Reminiscent of years gone by, pressed tin ceilings are making a comeback. Pressed tin is durable, attractive and easy to install by simply nailing it to furring strips on your ceiling. It's available in a variety of patterns and can even be painted; pre-painted ceiling panels and cornice pieces are also available.
Materials:
pressed tin sheets and cornice (trim)
1"x1" furring strips
metal primer
paint roller or brushes
clear urethane or acrylic
handsaw
hammer
cone-head nails
drill with Phillips bit
screws
tin snips
chalk line
stud sensor
paint (optional)
leather gloves
safety glasses
Prepare the ceiling panels
- The pre-painted steel panels come with a protective covering to protect the finish. Peel this covering off before you begin your installation.
- Even though this material is called pressed tin, it's really made of steel, and steel rusts. For this reason, you'll need to paint the underside of every sheet with a good metal primer prior to installation. You'll also need to prime and paint the front of the tin, or coat it with a clear urethane or acrylic to keep the look of tin.
- While you're working with the panels, be sure to wear leather gloves to protect your hands from the sharp metal edges.
Install the furring strips - Remove any fixtures or fans from your ceiling.
- Use a stud sensor to find your ceiling joists, and mark them with a pencil. Then snap a chalk line along the joists to use as a guide.
- Hold a piece of the cornice in place and mark where it meets the wall (usually about three inches away from the wall). Install 1"x1" furring strips at this distance from the wall along the perimeter of the ceiling by driving a screw into every joist. A spacer block will help you keep these first strips straight and the same distance from the wall.
- Starting at the center of the room and working out, mark along the chalk lines every 12 inches. Install furring strips across these marks (the furring strips will be perpendicular to the chalk lines).
Install the tin panels - Starting in a corner, place one panel on the ceiling; line it up with the chalk lines and a perimeter furring strip to make sure it's straight. Drive cone-head nails every 12" through inconspicuous spots in your panel's pressed design (many panels have "buttons" that hide nail heads well).
- Drive a nail through every button in a seam that lands on a furring strip. Before you nail the first seam in place, put the second panel's seam over the first and nail them both at the same time (figure A).
- Repeat this process until the majority of your ceiling, except for the area along the walls, is done.
- The space remaining along the walls will be too narrow for full-size panels ( figure B). Measure this space and cut the panels accordingly using tin snips. Then install these smaller panels the same way you did the larger ones.
Install the cornice
If you feel comfortable mitering wood trim and coping wood pieces, go ahead and miter your cornice yourself. If not, get pre-mitered pieces when you buy your cornice.
- Snap a chalk line at the height you want the bottom of your cornice. This will help you keep the cornice straight.
- Install the first regular or non-mitered cornice piece by nailing through the cornice up into the furring strips you placed along the perimeter of the wall.
- Install the remaining cornice pieces in the same way, driving a nail at every button of the cornice where it meets the ceiling (figure C). If your walls are plaster or old and fragile, you might want to secure the bottom of the cornice to the walls using a panel adhesive instead of nailing into the walls. Run a line of adhesive on the inside lip of the cornice before you put it in place, and then hammer nails through the buttons to secure the top of the cornice to the ceiling.
)
)
)
