Acoustical ceiling tiles, also known as suspended ceilings, add a number of distinct advantages to your home's ceiling applications. You install the material with a gap between the supporting ceiling and the tiles, which allows you to cover unsightly pipes or fixtures in the ceiling. This gap also cuts down on echoes from those walking above and reflects the sound coming from below, making these ceilings an ideal choice for an entertainment area. You can hang these ceilings yourself as long as you are comfortable working on a ladder and can take the time to line everything up carefully for installation.
Instructions
1. Measure down 4 inches from the existing ceiling and make a horizontal pencil mark on the wall. Trace this line across all four walls of the room with a level
2. Run a stud finder along the line you drew and mark the location of both sides of each stud all the way around the room. You must install the perimeter material to the studs to ensure that it will securely hold the ceiling in place.
3. Attach the perimeter molding for your acoustic ceiling in place with 6d finishing nails. At inside corners, butt one piece of molding securely against the corner and butt the next piece on the other wall against the first. For outside corners, miter the end of the two pieces that will meet at a 45-degree angle with tin snips.
4. Cut perimeter molding to fit in the room as necessary with tin snips. Continue to cut and nail until all the perimeter molding is in place.
5. Measure out from your starting wall by 4 feet, working perpendicular to the joists. Snap a chalk line at this location that runs perpendicular to the joists. Repeat every 4 feet along the length of the ceiling until you have created a grid that runs perpendicular to the joists.
6. Screw an eyebolt where the chalk lines meet the joists, installing one on every third joist along the chalk lines. These eyebolts will provide the main support for the acoustical ceiling.
7. Attach lengths of 16-gauge wire to the eyebolts to hold up the main runners of the acoustical ceiling installation. Thread the wire through each eyebolt and twist it upward so that it wraps around itself at least three times for proper support.
8. Tie a string to the bottom of the under one of your chalk lines. Stretch the string across the room and tie it to the bottom of the perimeter molding directly across. This string will ensure that your main support pieces sit level.
9. Hold the first main runner into place against one wall at the start of the string and lower it until the bottom just touches the string. Feed the first 16-gauge wire through the hole in the runner closest to where it lies and twist it up and around at least three times. The runner will be secured tightly in place and sit level with the string.
10. Hang all main runners along each chalk line using the 16-gauge wire and moving the string as necessary to keep each row level. Runners will join together with slots and tabs on each end; cut them as necessary to fit with tin snips.
11. Install the cross tee sections, which work perpendicular to the main runners. These attach to the runners and perimeter molding with slots and tabs, and you should install them perpendicularly to the runners every 2 feet along the way. This creates the characteristic grid shape of the acoustical ceiling. Cut to fit tees as necessary with tin snips.
12. Lay the acoustical ceiling tiles into place and set them securely on the grid. If you lift the tiles at an angle and put one end through, followed by the other, they will sit soundly on the grid pattern.
13. Cut tiles to fit in the grid as necessary with a sharp utility knife. Cut with the finished side up, and cut about 3/8 inch longer than the gap between grid pieces calls for so that the panels can sit on the lips of the grids.
14. Measure 3/8 inch in from all sides of the panel and cut about halfway through, then peel off the small loose strip. This creates the flange that attaches to the grid pieces. Continue to cut and install tiles until the installation is complete.
Tags: perimeter molding, necessary with, with snips, 16-gauge wire, acoustical ceiling, ceiling tiles, chalk lines