As I may have mentioned, I don’t typically suggest suspended or drop ceilings/ceiling tiles in basements and for many reasons. One good one is that you’ll lose value to your home. Ask any realtor; they should tell you that buyers prefer drywall ceilings in the basement to match the upstairs! And this should concern you as drywall for sure has a much higher resale value too! Here in Denver and many other parts of the country we’ve learned that there’s no reason to have access to anything if the home was built correctly, in good working order, is insulated well and nothing is currently leaking! If certain things like the old lead P-trap, galvanized water lines and or other outdated mechanical/HVAC need updating, repair/replace what is needed before you build out the basement first. Access to shut off valves and such can be moved to unfinished areas or you can install these new plastic access plugs that are 4-6 inches and clip into a drywall opening you make thus making it a clean look. Once again, things like sprinkler valves or gas valves and even saddle valves in the ceiling for ice makers upstairs should all be relocated to an unfinished area such as the furnace room for example. If you’re worried about running wires at a later date, this should just be roughed in now with all planning in place or toss a 2″ PVC pipe from one end to the other for future needs as conduit. Fire should be a concern as well and drywall has a longer burning time compared to most other products.

Although IRC allows only ½” drywall/gypsum on all residential surfaces doesn’t mean you can’t hang 5/8” on the ceilings. It’s more rigid and won’t sag either. You may try to correct me but  ½” drywall has a 20 minute burning time and 5/8” drywall has a 45 minute burning time or flame spread. There’s ultra-light ½” drywall now and you could hang a double layer (soundproofing too) and gain an hour or so of burning time. Feel free to look this up under the CGC Fire-Resistant Assemblies as there are so many ways to build and change these properties and provide what I call burning time to 2-3 hours. But the cost goes way up doing so. Ceiling tiles can be found with higher fire ratings and this is your call. The only suspended drop ceiling tiles I’ve seen that are appealing are found under this article DROP CEILING VS. DRYWALL Or use this link; https://www.ceilingsandwalls.com/Page/43/Drop-Ceiling-vs-Drywall

Here are a couple more handy links to attractive ceiling tiles I like if you must have suspended ceiling tiles;

              http://www.ceilume.com/tiles/Westminster/White/ Known as thermoformed ceiling panels

My favorites are the Medallion Ceiling Tiles; http://www.ceilume.com/pro/tiles/Medallion/Tin/ but so many other cool styles. Also; https://www.proceilingtiles.com/Stratford-Vinyl-Ceiling-Tile-Stone.html

   They sell grid tape to match colors and also 24X24 ceiling tile insulation but only R6.

Just make note: Dropped ceilings make the space feel more closed in as the ceilings are a bit lower than they need to be and can look like more of a mobile home, hospital or office and not like your home in any way. Drywall is cheap to install, repair and bottom line, just looks a lot better and can be textured as well and any color you wish.

Also read other blogs I wrote including soffits and ceiling types; https://basementdesigner.com/ceiling-soffit-types/