How to make a suspended ceiling?

Drywall ceiling - the best solution for those who want to tidy the ceiling on their own surface, but not burning with the desire to mess with the plaster or buy an expensive heat gun for tension PVC cloths. We will find out how to make a suspended ceiling from GKL sheets and get acquainted with the instructions explaining in detail how to fix drywall to the ceiling correctly.

When to choose drywall?

Plasterboard suspended ceilings would be the right choice if:

• the work needs to be done quickly and with a minimum of effort - installing a plasterboard ceiling is much easier for a beginner than plastering, in addition, you do not have to wait for each layer of mortar to dry;
• it is necessary to hide the wires and communications;
• you want to use spotlights;
• it is required to make sound or heat insulation - it is convenient to hide any insulating material behind the drywall on the ceiling;
• There is a need for a perfectly flat ceiling surface in the absence of skills in working with plaster.

If you are already seriously thinking about how to make a drywall ceiling, take into account some of its shortcomings:

• Like any suspended ceiling, it will reduce the height of the room.
• Plastering the ceiling implies the mandatory use of tools such as a punch, a screwdriver, as well as a laser or water level.
• At the joints of the GCR, cracks may appear over time.
• Aligning the ceiling with drywall can not be done alone.

Materials for work

Before we begin to understand how to make a drywall ceiling, we will find out what needs to be prepared before installation. We will need:

• GKL sheets thickness from 8.5 to 9 mm. If you plan to make a suspended ceiling in the kitchen or bathroom, then you need to choose a moisture-resistant material - GKLV.
• Ceiling profiles (PP or CD) 60 X 27 mm.
• Ceiling guides (PNP or UD) 28 X 27 mm.
• Dowels and screws, anchors.
• Special suspensions.
• Cross-shaped fasteners for connecting perpendicularly joined profiles - “crabs”.
• Self-adhesive sealing tape for a snug fit.

You can also make a suspended ceiling from GVL - gypsum fiber sheets, which differ in strength and incombustibility, but in this case, reinforced profiles will be required, since this material has a fairly large weight.

Instruments

How to sheathe the ceiling with drywall using available tools? The minimum you will need:

• roulette;
• laser or water level;
• pencil;
• hammer drill;
• screwdriver;
• hammer;
• knife for cutting sheets;
• scissors for metal;
• marking cord.

If we are talking about how to make a suspended ceiling from beginning to end, we must not forget about the tools and materials for its processing and puttying, which include:

• spatulas;
• sanding mesh;
• grid grater;
• serpentine tape for joints;
• putty;
• primer.

Preparation for installation

Before you begin leveling the ceiling with drywall, you must:

1. Completely complete the work on aligning the walls in the room: in the places of fastening the profile, the surface should be absolutely even.
2. Make a sketch of the structure for an accurate calculation of the amount of materials (profiles, sheets, screws, fasteners). The scheme of the gypsum board ceiling frame with the calculated step between the elements of the crate will help to avoid a situation where the edge of the sheet does not coincide with the profile, and it cannot be fixed.
3. Repair defects on the base surface. Despite the fact that the drywall ceilings will hide it, this stage is necessary to prevent the old coating from shedding. Before fixing the profile to the ceiling, repair the cracks, clean the crumbling areas, apply a deep penetration primer.

Finishing the room is done after the false ceilings are installed.

Markup

Installation of gypsum plasterboard ceiling is unthinkable without preliminary marking. The goal is a perfectly flat horizontal line perpendicular to the floor and running along the perimeter of the entire room. It will serve as a guide for setting the start profile. To correctly markup, you must:

• Decide on the height of the drywall ceiling. For a design with spotlights, the surface will have to be lowered by at least 8 cm, if they are not used, a gap of 4-5 cm will suffice.
• Find the bottom point of the base ceiling surface. To do this, measure the height of the ceiling in all corners and in the center of the room. The smallest height is marked on one of the walls with a tape measure and a pencil, then the distance from which the plasterboard ceiling will be lowered is laid off from it.
• The resulting height is transferred to each wall, the points are connected by a horizontal line using a chop cord.

When marking the surface for a plasterboard ceiling, it is much more convenient to use the laser level.

For marking under the main profiles for the gypsum ceiling, you need to take into account 2 points:

• Extreme profiles should be 20–25 cm from the walls.
• The step between the profiles is 40 cm.

Suspensions can be placed at a distance of 50 cm from each other, the extreme - 25 cm from the walls. To mark anchor attachment points, attach suspensions to the ceiling and mark 2 points for each.

Frame mounting technology

Installation of the frame begins with the installation of guide profiles:

• The guide is applied with the bottom edge to the line, marks for dowels are made through the holes in the profile.

If there are no holes on the edges of the profiles, you need to step back 10 cm from its ends and make them yourself.

• Holes are drilled with a puncher.
• A sealing tape is glued to the profile, it is fixed with dowels on the wall.

The false ceiling is fastened with the help of suspensions, also glued with sealing tape, fixed with anchors.

On the suspensions, the supporting strips are fixed, the ends of which are led into the guides. After fixing the profiles on both sides of the suspensions, their free ends are bent.

If the length of the profiles is not enough, you need to use special extension cords designed to connect the two strips.

If you are making a suspended ceiling in a bathroom or hallway, following these instructions will suffice. False ceilings for the kitchen, living room or bedroom, that is, for larger premises, will require installation of additional transverse profiles to which you will need to attach the short sides of the sheets GKL. Perpendicularly joined profiles are fixed with the help of "crabs". The result should be a lattice frame.

Gypsum plasterboard casing

Before sheathing the ceiling, you need to take care of the communications. Wires are placed in a corrugated pipe, wiring for lighting devices is performed.

GKL sheets are cut on the floor in a horizontal position, holes are cut out for fixtures.

Can I install drywall on the ceiling myself? Yes, but only when using the elevator, without special devices, only the frame can be assembled alone. Drying the ceiling with plasterboard is most conveniently performed with the participation of 3 people: one should feed the sheet, two should take it, lift it and apply it to the frame.

Prepared sheets are applied to the frame in such a way that their edges are joined in the center of the profiles, and screwed with screws:

• the distance from the edge of the sheet to the attachment point is 1–1.5 cm;
• the gap between the screws - 10-15 cm;
• screwing depth - 0.5 cm (from the edge of the sheet to the cap).

Important points to consider when attaching drywall to the ceiling:

• At the edge of the sheets in the joints, there should be a chamfer, if it is not there, you need to do it yourself with a knife or a special planer. The sheets should fit snugly enough to each other, the gap between them should be from 1 to 2 cm.
• Since part of the drywall sheets will most likely have to be cut, deciding how to sheathe the ceiling, it is better to start by fixing whole sheets. When this part of the work is done, it is possible to more accurately determine the size of the cut sheet.
• Between the skin and the wall, a small clearance of 0.5–1 cm must be left.

Putty

After the false ceilings are installed, it remains only to finish them. Primarily performed plasterboard puttying according to standard technology, the same for all types of drywall constructions:

1. Joints are closed with reinforcing tape.
2. Seams and entry points of screws are putty.
3. After the putty is dried, the joints are overwritten with a special mesh, the entire surface of the gypsum board ceiling is primed, and a finishing putty is applied on it with a thin layer.

After the putty has dried, it must be sanded. Then the gypsum board ceiling is primed again and painted or glued with wallpaper.

Now you know how to make a suspended ceiling from GKL sheets. This process should not cause you much difficulty, if you carefully follow the instructions, everything will work out.