Do-it-yourself installation of a suspended rail ceiling

Suspended slatted ceiling has been widely spread in our country since the beginning of the 90s of the last century. It was this type of suspended ceiling that was primarily associated with the concept of European renovation. Its main advantages are the ease of installation and the absence of the need for additional work on the ceiling surface. The result is a visually even surface made of the most beautiful and reliable aluminum rails.

In order to install a suspended rail ceiling with your own hands, there is no need to use special equipment or have special construction skills. All that is needed is a desire, a minimal set of tools and a set of materials for the ceiling itself. The result will also be affected by the accuracy of the simple installation instructions.

The slatted ceiling consists primarily of aluminum strips of cladding, supporting widths (travers), with the help of which they are assembled into a single surface. A special profile is used around the perimeter of the ceiling to frame and support the ceiling. And finally, a set of hangers for traverses and screws.

Let’s proceed with the installation:

1. The ceiling does not require special surface finishing work, but it is desirable to remove all debris or damage to the old coating. In the same way, all the wiring laid on the ceiling is raised and fixed so that it does not interfere with the installation and does not lie on the finished suspended ceiling.
2. Along the perimeter of the room, on top of the wall, a line marks the level to which the suspended ceiling drops. A water level or a laser pointer is used for this purpose. The ceiling should be lowered by at least 5 cm, which is determined by the ceiling structure.
3. A limiting profile is mounted at the indicated level. The lower edge of the profile must be connected to the line. The profile is fixed using mounting screws. In the corners where the profiles meet on the wall, one profile is inserted into the other. It is desirable that each profile on both sides is equally combined with the adjacent ones. To bypass the protrusions in the wall, it is not necessary to cut pieces of the profile, but to bend only one strip of the profile, cutting its sides to the end. This will facilitate the installation of a suspended rail ceiling and eliminate possible misalignment of pieces in one line.
4. Following the profile, we begin to mount suspensions to the ceiling. The hangers will hold the traverses, so the hangers should be attached along parallel lines with a distance of 1 m between them. The lines of installation of the traverses are perpendicular to the direction of installation of the cladding rails. Suspensions are quite strong strips of perforated metal. They are attached in the center and bent in the form of the letter P. At the perforations, the traverses are fastened at their ends.
5. We fasten the traverses on the hangers. This is done with small special screws for galvanized profiles. Such screws have a special tip, which, when turned, drills a hole for itself. We fasten the crossbars, observing approximately the level of the installation, and not strictly at the ends of the suspension. The protruding parts of the hangers are either bent to the top or cut with metal scissors. By bending the hangers, it is necessary to achieve the exact placement of the traverse strictly at the level of the ceiling and strictly horizontally.
6. The final stage will be the installation of the suspended ceiling rails themselves. The strips are fixed on the traverses along the entire length, turning its edges into a profile along the perimeter of the walls. If the length of the strip is too long, then the edge is cut with metal scissors. In particular, you should not bring the cut line to the ideal, you should just remove burrs or edges strongly bent to the bottom. After trimming, this edge is hidden in the guide profile.

Having completely laid all the rails on the surface of the ceiling, a ready-made suspended ceiling is obtained. Due to the anti-corrosion properties of aluminum, this type of ceiling can be installed in any room of an apartment or office. Even in conditions of high humidity of the bath, nothing will happen with such a ceiling. Unless it is worth providing ventilation slits along the edges of the ceiling for the exit of moisture from the space above the slatted ceiling.