Today there are many ways to finish ceilings in residential and public buildings. This includes classic whitewashing, wallpapering a given surface, and tension and suspension structures, including multi-level ones. Suspended ceilings can be slatted (metal and PVC), plasterboard, plastic panels, tiled (Armstrong type), cassette.
Each of the listed types of ceiling structures, of course, has its own merits. If you want to choose the most budgetary, but at the same time practical and with certain aesthetic advantages option, you can stay on a suspended ceiling made of plastic panels. Such designs are especially popular in bathrooms, kitchens, hallways, loggias, garages. How to make ceilings from plastic panels will be discussed in the article.
Features of PVC panels
Decorative PVC panels area hollow structure, arranged like a honeycomb, with a large number of stiffeners and, accordingly, air cells inside. The plates are equipped with locks along the edges, which are a comb on one side and a groove on the other. Thanks to this device, you can easily and efficiently dock them together.
The main advantage of this material is moisture resistance. In addition, plastic panels are hygienic because they do not contain pores on the surface, and therefore they cannot be chosen by mold or fungus. Housewives really appreciate how easy and simple the care of this material is: it is enough to occasionally wipe them with a rag moistened with soapy water. That is why making the ceiling in the kitchen with plastic panels is a very attractive option.
Manufacturers guarantee the service life of plastic panels for at least 10 years. In fact, if everything is done correctly, the ceilings will last much longer without loss of quality. Plastic is frost-resistant, able to withstand significant temperature changes, does not rot, and is not afraid of pests.
PVC ceiling advantages
no special perks. During operation, if such a need arises, it will be easy to replace one orseveral panels on new ones.
One more advantage is a wide choice of panel colors. They can be matte or glossy, patterned or plain, imitate natural materials: metal, stone, wood and even a mirror. There are plastic panels for both ceiling and wall decoration. Do not confuse them: the latter are more rigid and weighty, therefore it is not recommended to pile them on the ceiling.
Plastic panels are a finishing material that has a very affordable cost. Plus, you can save on a team of repairmen: the material is light both in processing and in weight, and the idea of how to make a ceiling from plastic panels yourself is very real in execution. If you make the structure hinged, then the resulting gap can be used to hide communications, arrange additional noise and heat insulation, and spotlights. In addition, in apartment buildings there are such significant defects in the ceilings - cracks, crevices, level differences - that rather than trying to level this disgrace, it is better to seriously think about how to make ceilings from plastic panels.
Environmental friendly material
Plastic, of course, the material is not natural, but it is considered absolutely safe for humans. Indeed, PVC has found a very wide application in everyday life, industry, and medicine. However, making the ceiling in the room with plastic panels is not the best idea, especially if it is a bedroom. The advantages of this material will be moresuitable for other rooms. For example, you can make the ceiling in the toilet with plastic panels. If you choose glossy light models for this, this can visually expand the dimensions of the bathroom.
Disadvantages of plastic panel ceilings
Before you seriously think about how to make ceilings from plastic panels in an apartment, you need to have an idea not only about the advantages, but also about certain disadvantages of this material.
Plastic does not support combustion and dies out, but at the same time it smokes and emits toxic substances. It is not for nothing that in public and administrative buildings and premises it is forbidden to finish escape routes in case of fire with it. Plastic panels - the material is quite fragile, easily damaged by shock loads. In principle, such an impact does not threaten the ceiling, but you should keep this in mind during transportation and installation.
Another disadvantage of finishing ceilings with decorative plastic panels is that you cannot build an original design from this material, but it looks rather rustic. However, if you think over the design correctly and combine various materials during the repair process, you will definitely not be ashamed of the result.
The joints between the panels will always be visible, even with the most accurate installation. But sometimes it is even welcome: for example, if a material that imitates wood is used. Economic models of plastic panels tend to burn out over time, so it is better to choose a higher quality material.
How to make a false ceiling from plastic panels: preparatory work
Special preparatory work, in fact, is not required. It is enough to brush off dust and cobwebs from the ceiling, clean up those places where the plaster peels off. You can putty the deepest cracks. But there is no need to be especially zealous: the new ceiling will close all the defects.
What is really important is to make sure that there is no mold and fungus, and prime the surface with special antiseptic compounds that prevent their occurrence. For convenience, it is worth to free the room from furniture to the maximum, remove the cornices with curtains, and remove the carpets. However, there will be no special dust.
Purchase of ceiling panels
Before you figure out all the nuances of how to properly make a ceiling from plastic panels, and put this knowledge into practice, you need to calculate the amount of materials for the future ceiling. Knowing the values of the area of \u200b\u200bthe room and one plastic panel (this value is indicated on the package), it is easy to calculate the number of plates by dividing the first number by the second and rounding the resulting value up. It is unreasonable to purchase materials without a stock: after all, the panels will have to be cut, or marriage will fall, or something may not work out the first time - so it is better to foresee such moments. As a rule, standard plastic panels are 24 cm wide and 3 m long, but other options are possible.
When choosing PVC ceiling panels, you need to pay attention to their quality. The edges must be even, without chips, burrs, and the pattern must be appliedevenly. A quality panel can withstand repeated bending in the same place without cracking. The stiffeners must not be visible on the face of the panel. It is definitely worth checking how easily two plastic strips fit together and whether there is a gap between them.
Frame materials
In addition to the actual PVC panels, you will need metal profiles or wooden beams to equip the ceiling. From these materials it will be necessary to build a crate, to which the panels for the ceiling will be attached. Profiles or beams are fixed both along the perimeter of the room and parallel to one of the walls in increments of 50-60 cm. If you decide to place the panels perpendicular to the window opening so that the joints are not visible, then, therefore, the ceiling strips must be mounted along the wall with the window.
The number of guide profiles is easy to calculate: this value will be equal to the perimeter of the room. With ceiling slats is more difficult. You will have to draw a diagram of the room on a scale, on which to draw the required number of parallel lines indicating the frame for the ceiling tiles, and make careful calculations.
You will also need a decorative PVC baguette (collapsible or monolithic): with its help it will be possible to close the joints of the surfaces. In addition, the ends of the ceiling panels are tucked into the groove of this plinth.
Fasteners and tools
For fixing the frame and plastic ceiling plates, you will need dowels and self-tapping screws, the number of whichcalculated taking into account the fact that for every half a meter of a profile or panel, one fastener is needed. Ceiling strips are attached with straight hangers, spaced an average of 70 cm apart, and dowels are also needed for this.
Now about the tool. You must have: a drill, a hammer drill, a screwdriver, a hacksaw, a building level, a tape measure, a ruler, a pencil and, of course, a stepladder.
Installation of supporting frame
It should be noted that the entire installation process can be divided into two stages: the device of the frame and the actual assembly of the ceiling. First you need to determine the size of the gap between the base and suspended ceilings. It depends on what exactly is planned to be placed in this gap. Perhaps these will be spotlights, and then you will need at least 10 cm. To lay the wiring, 3-5 cm is enough.
Having determined the lowest corner of the ceiling using the level, a report should be made from this point, eventually drawing a line around the perimeter of the room. This marking will be a guide for fastening the guide profile, which must be drilled very tightly to the wall, without slots and voids. Keeping in mind that the ceiling frame strips (they use a less rigid profile than the one fixed around the perimeter) will be perpendicular to the plastic panels, they are installed in 50-60 cm increments, inserting the ends into the guide profile and fixing them on hangers every 70 see. During installation, you can navigate along the line stretched across the room.
In principle, it is possible to build a supporting frame from a wooden beam, which is attached directly to the base ceiling, but only if we are not talking about rooms with high humidity. In any case, the wooden elements of the frame should be pre-treated with an antiseptic. Considering that the ceilings in modern apartments are most often uneven, it will not be so easy to set each wooden lath strictly horizontally.
At the stage of mounting the frame, you should think about the electrician and do not forget to bring out the wiring in the right places. The frame must be strengthened at the location of the lighting fixtures. Further along the perimeter of the room, a decorative PVC baguette for ceiling panels is attached to the guide profiles: in its entirety, if the model is monolithic, or its removable bar, if the plinth is collapsible. In this case, its decorative part is installed after the ceiling is assembled.
PVC panel installation
When the frame is ready, start assembling the ceiling from the wall. First remove the protective film from the ceiling panels. The first plate is inserted into the grooves of the skirting boards - both longitudinal and transverse, after which it is fixed with self-tapping screws to the frame. The next one is installed in the same way, with the exception that instead of the longitudinal groove of the plinth, the fastening occurs to the adjacent panel. Each subsequent panel is easily snapped into the groove of the previous one, after which it is attached to the crate with screws. Plastic panels are pre-cut so that their length is 5 mm less than the corresponding room size. Holes for lamps in the plates are necessarydo in advance. If fastening is made to a wooden crate, you can use staples instead of self-tapping screws, but this is not a very reliable option.
When installing the panels, be careful not to bend them too much in an arc to prevent distortion. The last panel will most likely need to be pre-cut to the desired width. It is not necessary to fasten it with self-tapping screws - it will be enough to fix it into the grooves of the previous panel and the PVC skirting board. This work, with a sufficient degree of dexterity, is carried out quickly.
There is another way to make ceilings from plastic panels - frameless. In this case, the panels sit on liquid nails directly to the ceiling. But this option requires a perfectly flat base surface, and therefore it is not always acceptable.
