How-To : Home Improvement

Use Aluminium Instead Of Tin

An aluminum alloy has now been created to especially suit these beautiful art metal ceilings. Aluminum is a corrosion resistant, durable product which doesn’t rust, unlike steel which is used by some manufactures of pressed tin. The panels are still widely known as pressed tin even though they are not made from tin.

Think About The Design In Your Ceiling Panels And whether They Will Suit The Measurements Of your Room

With a little forethought you can create a “tin” ceiling that exudes the “Wow Factor”. The “Wow Factor” is the reaction you will receive when your visitors look at your new ceiling for the first time. To get that factor you need to spend a little time thinking about how the ceiling panels will fit your particular room. If the repeat pattern you have chosen measures two feet by two feet, will you need to trim all the outside panels in order for them to fit the dimensions of your room? If this would be the case then you need to re-think your plans.

You have two choices: choose a small all-over style which will look perfectly fine if trimmed to fit the room or you can use a border panel around the outside of your room and have the larger designs in the centre of the ceiling. Most of the larger designs require a border or filler strip around the edge, otherwise they don’t look so elegant when installed. Border or filler panels most usually have a small pattern on them which complements the larger main panels in the centre of the ceiling. If you require a border around your main panels then it will be worth consulting an expert to find out how wide the border should be. It is easy to upset the balance of your ceiling by having a border that is too wide or conversely too narrow. Ask your supplier for help on this topic.

Is Crown Cornice Needed?

There is now a delightful range of crown cornice moldings made from aluminum. These come in a variety of sizes to suit various ceiling heights. Crown cornices need to be mitred in the corners of the room and there are now various accessories to suit the individual cornices. These accessories are very handy as they hide the mitred cut edges which can sometimes be a little rough for those home handymen who have little experience in mitring. An alternative to metal crown cornices are timber moldings. Plaster cornices should not be used with metal ceilings.

Can You Install Your Tin Ceilings Yourself?

The easiest way to install pressed tin is to firstly fix building ply to the old ceiling or walls and then nail the tin to the ply. Timber battens can be used but building ply makes the job much easier. It is best to remove existing cornice before the ply is fixed to the ceiling.
Most reputable ceiling suppliers will offer detailed fitting instructions. If you lack experience in this area, you may prefer to employ someone with building experience. However, most metal ceilings are fitted by their owners. Tacking nails should be used initially until you are satisfied you have everything in its final position. Tacking nails are quite long and must only be partly nailed in so that they can be removed easily with pliers. When you are satisfied that everything is in the right spot then you can remove the tacking nails and finish the job off with small nails. Details of which nails to use should be in the manufacturers fitting instructions.

Painting your Metal Panels

Painting an ornate, aluminum ceiling in fine detail is easy because it is painted before it gets fixed to the ceiling. Most aluminum paneling is sold with etch primer already on it so it is immediately ready to paint. You can use one colour over the whole ceiling, you can add just a touch of colour on the moldings or you can can paint every detail in various shades of paint. The patterns in aluminum ceilings are more deeply pressed than other types of ceilings so they create lovely shadows themselves just from electric light or from natural daylight. Accordingly most people use one colour of paint over the whole ceiling. It is strongly recommended that pale shades of paint be used. Darker colours can be appealing in theory but in practice they can often give a heavy oppressive feel to a room. Oil based paints are recommended. If the nails are still visible you can dob each one with a little paint.

About The Author

Jean Morrison is owner of Heritage Ceilings, a unique ceiling decoration business dedicated to bringing beautiful ceilings back into our public buildings and homes.

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Ceiling fans add a lot to a room and to houses, the ceiling fan is an almost mandatory feature in most tropical and warm climate countries, it helps to circulate the air, and making this from the top position of the ceiling is not only saving the valuable space below but also providing with an excellent cooling breeze.

When the markets started developing ceiling fans and consumers learned about the advantages that ceiling fans had the installation and maintenance was not very simple, but since that time a lot of changes and developments have been made, and ceiling fans have become an easy and simple device to install, operate and maintain. One leading producer of excellent ceiling fans, one that its reputation has already made an impression on ceiling fans in a way that a whole range of designs and look is probably named after is the Hunter ceiling fan.

Hunter ceiling fans are made with full commitment to the costumer, it is easy to understand that quality is the name of the game here when learning that Hunter have been making ceiling fans for almost 120 years. The range of products that the Hunter ceiling fan company offers is almost without flaw, one can find any kind of fan or any type color design or purpose, this is what happens when people make the product for years and years, they know their market and they know their clients, and this is a very good thing for ceiling fans.

When first thinking about getting a ceiling fan the average person does not really know what is needed, this is why Hunter ceiling fans are amazingly flexible and make all kinds of different blade sizes and low profiles, this kind of thinking is what makes it almost sure that any house and any room could have a Hunter ceiling fan installed in it, and not only can it be installed, with Hunter Ceiling Fan progressive thinking almost everyone can do it with a friendly and easy installation and maintenance kit. Another nice feature that the Hunter ceiling fans have is an optional light kit on many of its models so you can use the ceiling fan as a light too, saving yet more space and using the unique and special design of the Hunter ceiling fan for your lighting needs.

The Hunter ceiling fans company impresses the do it yourself client not only by delivering a fine product, and doing so for many years now, they also care about their product and the people who use it, thinking about each and every possible feature that can help they have created an operation that provides high quality product, costumer service and consumer understanding. If you are in the market for ceiling fans you should definitely research and look for the Hunter Ceiling Fans and consider getting them, these fans have been cooling rooms and houses for many years and could possibly do the same for you house too.

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Popcorn ceilings are made up mainly of chalk, clay and an aggregate. To remove it you have to wet it, which turns it into a soft gooey mess. It’s not going to be an easy project, but with a little preparation you can control the mess.

Start by removing anything possible from the room. Protect the floor and anything that had to stay in the room with a thick sheet of plastic. Lay out some old newspaper on the floor on top of the plastic to soak most of the wet mess up.

A note of caution – if your popcorn ceiling is from the early 70’s it may contain asbestos. If you suspect your ceiling may be from that era, remove a small piece of the popcorn ceiling and send it in for testing. If it does contain asbestos, it will have to be removed by professionals who can also dispose of it properly to reduce the cancer risk asbestos can pose for you and your family.

Wear some old clothes, a hat to keep the goop out of your hair, and protective eyewear. A respirator of some sort or at least a mask to keep most of the dust particles out of your lungs is a good idea as well.

Use a spray bottle and completely saturate part of the ceiling. Let it soak in for a few minutes and then use a scrapper tool to scrape the gooey mess of your ceiling. A drywall-finishing knife works well. Hold a bucket under the tool to catch most of the removed popcorn ceiling. Work in small section and keep repeating the process until the popcorn ceiling is removed. Use a wet sponge to wipe off any remaining residue on the ceiling.

You may have to rewet some parts of the ceiling to get the popcorn to soften up enough to remove it. Try not to wet it more than 2 to 3 times. You don’t want the drywall beneath to get too saturated with water. It may warp or grow mold.

Once the entire popcorn ceiling is removed, let the ceiling dry completely. Now it’s time to sand the entire surface to remove any rough patches. A pole sander works great for this. Give the dust a chance to settle and then use a joint compound to patch any wholes, cracks etc that may have formed on the ceiling. Let the compound dry for about an hour, then lightly sand over it to smooth it out.

Once you get the mess on the floor cleaned up your new smooth ceiling is ready to be painted.

Visit http://www.LearnHowToRemove.com for a growing library of tips to remove those annoying messes in your life.

[tags]popcorn ceiling,hanging ceiling,ceiling improvement,installing a ceiling,interior decorating tip[/tags]