When finishing the ceiling in the bathroom with plastic panels, first of all, you need to choose the right material. There are two types of plastic products: wall and ceiling panels. Wall products have greater strength and weight, and therefore are not suitable for a hinged structure. Of the ceiling panels, monophonic seamless products of light colors are most often chosen, but the color should be determined based on the overall design of the room.
A more expensive, but also more effective option is plastic sheet. It is produced in separate sheets of 2000x4000 mm in size, which allows you to close a small space in the ceiling in the bathroom or the bathroom with a whole sheet. Sheet materials are less in demand than standard panels, and therefore they can rarely be found in retail stores, moreover, it will be difficult to independently install a dimensional part on the ceiling.
Materials and tools
It will be required:
- hammer drill or hammer drill;
- building or laser level;
- hacksaw for metal;
- screwdriver;
- measuring tape and pencil;
- plastic panels;
- ceiling lamps;
- cable;
- metal profiles and suspensions;
- ceiling moldings or starter profile;
- screws and dowels.
Material calculation
To calculate the amount of material when installing the ceiling in the bathroom from plastic panels, first you need to draw a plan for the size of the room. The bathroom and toilet are most often small, and therefore the panels will need to be trimmed in length when sheathed. The plan will help to perform an economical layout of panels. To do this, you need to divide the area in the drawing along the width of one panel - the resulting number must be adjusted taking into account the trimming of the material.
When assembling the frame, a metal profile or wooden bars are used. In rooms with high humidity it is recommended to use a galvanized profile. It is installed in increments of 400 mm perpendicular to the length of the panel. Based on these parameters, it is easy to calculate the number of guides. The number of suspensions is calculated according to the instructions for a particular type of profile, but the step of installing suspensions should not exceed 600 mm.
Moldings or a starting plastic profile are calculated along the perimeter of the room, adding to the obtained value 10% of the safety stock.
Preparatory work
Before installing the ceiling from PVC panels in the bathroom, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work according to the following step-by-step plan:
- old coatings (paint, tile, whitewash, plaster) are removed from the surface of the floor slab;
- the surface cleaned from the old coating is inspected for cracks and chips. Detected defects are repaired with putty;
- the cleaned and leveled surface is impregnated with a primer on concrete with antiseptic additives. Often, novice builders skip this stage of the preparation of the ceiling, but in wet rooms, the sub-ceiling space becomes a breeding ground for fungus and mold, even if effective ventilation is provided. Priming will help eliminate this problem. The primer is applied to the surface twice, the second layer can be applied only after the first has completely dried;
- while the soil is drying, you can make the cutting of the material in size. The length of the panel should be 5-7 mm less than the distance from wall to wall.
Wiring
Before sheathing the ceiling with plastic panels in the bathroom, it is necessary to install wiring for lighting. Cables are laid in the inter-ceiling space after fixing the frame in corrugated pipes. Such a measure will protect the wires and connections from accidental moisture and, as a consequence, short circuit.
Corrugation is attached to the ceiling plate on special plastic clamps. During the installation of wiring in the places where the fixtures are installed, a cable is output for their connection. After completing the wiring installation, conduct a performance test and, if necessary, eliminate the problem.
Installation instructions for PVC panels on glue
The easiest way is to mount the ceiling in the bathroom from plastic panels with glue, but to implement this method you will need a carefully aligned base with height differences not exceeding 3 mm per 1 square meter. Installation of built-in lighting on a glued ceiling is not possible, and therefore in this case they plan to install only pendant lights.
To stick the panels to the ceiling plate, you must adhere to the following step-by-step algorithm of actions:
- It is recommended that the panels be glued without a start profile. After installing all the panels around the perimeter of the room, a polyurethane baseboard is glued, which will hide the place where the ends of the boards come into contact with the walls;
- panels are cut to size;
- the panels are mounted with a crest to the wall. To install the first panel, it is recommended to remove the comb with an electric jigsaw to ensure tight contact with a vertical surface;
- Liquid nails or other suitable glue in tubes are applied in a zigzag manner on the inside of the board from the gun;
- the panel is applied to the place of fixation and pressed over the entire surface, excluding the groove. The next panel is inserted into the groove and only after that the first panel is finally pressed;
- The finish board is mounted simultaneously with the penultimate board, immediately leading it into the groove. Previously, the finish board is cut in width to the desired size.
Installation instructions for plastic panels on the crate
A suspended ceiling with a crate is arranged in case it is necessary to mask communications, or when defects in the ceiling plate are difficult to eliminate.
At the first stage of work, you need to mark the surface under the frame device. Perform the following actions:
- Using the laser level detect the lowest angle in the room.
- From the found point, measure the distance necessary so that inside the ceiling space it is possible to place lamps and communications.
- Using a laser level on the walls mark the line on the second mark. If it is inconvenient to draw, you can install the screws at the right points in the corners and pull the chalk chop cord.
- Focusing on the lower boundary of the ceiling, they draw lines for installing guides.
- Suspension attachment points are drawn along the lines.
After applying the markup, you can begin to assemble the frame.
Frame preparation
To install the supporting frame, you will need to perform the following steps:
- metal profiles are cut to size;
- along the perimeter of the room, at the height set by the marking lines, guides are fixed on the dowel;
- holes are drilled at pre-marked points and perforated suspensions are mounted on the dowels;
- longitudinal guides are fixed with self-tapping screws to perforated suspensions. During the installation of the guides, it is necessary to monitor the correspondence of heights, for which it is recommended to pull the cord from corner to corner along the guides already installed around the perimeter;
- if necessary, the guides are adjusted in height.
Panel Mounting
Self-installation of plastic panels on the ceiling is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- from three sides around the perimeter, it is necessary to attach starting strips to the dowels, in which the boards will be wound;
- the board is cut to size and freed from the protective film. If the ceiling is even and does not have differences in the distance from wall to wall, you can immediately cut the entire set of boards in size (the length of the panel should be less than the distance from wall to wall by 7 mm);
- the first board is installed with a spike against the wall, fitting it tightly into the grooves of the starting strips on three sides. The installed panel is fixed to the guide screws in the groove;
- the following boards are installed in the same way as the first;
- during the set of ceiling coverings, it is necessary to immediately cut openings for the built-in lights.
General material on the topic is presented here.
How to set the last strip
To install the last panel, it must be cut in width, taking into account the laying of the board in the groove and on the starting bar. The panel is inserted with the trimmed side into the starting bar and angled into the groove of the penultimate board, after which the last board is carefully installed together with the starting bar in place. After installing the last board, you need to fix the end starting plate with dowels.
Installation of fixtures
Installation of the ceiling is being completed by the installation of lamps.
Which lights fit
When choosing fixtures for a false ceiling in a bathroom, the following rules must be considered:
- Ceiling recessed fixtures in the shower should be selected from models with a capacity of up to 24 V. The degree of safety is 45IP.
- To illuminate other sections of the ceiling, you can use any waterproof lamps with a voltage of 220 V, or 12-24 V with transformers.
- It is best to use LED lamps that give diffused light to the bathroom.
How to install them
Pre-laying of the cable is carried out during the installation of the frame of the suspended ceiling, and the holes for the recessed fixtures are cut out - at the time of installation of the panels. It is convenient to cut openings for the luminaires with a crown on a tree with a diameter equal to the diameter of the built-in part of the luminaire (usually 58 -74 mm).
When installing wiring for each lamp, it is necessary to prepare cable loops 100-150 mm long, which will allow you to install lighting devices without interference.
After the installation of the panels is completed, installation of the fixtures is started. Each device is connected to a cable loop, fixing, after connecting, the case in the finished hole in the panel.