With several foam blocks glued together, you can shape the tray to fit beneath your ceiling.
Tray ceilings are multi-leveled ceilings that typically consist of a flat center with a raised ledge around the edge that gives the ceiling a recessed appearance, like that of a tray turned upside down. A tray ceiling makes the room appear more spacious since the flat portion of the ceiling seems higher than it actually is. Constructing a tray ceiling is a fairly involved process as the existing ceiling must be removed and raised then a soffit installed along the ceiling's perimeter to form the tray. By using foam, you can imitate the look of the tray without moving the existing ceiling or building a frame around its edge.
Instructions
1. Measure the length and width of the ceiling where you want to install the foam tray.
2. Purchase foam beams that are the same length and width of your room. If you cannot find beams that are long enough, get multiple beams of the same size that you can butt together to create the tray. Make sure the beams are the width you want the tray to be, from the edge of the ceiling toward the interior of the room, and that they're the height that you want the tray to descend from the ceiling level. As with the length of the beams, you can use multiple foam blocks to create the height and width needed by adhering multiple beams together. Buy several extra smaller lengths of beams to practice cutting the foam before creating your tray pieces.
3. Buy a hotwire foam cutter and a cutting wire long enough to cover the height and width of the tray. The stiff wires in the foam cutter allow you to create precise uniform cuts in the beam. Shape the wire by hand until you have the shape desired for the inside edge of the beam. Screw the wire into the cutter arms with a Phillips head screwdriver. Put on a pair of heat-resistant gloves and open any doors or windows in the room. Plug the cutter in, turn it on then run the hot wire over a small piece of beam to determine if the cut looks like you want it to.
4. Assemble the foam pieces in the proper height and width for your beams if you purchased them in sections. Use a foam adhesive to glue the pieces together and make sure the edges are completely flush. Allow the adhesive to dry for the time recommended by the adhesive manufacturer.
5. Cut the interior face of the foam beams -- the side that will face the center of the ceiling -- with the foam cutter.
6. Cut the edges of the tray sections that fit into the corners of the ceiling at a mitered 45-degree angle with a serrated knife so that the beams will fit together once in place.
7. Sand the foam with fine-grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface of the beams. Wipe the sanded surface with a tack cloth to remove any residue.
8. Brush foam adhesive onto the top and outside edge of the beam pieces then stick them to the ceiling. Make sure that the interior edges of adjacent pieces of the beam are flush with one another to create a straight line across the surface of the ceiling. If the wall is uneven, leave a slight gap at the wall rather than have the beams run crookedly along the ceiling surface. Butt the mitered edges tightly together at the corners to create 90-degree angles at each corner location.
9. Fill in any gaps along the wall or in the joints between pieces with latex painter's caulk. Smooth out the caulk to conceal the gaps so that the foam beam appears to be a single continuous surface.
10. Cover the floor of the room with a drop cloth and place masking tape along the wall at the point where it meets the tray.
11. Pour a gallon of latex primer into a large bucket and add a cup of joint compound. Stir the mixture with a wooden stir stick. Add two tubes of latex painter's caulk to the mix as well.
12. Apply two thin layers of the compound and primer mix to the foam with a paintbrush. Wait two hours for the covering to harden then sand it down with fine-grit sandpaper to remove any brushstrokes and wipe the surface with a tack cloth.
13. Paint the tray and ceiling with an interior latex paint. Use a paintbrush to cover the shaped edge of the foam and a paint roller for the rest of the surfaces. Wait 48 hours for the paint to dry then remove the masking tape and the drop cloth.
Tags: foam cutter, height width, , along ceiling, along wall