Basement Ceiling Dilemma- the pallet project

Here's my process...
1- look around the house wondering how I can improve things
2- make a list of possible projects
3- analyze the project I want to start- includes research, measuring, and lots of notes
4- make a supply list and hopefully get started

I've completed a kitchen remodel (had to hire some pros for some parts), shelves and coat hooks in the kitchen, and the best one was a mud room/laundry room combo. If I can stick to this blog thing I will do some posts on those projects. I have started to focus on my basement. It was partially finished when we bought the house. Decided to leave the walls as is and add on from there. The focus will be the ceiling.

The goal of this post is to hopefully get some input into the project. I have a 10x26 ft area with lots of wires and pipes. Drywall ceiling is out as I have to be able to get to some things in the ceiling. I thought a pallet ceiling would be really cool. I've always wanted to do a pallet project- thank you Pinterest.

Finding pallets was interesting. I first drove around looking for pallets on the side of the road. My dog enjoyed this activity as she loves going for rides. This didn't produce anything. I asked around, left notes at businesses. I was able to pick up a few pallets this way. Someone suggested Facebook marketplace. I found someone with lots of pallets but they were sitting in a mud pit- pass. After thinking more about places that use pallets, I did some more checking and finally found a source. Since I still need pallets for the project, I can't give away my source just yet but will when I am done collecting pallets. I feel like I found a free wine source or something!


I now have a snowmobile trailer full of pallets. Started taking them apart via hammer and crow bar. Very slow process. Not all pallets are made the same. Some come apart easy and others do not- you end up breaking boards and nail heads. At day 2 I decided I needed more so I got a pallet ripper. I know there are many videos out there for taking apart pallets "the easy way". This tool is worth it-I don't care how strong you are, just get one! I got mine at Home Depot.
                                                    

I am in the process of taking pallets apart, removing nails, sanding, and staining. My daughter tried torching some of the pallets and this produced a really cool effect. We have a mixture of colors. Now I have to figure out how to get them up. The first picture is the boards I will use to attach the pallet boards to the ceiling. The width is the same amount that I need to drop the ceiling.

These will be the supporting boards for the ceiling. My spacers for the drop. They are an 1.5 inches thick. Really nice clean wood that held the pallet boards together.

3rd stack in from the left, the torching effect. Really brings out the grain of the wood. Others were just the stains I had available in my basement.

Here is my dilemma. How do I put these boards up? I know the ceiling has to come down an inch and a half. I know that I want to have an alternating arrangement of boards. Not sure if I need to attach the boards like tiles (or panels?) first, then put the tile up on the ceiling OR put the boards up individually in the arrangement I want. The 2nd would be easier. Where to start? When tiling, you chalk up your straight lines and start in the center. Wondering if I have to do that here. Going to put the recessed lights in too. I probably need to attach the panels where the lights will go in so they can be cut out and still stay together? Many unknowns at this point. Fortunately, I have lots of time to figure it out as I have plenty of sanding, staining, and deconstructing to do. Any input is greatly appreciated!

This is just a rough arrangement of the boards I had in the basement. A mixture of horizontal and vertical boards. I plan to mix the colors. The pattern will carry across the entire ceiling, vertical/horizontal.