New building and finishing materials appear almost every month. What yesterday seemed to be a fashionable and popular way of decorating a living space is already hopelessly outdated today.
Therefore, having decided to repair, you usually have to first communicate with people on the relevant forums, read literature and visit stores in order to at least see what the industry offers. Surely this is familiar to many.
So, one of the novelties in the domestic market is stretch ceilings. Why exactly "novelties"? Because although this method of finishing has been known for a long time, it has only recently begun to spread actively. The main reason for this is that the price is too high, significantly exceeding the cost of alternative options. An impressive informative database has been created on the global Web, where you can learn everything about stretch ceilings. Indeed, sometimes it makes sense to wait a little. In addition, now many companies offer a unique service - photo printing on stretch ceilings, which allows you to quickly and easily get any pattern, and not rely onmanufacturers. In general, right now the time has come when this type of finish becomes popular. However, as in everything else, there are pros and cons of stretch ceilings. That's what we're talking about.
Pros and cons of stretch ceilings
Let's start, perhaps, with the equalization of some myths. In fact, we list the shortcomings. The main one has to do with cost. As we have said, the price of tension material is constantly decreasing. As a result, if we take popular solutions, two options remain when finishing a living room - a stretch ceiling and plasterboard sheets. It is often argued that the total cost of the work is almost the same. This is partly true. But this does not take into account that the installation of a plasterboard ceiling can be done independently. With proper skill, even sheets can be lifted and screwed to the frame by one person. But stretch ceilings require compliance with a number of rules that are not obvious. Since the article is about the pros and cons of stretch ceilings, we indicate the first “disadvantage”: the price is still high, since you have to hire specialists. In addition, this is indirectly evidenced by the small number of people who decide to install such ceilings.
What else can be called the pros and cons of stretch ceilings? First, the material. If with a direct "competitor" - drywall - everything has already been decided, and there are only 2-3 well-known companies on the market, then stretch ceilings can be of different quality. More expensive and reliable are made in Germany and France. But not everyone can identify the original and the fake.
Secondly, such ceilings impose a limit on the heat power dissipated by the lamps. In fact, the use of only "economical" fluorescent and LED lamps is being imposed.
Third, a large area of the room may cause sagging. To prevent this, special measures (read - costs) are needed.
Fourthly, the issue of sustainability is still open. Most stretch ceilings are made of PVC, and this is a modified electrical tape known to everyone. Is it environmentally friendly? Smaller batches are made from polyester and polyurethane, but they are more expensive.
If at least some of the shortcomings are eliminated, then we can talk about the appearance of one of the best options for ceiling finishes. And here's why:
- The mass of stretch ceilings is incredibly low, so in private houses there is no additional load on the foundation. Especially true in old houses where there are violations of construction technologies;
- the amount of debris during installation is minimal;
- cracks fundamentally cannot appear;
- there are different types of textures: under the fabric, suede, glossy, which makes it possible to show design abilities.
