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Personally, I would consider replacing the tiles with perhaps a drop ceiling.

the elephant wrote:Anyone else want to chime in with warnings or further information (from actual experience) about painting acoustic ceiling tiles?

A couple of comments from an architectural specifier's perspective:

- Acoustical tile mfgs do NOT recommend priming or painting acoustical ceiling tile (ACT) because:

a) primers and conventional paints have a bridging quality that can result in the fissures being covered with a film of dried material: closing the fissures in an ACTs surface reduces the tile's ability to absorb sound, thereby increasing the noise level within the space;

b) painting ACT may change the fire rating of the tile: check with your local building dept first.

– If you do paint acoustical tile, use a porous paint like Procoustic or Cousti-coat and go easy on the coverage.

A friend of mine is slowly re-doing a large house that had popcorn celings. (yeah, this is as Bleah as acoustic tiles, in my book....) They're doing a mild hock and trowel pattern on them after the popcorn is off, followed by crown molding. The ceilings look sooooo much better than the popcorn ones, really classy. Were I in your shoes....I'd do, one room at a time, sheetrock on top of the acoustic tiles and take it from there.

The only advantage I can think of to taking the acoustic tiles off, is you could put some honking insulation in the ceilings before putting the sheetrock up. One room at a time...really not that big a deal. You can do a room in a weekend if you hump it.

MA