Basements, Attics and Crawl Spaces - How do I deal with these pipes on my ceiling?

http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac177/Skoorb100/pipes.jpg
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac177/Skoorb100/pipes.jpg

I plan on hanging drywall from my ceiling in the basement. Obviously, I need to deal with these water lines, though. I have 7',8" from slab to bottom of joists, fwiw. Ideally, these would be replaced with plastic tubing, but I'm not confident I can do that (I plan on doing the rest of the basement) and worry how much it would cost. With these as they are, though, I'll need some additional framing to lower the height of the ceiling by about the 1/2" or 1" of these, right? What does that look like? I haven't seen any pics online or in books about this situation.

Thanks!

I've had occasion to deal with that. Building codes sometimes require a ceiling over the boiler area, 5' around. It was a true jig saw puzzle. If you don't want to lose any height, you can take the jig saw route but you will still see the pipes. If you want to see as little piping as possible, the you'll have to box the pipes, losing a few inches. If you take that route, don't forget to make access doors to reach the valves. Make sure that you label the valves.

And exchanging the copper for plastic won't help since the drains must retain their slope. 7'8" is approaching minimal clearance, so any build down you do will diminish this dimension.

Slope shouldn't matter since these are pressurized water-delivery.

How anal are building codes, really? I heard that 7,6" is the standard (not yet sure if my area is different), which means I have only 2" to work with. Do people every finish a basement with, say, 7',4" and it fails inspection--i mean in actual practice does this ever happen? I aim to ask the inspector about this anyway while applying for the permit but i do want a heads-up :)

EDIT: I just remembered, PEX requires a line to each outlet, doesn't it, so I can't simply replace these copper runs with the stuff; I'd in a way have to re-pipe much of the house. Forget that, if it's true!! All my neighbors have pex, but my house was built just before the builder started using pex for everything.

EDIT #2: for anybody who finds this thread later, hopefully it's of use. The pex-line-per-faucet type approach is apparently a manifold approach so that everything is separated out, but it's not necessarily always used, and I think it may be plausible to replace some sections of copper with pex (?).

In this video some guys replace old brass piping with pex:

video (http://video.bobvila.com/m/21320622/replacing-brass-water-pipes-with-pex-tubing.htm)

I still don't know if it's legal in my area or a completely insane idea, though. I'm a newbie!

I think there are so many tools needed that it may be worth going with a contractor on this anyway.

It is always best to run your plans by the inspector first, since he/she will have the final say so. As far as manifolding pex, it is wise to do it if you are running from basement to multiple floors, but a 3/4" home run throughout one floor with 1/2" turn ups at the point of use is done here all the time with no ill effects. Yeah, the crimping tool will cost about $120 (1/2"+3/4" combo). But it is fast.
Incidentally, I do see a gas line and a drain line in the background that will have to be dealt with. Access to these areas will be necessary in case you need to modify or repair something, so keep that in mind.