't overlook the minimal headroom loss method of soffit construction where no framing hangs lower than 1/2 inch past the lowest obstacle to clear.

I think a 1.5" soffit next to a 10" soffit will look odd. That being said I think multiple tiers of soffits can also look good. Here is an image from our master bedroom. This is purely for looks, we have nothing to work around.


Both trays have crown molding, the lower section has rope light installed.
http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/92250582/original.jpg

Here you can barely see the light.
http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/93519257/original.jpg