When Dh and I hired our builder he told us who all the sub contractors he used were and has used for several years. We also looked at houses he had built using these subs. What I am getting at is if you have entered into a contract with a builder and don't trust his decisions on the sub that will install your drywall you are going to have a "long road ahead of you"!! I agree completely that he will make it a "change request" and "charge you an arm and a leg".

It sounds interesting. But I've never used it nor seen it used in similarly priced properties here and my new homes have sold for up to $1.65 million.

Whether it's called for or not depends on a lot of factors. If you have engineered joists on 16" cnters, then why furr down the ceilings? You can hang 1/2" drywall right on the joists and get a perfect flat ceiling.
If you have roof trusses with 2x4 bottom chords, 24" centers and don't want to go with 5/8" drywall for the ceilings, you'd be better off strapping the ceiling down to 16" centers, and live with the knowledge that the ceiling board will never sag between supports.
If the non-engineered floor joists are all over the place in terms of straightness and flatness, you may do well to add the furring and get a flatter ceiling as a result; but simply planing whichever joists are lower, and scabbing on to any bad-edged ones may be more cost-effective.
Where there are girders or unusual conditions and changes in framing directions in a ceiling, the strapping will isolate the drywall from this movement potential and avoid a crack returning year after year. This is the one application where it is indispensable.
Here in my corner of NoVA, it is rarely done except as a corrective measure, or where the very highest grade of work is called for, or to get to 16" centers from 24".
Casey

It is always done here (New England). I've never seen a house built without it. I believe it is code in our area as well. It is supposed to stop twisting on the joists, we have it in our basement even though there is no ceiling.

I've never seen it done either and it certainly isn't any code requirement.

("Bridging" is used to keep joists from turning and warping and even then is only required on members that are greater than 12" in depth.)

As sombreuil_mongrel says, it may be necessary if you have 24" on center joists or trusses and don't want to install 5/8th in drywall.

Otherwise it is a waste of time and money and the arguments for it's use in the article cited in the first post pretty weak.

But if you want to install a strapped ceiling because you saw it on the internet, go for it but be prepared to pay handsomely for the change order...

Thanks everyone.

I asked for a cost estimate for the strapped ceilings.
I talked to a few other builders (that also bid on my project but are still in contact) and they recommended the 5/8 on ceilings and 1/2" on the walls. They never use strapped ceilinings.

House is in Bay Area (San Jose, California)

Should I just tell my builder to use 1/2" and make it simple? I am sure he won't give me any refund for the savings (about 2,500K I am told on my 3850 sqr foot house).

Cheers and thanks everyone. I now know what strapped ceiling means and next time I build a house will put it in. I found out that during contracct you can basically put a lot of stuff and they will just say "yes" to get the business. But after you sign, its all change requests.

simply planing whichever joists are lower, and scabbing on to any bad-edged ones may be more cost-effective.

This is what was done on the century renos I did. The old ceilings were plaster on wood lathe, so the irregularities were made up in the plaster. I must say the first time I saw the drywallers taking axes to the joists I was nervous. But the original joists were not nominal but actual 2x10s.

If the price is the same, the OP should use 5/8" throughout. It's quieter and creates stiffer stronger walls.

Builder said he has never heard of ceiling straps and wouldn't even give me a cost estimate. He is a big builder in the bay area (San Jose).

"I now know what strapped ceiling means and next time I build a house will put it in."

Why waste money?

There are a limited number of circumstances strapping is needed, it is NOT all the time.

Thanks. I am a novice so am learning from everyone on this board.
Many thanks to everyone with all there input and advice.

If the joists or rafters on a vaulted are that crowned, strapping isn't going to straighten it out unless the carpenters shim the bowed areas to a laser level line individually that I doubt happens these days. Nailing or screwing the strapping to the bowed joists/rafters tight without shimming, it will follow the bow of the members.

Strapping holds rafters/joists on centers, makes batt insulation installs easier no stapling, electrical runs faster as well, but without shimming, I dont see it straightening crowned lumber when fastened tight.

Of course strapping is shimmed and if necessary an excessively low member is shaved back; the other benefits are incidental. The old timers used a water hose, strings, etc. I rarely see how it is done these days because it goes up so fast I miss it. Back in the 60's and 70's the veneer plaster guys were so concerned about a perfect finish that they would apply the primer coat of paint to be able to see imperfections better. Today these guys are in and out like vandals.

"I don't believe it has ever been realistic to expect an unlevel ceiling to be leveled by the plasterer. "

A three coat plaster job is about 3/4 inch thick, and was designed to take into account the irregularity of the framing.
The final coat was only about 1/8 inch thick, about what veneer is now.

Older houses used full dimension lumber straight off the saw mill.
It was not surfaced at all.

Veneer plaster is stuck with a single thin coat so the substrate must be flat before the finish coat is applied.
There is no real thickness to fix framing defects.

the thin wood lath moved enough during the application of the brown coat. Forcing hair and sand loaded plaster through the gaps in 1/4 to 3/8 thick boards is a real job.

Each layer was flatter than the previous.
The final finish layer (plaster and lime putty) was expensive and could not be 'stretched' by adding sand in most cases, so having an badly uneven surface at the point cost money.

Remember that materials were expensive compared to labor.

In this area plasterers were expensive so it paid to level the ceiling so the plaster would only have to be 3/8" thick.

Not all veneer plaster systems are one-coat; the better method is brown coat/white coat (blue bag/red bag, if you prefer) the brown coat is a sanded mix, gray in color. Just putting a white coat of Diamond Veneer Plaster or Uni-cal (or what-have-you) over the blueboard is so chintzy...
Casey

"Just putting a white coat of Diamond Veneer Plaster or Uni-cal (or what-have-you) over the blueboard is so chintzy...
Casey"

I wouldn't say that concerning New England. They dont have the ground movement there like some areas, so no need to get all that structural. When on Cape Cod in the mid eighties, it was awesome watching them treat the seams on blueboard, then skim coat to the point of it looking like a pane of glass. It was very impressive and somewhat older homes I workred on there that were treated the same showed no signs of cracks or failure.

Single coat blueboard is far superior to taped drywall but it's not good enough for Casey?

The option is taped drywall vs single coat blueboard not single vs two coat blueboard. If they can't afford bread, let them can eat cake?

I'm curious to know what a two-coat blueboard system would cost and where it is available.

Here's the USG page on the Kal-Kote basecoat plaster; it references the rest of the components in the system.
Casey

Here is a link that might be useful: Two-Coat veneer plaster

The advantage of the heavier system is primarily resistance to abuse and installation of radiant heating but not every project has a need for those features and not every owner can afford or even find a local installer. Whatever the case, the finish appearance is identical.

Your attitude seems snobbish and naive.

Gold Bond brand "Kal-Kote" is made by National Gypsum, not USG.

USG claims that their one-coat veneer Imperial finish is 100 times harder than gypsum drywall. If that is "so chintzy" what would you call the taped drywall used in virtually all new homes?

Veneer plaster has the appearance of a multi-layer plaster wall but does have nearly the sound qualities.

There is no plastered wall sound attenuation level that some configuration of blueboard can't achieve at less cost with the same appearance.

"There is no plastered wall sound attenuation level that some configuration of blueboard can't achieve at less cost with the same appearance."

Three layers of 1/2 inch blue board might get close.

The weight of a 3/4 inch thick plaster wall and the stiffness of the plaster itself produce the sound attenuation.

I had a customer years ago that had all her plaster walls torn out and replaced with two layers of drywall.

She was heartbroken over the poor sound isolation after the 'repair.'

Was also a FIVE year old post.

That's why I flagged it as spam

This forum is to help people with their CURRENT problems. If someone currently has a problem or question about ceiling strapping then they're welcome to revive the thread and ask the question again.

However for a PRO to come on and revive a 6 year old thread that no one was asking about, (NOT 5 years) to point out info so they show how up to date THEY are with their knowledge, reeks of being spam. If you want to help, you post to those who ask questions about their current projects.

I'm usually aggressive in reporting spam here, but I didn't see that latest, informative post as spam. First, I learned something. Second, the gist of it is not to offer services, but to tell you not to do something, which is helpful. And third, though it usually drives me nuts when someone revives an old post, this seemed like a logical place to add such info. I think the motivation and effort was good, and I'm siding with Starr Construction on this one,

I thought it was educational as well.

JDS , really. You share your knowledge with amateurs, too. And yet, your snarky rudeness gets a thumbs up. Sad.

It is useful information. In my case, I HAD to strap the ceiling to get the ceilings nice. The manufactured trusses were very wavy, so I strapped and shimmed the entire ceiling, a long and tedious process. I found up to 5/8th's of an inch variation across my trusses. Our house in FL was not strapped, and the ceilings were horrible. Even with a heavy popcorn finish, you could see the waviness. I hate popcorn ceilings, so a really flat ceiling was important to me.

There is another valid reason to strap ceilings. With trusses usually being on 2' centers, and more and more attic insulation becoming more common, the strapping helps prevent the drywall from sagging over time. I have 18" of blown-in cellulose in my attic.

I've read plenty about strapping ceilings for the reasons above, and not just in New England. I was told that strapping was the best way to get a high quality ceiling, and I stand by that.

Whatever the intent of the reanimationist, it's an oldie but a goodie!

Yeah as a layman that's where I'm confused...who would accept and install a crowned or warped engineered I-joist, and then tell you the solution is to strap it?