Drop ceilings can turn a dreary basement into a comfortable living area. They hide the pipes and electrical wires that run across the joists but still offer easy access in case something needs repair. The Armstrong Company has been around since 1850 and leads the manufacture and sales of ceiling tiles worldwide. Armstrong offers a variety of different panel styles, as well as the option of 2-foot by 2-foot squares or 2-foot by 4-foot rectangles.
Instructions
1. Measure the room's length and width. Draw the room on a piece of paper and label the dimensions. Determine whether you will use 2-foot by 2-foot square panels or 2-foot by 4-foot rectangular panels. If the panel lengths do not fit the room's exact measurements, add the length of the panel to the leftover space and divide by two. For example, if you are installing the square panels in an 11-foot-long room, you would use five full panels but have 1 foot of leftover space. In that case, you would add 24 inches to 12 inches and divide the answer by 2 to get the length of the perimeter panels, which would be 18 inches.
2. Measure down at least 3 inches from the ceiling joists and make a mark. Set up a laser level to aim at the mark you made. The laser indicates the height the perimeter molding will be set at. If the room's walls are already drywalled, run a stud finder along the laser level's line to locate all the wall studs.
3. Lift the Armstrong wall molding up against the wall and align its bottom edge with the laser level line. Make sure its shelf points out toward the room. Secure the wall molding to each stud with a 6d nail. Butt the molding pieces' edges together at the inside corners. Use tin snips to cut the molding at a 45-degree angle to go around outside corners.
4. Mark the locations of the main beams, which run perpendicular to the ceiling joists. Measure from each of the room's ends down to the measurement you got in Step 1, and place a mark on the wall above the wall molding. Next, finish measuring across the room, using a full panel's length. Repeat the measurements on the other side of the room. Extend a chalk line from one mark to the mark across the room from it, and snap the chalk line across the ceiling joists. Repeat this step with the remaining measurement marks.
5. Hammer a wire fastener into each ceiling joist, on the chalk line. Use tin snips to cut hanger wires 12 inches longer than your ceiling's drop. For example, if your ceiling drops 3 feet from the , cut hanger wire that's 4 feet long. Cut one piece of hanger wire for each wire fastener.
6. Push 6 inches of wire through the wire fastener's loop and bend it down. Wrap the short end of the wire around the long end three times to secure the wire to the fastener. Repeat this step with all the wire fasteners and wires.
7. Aim the laser level across the hanger wires 7/8 inch higher than the wall molding's shelf. Use a pair of pliers to bend each wire where the laser hits.
8. Place the tape measure's tab inside a main beam's first groove. Measure down toward the 's end the measurement you got in Step 1. Use tin snips to cut the back of the main beam at the measurement. Bend the beam down, and finish cutting off the end with the tin snips. Transfer the room's length to the main beam, and cut off any extra beam the same way you cut off the first end. If necessary, connect the main beams end to end by pushing their tabs together.
9. Lift the so their ends rest on the wall molding's shelf and they run perpendicular to the ceiling joists. Center the main beams under the chalk lines. Insert the bent hanger wires through the round holes in the main beam's top edge. Bend the wire up, and wrap it around itself to hold the beam in place. If a hole is not located directly beneath a wire, unbend the wire and stretch it to the nearest hole. Insert it into that hole, and then rebend it to wrap around itself.
10. Insert the cross-tees' tabs into the main beams' grooves. It may be necessary to cut the perimeter cross-tees. If so, measure from the wall to the first groove. Transfer this measurement to a cross-tee and cut off the end that will be closest to the wall. Rest the cut end on the and insert the tab into the main beam's groove. Periodically measure the squares or rectangles diagonally. Your grid is square if the two diagonal measurements are exactly the same.
11. Install the perimeter Armstrong ceiling panels first. Measure from the wall to the cross-tee's edge and add 1/4 inch. Transfer this measurement to the ceiling panel, and place a mark on both the left and right side of the panel. Connect the two marks with a straightedge, such as an extra cross-tee, and cut along the straightedge with a utility knife.
12. Lift the panels up to the ceiling and then tilt them to raise them above the grid. Straighten the panels out and lower them so they rest on the grid.
Tags: main beam, wall molding, ceiling joists, main beams, laser level, wire fastener,