How to sheathe the ceiling with plastic panels?

Most of us live in apartments and houses built during the Soviet Union or immediately after its collapse, but for all their quality, these apartments are famous for their uneven ceilings and walls. When you want to update the interior, then, in addition to the walls, it makes sense to bring the ceiling into a proper form. Leveling it with putty is very expensive, it requires special skills and time, but if you use PVC panels, you can save a lot of money and time. At the moment, there are so many types of polymer panels in the assortment of building shops and building companies that everyone will find an acceptable option, because, in addition to different sizes, plastic panels are made in the form of imitations for various materials - from wood to tile. We will consider in this article how to sheathe the ceiling with plastic panels and decorate the walls with this material with minimal effort, time and money.

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Originality of plastic panels

PVC panels replaced the solid solid painted boards and expensive ceramic tiles, allowing you to ennoble a room with high humidity, while saving a lot. Among other things, the polyvinyl chloride used in the production has the following advantages:

1. Exposure to moisture and aggressive compounds is not critical for him.
2. Thanks to its design, it is easy to clean, including chemicals.
3. Relatively durable, in particular, almost does not fade in the sun.
4. Self-assembly is possible, even in the absence of special skills.
5. Thanks to the huge variety of species, it perfectly combines with any other types of finishes.

In addition, this material has other original qualities that distinguish it:

• PVC plates allow you to achieve a flat surface without prior action (except for the primer).
• Affordable price. The production of panels is quite cheap, which allows you to set an extremely small final retail price.
• Soundproofing. Due to the porous structure, the material copes with the cancellation of sound waves, which is important in multi-apartment buildings, especially panel-type.

Important! When buying, make sure that you buy exactly the material that is needed, since the panels for walls and ceiling differ in density and weight, and street ones should be more dense for durability.

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How to get started?

In order to correctly and correctly complete the installation, you need to know how to sheathe the ceiling with plastic panels correctly. To do this, you need to determine the size and type of plates, since they differ in size and purpose:

• The plates have sizes from 2300 to 6000 mm;
• Their width ranges from 100-920 mm;
• The thickness also depends on the future destination and has dimensions of 5-10 mm.

Important! The most common can be considered plates with a size of 2700x250x10 mm.

In addition, in addition to dimensions, the appearance of the panels themselves is distinguished:

• Stacking strips up to 3000 mm long and up to 300 mm wide.

Important! Outwardly they resemble a lining and are joined according to the “tongue-groove” technology, and are fixed with trims and brackets.

• Imitating tiles. Such materials allow you to come up with and implement various design solutions, are mounted on liquid nails, but do not hide surface irregularities, and sometimes also increase differences.
• Sheet panels. They differ in appearance, are different in color and texture.

In addition to choosing the appearance, before you sheathe the ceiling with PVC panels, you need to prepare the right tool and calculate the required amount of materials, as well as fasteners and tools.

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Instructions for installation and calculation of materials

To calculate the required amount of materials for work, you should accurately measure the dimensions of the ceiling.

Important! It is worth choosing the dimensions of the plates, guided by the length and width of the ceiling, then you can avoid unnecessary losses.

Further, when calculating it is important to be guided by the following tips:

1. Determine the area of ​​the ceiling and the area of ​​one panel.
2. Then divide the surface dimensions by the area of ​​one tile.
3. Increase the resulting number by 15-20%, round up. Thus, you can protect yourself from a lack of material due to overlaps and trimmings.
4. To determine the starting profile, you need to find out the perimeter of the room, that is, add up two lengths and two widths of the ceiling and also add 15-20% as a margin.
5. Fixture of plates is carried out on the frame. To calculate the amount of timber or metal profile used in its construction, it is better to draw a drawing with all the necessary measurements, and then:
   • Find out the length of the frame elements.
   • Divide the entire surface of the ceiling into equal lengths of 400-600 mm, through which the crate will later pass.

Important! When choosing a beam, it must be taken with a cross section of 20x50 mm, and if the metal profile, then, in addition to himself, other special details will be required.

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What material to choose for ceiling sheathing plastic?

The following nuances should be noted in the choice of material.

Dimensions of panels - length, width, thickness:

• Dimensions must be selected taking into account the length and width of the room, since a large amount of waste will significantly affect finances.

Important! For example, with a room width of 2400 cm, it is better to give preference to strips with a length of 2500 or 5000 mm.

• Similarly, it is worth calculating the width of the strips, and taking them into account the multiplicity of the length of the room.

External data

The quality of the material will also be important - it is better to choose a more expensive, but better, then it will last longer. Fortunately, this is not difficult to do, even purely visually:

• There should be no holes or dents on the entire surface.
• The color of the whole element should be clear and monophonic - the exception is the elements made using the gradient technique.
• Bends and deformations are not allowed, with the exception of only minor ones, which will be corrected when mounted on the frame.
• The pattern of stiffeners should not be reflected on the surface.
• 1.5-2 mm - the minimum should be the thickness of the walls and ribs.
• To the touch, the entire surface should be smooth and pleasant.
• Before buying, it is necessary to check the strength of the stud-groove fastening. They should happen easily and not have gaps.
• Plastic should bend well during installation, so you need to bend the edge of the panel and shake it a little, if there are no traces left, then the material is good.

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Materials and tools needed for cladding

After calculating the amount of material necessary for the work, it is important to take care of the acquisition of tools and special parts for fasteners:

1. Fixing plate (corner 90 °), equal in length to the perimeter of the room.
2. Ceiling plinth also in an amount equal to the perimeter.
3. Various joints and corners.
4. Self-tapping screws with a press washer.

Before planking the walls and ceiling with plastic, it makes sense to buy or borrow the following tool:

• Pencil;
• Roulette;
• Level (water or laser);
• Painting thread;
• Impact drill or hammer drill;
• Screwdriver;
• Construction or wide office knife;
• Hammer;
• Hacksaw (better for metal);
• Building corner;
• Liquid Nails.

Such a list is the most generalized for any type of installation - both using the frame, and without it.

Important! With a frameless version of the cladding, the plates are attached to a flat ceiling or chipboard.

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Installation Preparatory Phase

Before you begin the direct installation of plates or frame for the subsequent installation of panels, it is important to make sure that the ceiling does not have chips and deformations, that is, subsequently it does not collapse and does not deform the entire structure.

Also, before sheathing the ceiling with plastic panels, it is important:

• If possible, remove the old coating.
• Treat the cleaned surface with an antiseptic and antifungal primer of deep penetration.

Important! If the house is private and the base of the ceiling is wooden, then this action is extremely necessary and cannot be missed.

• Carry out the wiring of communications to the right places, change the wiring, part it where necessary.
• All materials should be brought into the room in which repairs will be carried out in order to avoid possible deformation.
• When choosing wooden laths as the frame, they are also treated with an antiseptic, sometimes a refractory composition.

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Select and install the frame

The option when the ceilings are perfectly even and the panels can be mounted directly to the ceiling is extremely rare. Most likely, it will be necessary to install the frame, to which the plates are subsequently attached.

The choice is of two types - wooden or metal, and in order to choose which one is better in your case and how to sheathe the ceiling with PVC panels, you need to know the following:

• For the profile, special brackets are used, which are fastened with two anchors to concrete and two self-tapping screws to the metal itself.

Important! When doing this work, you will need special nozzles, as well as a more powerful tool.

• Mounting a wooden frame is simpler, since you only need to fasten the beam to the ceiling with a step of about 30 cm, and then install the bars perpendicularly - just one self-tapping screw at the joints is enough.
• More difficult is the direct installation of panels to the metal structure.

Important! When choosing a material for the frame for self-installation, it is worth giving preference to wood. If the installation will be carried out in a room with high humidity, then the metal structure will be more reliable.

In favor of whatever material the choice is made, the markup is approximately the same:

1. On opposite sides of the room, markup is made into equal segments.
2. With the help of colored twine stretched in length and width, the pattern of the future frame is beaten off.
3. We carry out the same work around the perimeter of the room, since these guides will be the first.
4. In case of mounting not on the surface, it is necessary to make marks at a distance of 500-700 mm to fix the suspensions.

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Preparation for installation

There are several methods for erecting frame structures:

• With a suspended ceiling, installation begins with the suspension being mounted exactly at the intersection of the broken lines. Drill holes through the plumb in the ceiling, hammer in two or three dowels for fixing.
• A metal profile is installed on the walls along the line, in which holes are also created with a step of 300-350 mm, followed by clogging of the dowels.
• Then, at the desired height, the profile itself is installed and fixed with metal screws.
• The ends of the suspended metal profile are mounted in the guides on the walls, twisted with screws.

Important! You can use wooden bars at this stage.

• Strengthen places of possible pressure with special jumpers.

There is also another option for creating a wooden frame, and it involves the use of wooden linings or direct installation of the structure to the ceiling:

1. The beam is likewise installed in metal profiles or drilled to a guide bar.
2. The board is nailed to the ceiling with dowels with the calculation of approaching 50-60 mm into the plane of the ceiling.

Important! When using linings, they are fixed to the ceiling, and the frame itself is installed on them using self-tapping screws.

Before sheathing the ceiling with plastic panels, they carry out the installation of all the necessary communications, and it is advisable to remove the wires in a special corrugated casing for better waterproofing. At the same stage, the walls and structures are impregnated with an antiseptic, the installation of insulation, insulation.

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Installation of plastic panels on the ceiling

Actually, the installation work itself is almost the same for both wood and metal frames. However, with the ease of fastening self-tapping screws to a tree, a profile structure is much easier. To properly sheathe the ceiling with plastic panels, check out these tips:

• Install the starting U-bar around the entire perimeter.

Important! The bar can be replaced with a rail for installing the ceiling plinth, if any.

• After that, the first PVC panel is installed in the gap between the baseboard and the plank or in the profile.
• The plate is leveled, twisted with a wide-head self-tapping screw.
• The next part is inserted into the groove to the previous one, thus hiding the head of the screw, and again fastened with a screw.
• Repeat this procedure until the last item.

Important! In those places where it is planned to bring out the backlight, you must immediately make holes, and during installation, bring the wires out.

• When attaching the last element, it is important to be careful, therefore it is better to do this earlier, and then simply connect the last and penultimate parts.
• Then close all sections with special decorative elements.

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Plastic ceiling technology

To sheathe the ceiling with PVC panels, using a wooden frame, follow these instructions:

• Attach a corner for the ceiling plinth around the entire perimeter, taking into account the necessary distances, gaps.
• Based on the calculated dimensions, we measure, cut off the plastic.

Important! Based on the unevenness of the walls and ceilings, you should not cut off all the panels at once - it is better to do this if necessary.

• We fix the press washer taking into account the gaps.

Important! Kleimer is a special fastener for lining of any type, however, installation will take longer.

• We cut the last panel in width, fasten to the guide.
• We install the remaining fixtures, decorative elements, lighting.

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How to sheathe the ceiling with plastic panels?

The most appropriate is the call of the master, engaged in the installation of such structures regularly and on a professional basis. In case of impossibility of such and independent work, there is only one advice on fixing the panels themselves -

self-tapping screw with a press washer. This type is preferable, since the washer will not interfere with the installation of the next element, but will give reliability in mounting, in addition, they are piercing or drilling.

Important! Some sources recommend mounting with a stapler, but a bracket with a thickness of 1.5 mm at best will not give strength and will quickly corrode.

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Features of arranging a false ceiling with plastic panels

Before sheeting the walls and ceiling with plastic, it is necessary to take into account future functionality, that is, you just need to hide the existing surface or conduct communications.

Important! The larger the volume of lines to be hidden, the lower the new ceiling will be.

Knowing the necessary parameters and using the level, marking and installing the frame, and then the entire ceiling structure, is easy.

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Stock footage

PVC panels are a reliable, inexpensive material for leveling walls and ceilings. Their installation is quite possible at home and on their own, since the most difficult of the total amount of work will be the design of the frame, and the subsequent installation of the panels themselves is more like a game in the designer. Using the tips from this article, you can assess the quantity, quality of the necessary materials, independently purchase them and do the necessary work without the help of outsiders, which will save a lot of family budget.