Any advice on painting an unfinished basement ceiling. I did read the posts about spraying But what type of paint wshould be used to cover the wiring, ducts etc as well as the joists etc. Has anyone tried this apporach. It is popular in commercial spaces and I have seen it in a few basement reno mags.

The only basements I've painted like you describe are old ones that are not used as living space - and in that case I sprayed a texture paint. If you actually use the basement as a rec room, TV room, play room, etc. I'd strongly suggest you consider a drop ceiling instead... assuming you're wanting to avoid drywall.

A drop ceiling is super easy to do and you get a much nicer, clean, "real ceiling" look over just painting.

In my basement, I sprayed with regular latex paint. My finish of choice is satin as it is scrubbable and has a light sheen to help reflect light.

Just make sure that all your mechanicals (ductwork, plumbing, wiring, etc.) are properly sealed.

Latex paint, is relatively benign and shouldn't (stress SHOULDN'T) interact with plumbing, wiring, etc.

Also, unless you take the time to wipe all the dust off everything, be prepared for a lot of flaking.

Good Luck, Dan

Depending on how high the ceiling is would dictate whether you want to paint the ceiling or put in a ceiling, I have a 6 foot low ceiling so painting would be my only option as there is no room for an installed ceiling other than putting up 12" by 12" fiberboard tiles, for me a latex textured paint worked well and didn't have any adverse flaking from exposed wire cables or ducts. One thing I can suggest is wrapping the ducts in insulation and priming them before painting them , found out paint sticks to wrapped insulation a lot better than it does to exposed metal ducts, even with primer, that's just my experience with my basement ceiling.