remodeling for geeks

A Racetrack Ceiling is a ceiling with a band(s) of drywall applied to your ceiling and finished with 'L' bead. This is my living room with a single racetrack. It adds depth and interest for a small investment of time, over a more elaborate Coffered Ceiling.


For this project you will need a ceiling, some 1/2'' or 5/8'' drywall, enough 1/2'' or 5/8'' 'L' bead to enclose the inside edge, Powergrab adhesive, drywall tape and mud and a few coarse thread screws to hold the drywall in place while the Powergrab dries.

This is where I built a soffit for extending the HVAC for the media room. We are going to apply 6'' wide strips of drywall to the perimeter of the ceiling for our racetrack.
You want to cut these as straight as possible. Saves work later.

Here is the ceiling with the strips applied. They are held in place with Powergrab, and a couple of coarse sheetrock screws to hold them in place. Don't worry about hitting wood, you will be pulling them out soon.

Next, we tape out the inside corners around the perimeter of the room. Tape and coat the Wall angle of the corner before attaching the 'L' bead.
Then we attach our 'L' bead to the inside edge of the drywall with thin coat of powergrab and a few screws to hold it, while it sets up.


Fill coat the bead strips, mud the wall side of the corners, let dry, sand and repeat.


After sanding and before priming, run a very thin bead of caulk on the top edge of the 'L' bead to hide any holes that may peek out.


Prime and paint.

Depending on the size of your room, ceiling height, and amount of work you want to do you can apply a 9'', 6'', and 3'' racetracks around your room and 'step' it like a coffered ceiling.

Drywall can be fun!