Installation Of A Floating Plasterboard Ceiling With A LED Strip Along The Perimeter

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Characteristics of a floating ceiling
• Materials required to create a ceiling with light lines
• Lamps for a floating ceiling
• Sketch to create a ceiling with a light line
• Preparation matters
• Drawing on a rough ceiling
• Installation of a plasterboard floating ceiling with light lines
• Fastening profiles for a metal frame of a soaring ceiling
• Sheathing of a metal base with plasterboard sheets
• Making a niche for a light line around the perimeter of the created ceiling with your own hands
• Fixing the LED strip and installing glass
• Installation of LED strip and ceiling decoration

When making repairs in your own house, it is often about the ceiling, because it creates an overall picture of the entire interior of the apartment. Emphasizes overall design or hides flaws. A floating ceiling with light stripes always makes a room attractive, light and spacious. When creating a "floating" ceiling above your head, you should familiarize yourself with the installation technique, as well as choose a backlight that creates the "floating effect".

Characteristics of a floating ceiling

There is one important factor in a soaring ceiling with lines - choosing the right lighting. It is the correct installation of the frame base, as well as the lighting that make the ceiling beautiful and well-groomed.

You don't need a lot of investment to reproduce floating lines on the ceiling. It is created with your own hands, you should be careful and accurate in calculations.

There are 3 types of soaring ceilings:

1. Single-level - a niche for lighting is mounted on a rough base. The LED strip for the ceiling is mounted along the perimeter of the plane.

   

2. Two-level - the first tier is sewn up with plasterboard. On this tier, a box for hidden illumination is created.

   

3. Multilevel - the third and fourth levels are curved structures, as well as circles and squares.

   

Distinctive features of the ceiling with soaring lines:

• Visually enlarges the room;
• The corners of the surface are rounded if desired;
• Fast and easy production.
• The cost of materials is relatively low.
• LED strips can be easily and quickly installed in the ceiling.

The disadvantages are the reduction in the height of the room, as well as the absurdity of this ceiling in a small room. Variants of floating lines on the ceiling can be seen in the attached photo.

Materials required to create a ceiling with light lines

1. Ceiling plasterboard 9.5 mm.
2. Profiles: PNP, PP, aluminum for LED strip.
3. Hangers for fixing the ceiling profile.
4. Dowel-nails and anchor-wedges 6 * 40.6 * 60.
5. Screws for fixing profiles, suspensions 11 mm, for drywall 3.5 * 25 mm.
6. Electric wires for wiring.
7. For the light strip in the ceiling: LED strip, plexiglass, plastic corners (the smallest).
8. PVA glue.
9. Primer mixes.
10. Putty materials for reinforcing joints, serpyanka tape.
11. Finishing putty.

Materials are purchased at the rate of 10% more.

Lamps for a floating ceiling

To make the effect of "floating" with a light strip in the ceiling, you should choose the right lighting fixtures. Fluorescent lamps are used, installed in a hidden backlight. It is better to use an LED strip, the choice of which is great in terms of colors and the number of diodes per 1 sq. M.

Now designers offer ready-made solutions, use boxes for LED strip, covered with plexiglass. This is done simply. There are 2 methods for installing LED strips into the ceiling: homemade designs and using ready-made recessed boxes.

A chandelier is usually hung in the center of the ceiling as the main lighting. Only in a single-level ceiling, the chandelier should not be bulky. Large beautiful chandeliers are hung in tall rooms with tiered structures. But, basically, when creating a "hover", there are no lighting fixtures in the center of the room.

Sketch to create a ceiling with a light line

The first thing to do is sketch the ceiling. You need to know exactly how many levels there will be, what kind of lighting will be used? By choosing light strips on the ceiling, you get one or two levels. If a second level is provided, then it will be an order of magnitude less than the first, for example, a floating square in the center.

For a single-level ceiling, a sketch is drawn on paper for a metal frame. But, with a niche for lighting. All dimensions, points of intersection of profiles, and also places of fasteners are marked on the created drawing. Plasterboard sheets are drawn without fail. The joints of the sheets are of great importance, since at this point there should be a transverse strip from the profile. All dimensions are indicated in the unit of measurement - millimeters.

Attention. By specifying the unit - centimeters, you can get lost in the calculations, which threatens with incorrect installation of the metal frame.

Separately, a plan is drawn up for the wiring. The locations of the wires for connecting the LED strip, sockets, switches are specified in advance. And also indicates the connection of the wiring to the junction box.

Preparation matters

The work carried out before the installation of the metal frame will indicate the strength of the entire structure. Preparatory work includes the following processes:

1. The room where a floating ceiling with light lines made of plasterboard is created is freed of objects that interfere with work (furniture, curtains, chandeliers).
2. If cracks are found, it is required to carry out reinforcement and puttying.
3. The entire surface of the ceiling is covered with a primer.

Unfinished cracks in the ceiling can further negatively affect the plasterboard structure. If the ceiling is not covered with a primer, and the house (apartment on the top floor) is cold, fungus will appear, which will also adversely affect the suspended plasterboard structure.

Drawing on a rough ceiling

For a lesson on drawing lines for metal profiles, you will need tools:

• Laser level. An ordinary building one is also needed, but building straight lines on the ceiling will be difficult.
• Pencil or crayon. It's good if you have a chopping line. With its help, it is easiest to leave straight lines for the frame on the plane of the walls and ceiling.
• Meter or tape measure.

Initially, you need to measure the height of all corners in the room. When the lowest point is found, a mark is made. From the rough ceiling, a minimum of 8 cm is offset down. In the same corner on the ceiling, the same point is marked with an indent of 8 cm. What does this mean? Lines are drawn along these points throughout the room along the perimeter. A niche marking is created for floating lines. The wider the niche, the larger the line. This is where the room size rule comes into play. In a small square room on the ceiling, wide light stripes are irrelevant.

On the ceiling, stripes for the ceiling profile are drawn in 60 cm increments. On these strips, the attachment points of the suspensions are set - every 50 cm. Perpendicular to the lines on the ceiling, the attachment points of the transverse ones for fastening drywall are marked. They have the same pitch - 60 cm. You should get 60x60 cells.

The markings for the floating plasterboard ceiling are ready.

Installation of a plasterboard floating ceiling with light lines

Creating a floating ceiling with light lines takes care, time to verify the accuracy of the work. All work is divided into stages of forming the ceiling structure. The first is the production of a metal frame. Its features: the correct choice of fasteners, checking the accuracy of the created plane, strength, rigidity.

The second stage is plasterboard sheathing. There are rules here, the omission of which will lead to early deformation and cracks in the ceiling. The third stage is the installation of floating lines in the ceiling. The effect of a floating ceiling depends on the correct backlighting, as well as the accuracy of its installation.

The fourth stage is the reinforcement of the joints, priming, puttying. At this stage, the main thing is the quality of the material and the correctness of the work performed.

The final stage that completes the whole process is the finishing of the ceiling. This can be painting, pasting with plain wallpaper, decorative finishing.

Fastening profiles for a metal frame of a soaring ceiling

The metal frame is the basis for the floating flow. The correctness of its implementation is reflected in the entire ceiling with LED strips. When creating a frame base, factors such as the shrinkage of a new building, the age of the house (especially old private houses), the percentage of humidity, and temperature are taken into account. If a soaring ceiling with an LED strip is created in a warm apartment, and the apartment building is stable, then the transverse ones in the frame are installed only at the joints of the gypsum board. But, if the building is unstable and subject to many external factors, then the frame base must be solid, strong. For reinforcement, the transverse ones are installed with a certain step.

So, the creation of a metal lathing begins with the installation of guide profiles. Designations: PNP - ceiling guide profile or UD - European marking.

The ceiling profile is fixed with 6/40 dowel nails to the ceiling along the extreme line. The fixing step is as follows: retreat 15 cm from the edge. After every 25 cm. The last dowel is also fixed from the edge of the profile by 15 cm. The PNP is attached along the entire quadrangle on the ceiling.

Next, you need cut pieces from the PP ceiling profile (aka CD). The length of such a segment is equal to the distance of the drawn line from the ceiling along the wall (100 mm). The uprights are fixed with small screws to the guide rail on the ceiling. The step of fastening the racks is 30 cm. They create rigidity and structural strength.

Another guide profile is fixed to the posts, into which the ceiling profiles will be inserted. Straight hangers are attached to the wedge anchor along the entire ceiling at the marked points. Fasteners are inserted into the "ears" of the suspensions and hammered in with a hammer. To maintain evenness and form a single plane, a thread is pulled across the entire surface. Guided by this thread, as well as with the help of a level, ceiling profiles are inserted into the guides and attached to the suspensions.

Jumpers are created from PP. They are attached to the ceiling profile with crabs. For rigidity, crabs are fastened not only with clasps, but also with self-tapping screws.

At the end, the entire metal lathing is checked for rigidity, strength and evenness. This is important because an uneven and flimsy frame will not create a floating structure.

Attention. Conduction of wires among metal profiles occurs only in a corrugated sleeve, otherwise a short circuit will occur when a live wire comes into contact with a metal. At the point where the lighting fixture is connected to the wiring, the cable strands are set at 20 cm and insulated.

Sheathing of a metal base with plasterboard sheets

First, you should cut the height of the ceiling structure from drywall. These sections are attached to the outside of the metal lathing. For this, self-tapping screws with a size of 3.5 * 25 mm are applicable.

After fixing the vertical sections of the gypsum board, the entire ceiling is sheathed with plasterboard sheets. Here you should read the rules:

1. The gypsum plasterboard is fixed only to the profile. There should be no sagging corners.
2. The self-tapping screw is fixed in 15 cm increments and 1 cm from the sheet edge.
3. The joints of the drywall should not be aligned horizontally. The staggered order of the plating creates the strength of the entire structure.
4. The self-tapping screw's head should not stick out above the surface, but also the screw should not be screwed in too deeply, as this will damage the surface of the sheet.

When sheathing plasterboard metal lathing, you should check the surface again using a level, rule. There should be no drops at the junction of the GK sheets.

Making a niche for a light line around the perimeter of the created ceiling with your own hands

Since the ceiling is single-level, the niche is obtained from the rough base of the ceiling and wall. LED strips for the ceiling are created in this method without a profile holder, which is produced specifically for this lighting. You will need a profile for an LED strip, plastic corners of the minimum size, plexiglass.

To level the surface of the niche, cover the entire interior with a primer mixture, and after drying, apply an even layer of putty and leave to dry. The dry surface is treated with sandpaper.

According to the experts, insulating material should be laid in the niche. It can be foil or other foil-clad material. It is fastened with PVA. It is created for light reflection and isolation.

In the center of the niche, a profile for the LED strip is attached to the ceiling. Since the tape heats up, the profile, according to experts, should not be fastened to the very end of the niche. 3-5 mm is left. The choice of LED strip is individual. There are many types of diode strip: different numbers of diodes per 1 meter, color, manufacturer.

Fixing the LED strip and installing glass

In a ceiling with floating lines, the LED strip is connected to a dimmer for proper operation. Consider this when preparing to mount the tape. The LEDs are placed on a special sheet with a sticky layer on the back. This layer should be used to secure the tape to the profile. To connect to a dimmer, controller, as well as to connect a tape, you need to familiarize yourself with the installation and operation rules.

After connecting the lighting element, the mains voltage is turned on and the correct installation is checked.

The next step is to fix the plexiglass. To do this, you need to act according to the plan:

1. A plastic corner of a minimum size of 20x10, glue, small self-tapping screws with a countersunk head are purchased.
2. The side parts are cut from the corner so that strips are obtained. These plastic strips are fixed on the inner sides of the niche so that the edges line up with the outer corners. Spacers are used for secure fixation.

3. Plastic corners looking inward are fixed to the glued strips with self-tapping screws. The caps of the self-tapping screws are "drowned" - after the hole is made with a self-tapping screw, 2-3 turns should be made in this place with an empty bat. You will get a recess for the hat. The shelves on which the plexiglass will be held are ready.

   

The design is collapsible. If repair or installation of additional illumination of the light strips is required, then one side rises, the glass is wound and screwed back.

The gaps left at the bottom at the junction of plastic and drywall are sealed with putty or acrylic sealant.

Installation of LED strip and ceiling decoration

The LED strip is glued to the profile installed in the niche. Then it is connected to the wiring, dimmer, according to the tape installation scheme.

Attention. Do not glue the tape to the very end of the niche. As it heats up, expansion takes place. At the ends of the niche, a gap of at least 5 mm is left.

When the LED strip is installed, it should be checked for correct connection. For this, a switch is used, as well as a control panel.

The entire surface of the plasterboard ceiling is covered with a primer. At the joints of the gypsum board, the primer mixture is applied with a brush. All seams are covered with reinforced tape and Knauf Fugen putty. All fasteners are covered with the same mixture.

Further, the ceiling is finished depending on the conceived design - paint, wallpaper, decorative coatings.

Light stripes in the ceiling are a design idea of unusual ceiling lighting that makes the whole room bright, well-groomed, and unusual.

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