Pros and cons of polystyrene ceiling tiles, as well as the process of their installation

Types

The following types of foam plastic ceiling tiles are available for sale:

• Pressed. Up to 7 mm thick.
• Injection. Up to 14 mm thick. They are made by sintering foam plastic at high temperatures.
• Extruded. Made by squeezing out a polystyrene mass, after which the tiles are either painted or covered with a film with a pattern.

Tiles also differ in shape. Most often they are square with a side of 50 cm, but there are also tiles in the form of rectangles, diamonds, regular hexagons (honeycombs). Also popular are tiles that imitate the shape and color of clapboards.

The front side of the tiles can be smooth or have a relief, simple or covered with a film, laminated. The film, like the paint, can imitate the texture of stone, fabric, plaster, wood, stucco, or even wood carving. Laminated tiles are used in rooms designated for the kitchen. For bathrooms and toilets, panels with waterproof properties are more suitable.

Advantages

The main advantage of such a ceiling covering is that it is very easy to glue foam tiles to the ceiling, and even an untrained person can handle it.

In addition, the following advantages can be noted:

• The light weight allows you to use the tiles on ceilings of any design.
• The tiles have sound and heat insulating qualities, and are not afraid of temperature changes and humidity.
• The low weight of the tile makes it possible to use simple glue that does not have super-high strength, and, therefore, a high price.
• This ceiling covering will allow you to save not only on the material, but also on the work – because it can be done independently.

ATTENTION! Foam plastic ceiling tiles can change their physical properties (melt) under the influence of high temperatures, so it is not recommended to install powerful lamps in the immediate vicinity of them. It is better to use pendant lamps and place them at a distance of at least 20 cm from the surface of the tile. The tile withstands the temperature of hot water without changing its shape, so it can come into contact with pipes through which heating is carried out.

Disadvantages

Foam plastic ceiling tiles differ in the method of production, quality and price. Cheap tiles quickly turn yellow under the influence of ultraviolet light, and in some cases are destroyed by moisture. In order to protect it from exposure to light and moisture, it is enough to paint the mounted ceiling with water-based paint.

The main disadvantage is impermeability to moisture vapor. If you cover the ceiling with foam tiles in a room whose walls are covered with vinyl wallpaper, the humidity in the room will increase sharply, which can lead to the appearance of mold.

Calculation

Before gluing foam tiles to the ceiling, you need to determine how many and what kind of tiles you will need, for which you need to make a calculation, purchase the required amount, and prepare the ceiling surface for installation.

• Method 1: mathematical

To correctly calculate the amount of tiles needed for repairs, you need to know the length and width of the room. Multiplying these numbers will give the area of the ceiling, but you should not buy tiles based on this number alone. Since some of the tiles may be damaged when cutting, and the shape of the ceiling is not ideal, excess material is inevitable. Therefore, be sure to provide a reserve of at least 15% of the total area.

For example, in a room measuring 2×3 meters, the ceiling area is 6 square meters. To cover 1 square meter, you need 4 tiles of a standard size of 50×50 cm. Thus, you will need 24 tiles to cover the entire ceiling, and another 2-3 tiles as a reserve. In total, you will need to buy 26-27 tiles.

• Method 2: on paper

On a sheet of paper, you need to draw a plan of the room, maintaining the scale. Next, you need to draw diagonals and place the tiles with maximum precision from the central part to the edges of the room.

If the wall has a gap of less than 1/2 a tile, then 1 tile will cover 2 such gaps. If the gap is more than 1/2 a tile, then it should be noted that the whole tile will be used.

Glue

Foam tiles are attached to the ceiling using glue, and when choosing it, you need to know some subtleties. So, it is very important how quickly the glue sets, how long it takes for it to dry completely, and what thickness it has. All this will affect the quality, speed and labor intensity of the work.

• Choose thick glue, it will not “merge” from the tile and get dirty. The glue “Moment-liquid nails”, for example, has a suitable consistency, in addition, it sets in 10 minutes – which means that you will not have to stand for a long time with your arms outstretched, waiting for the moment when you can release the tile. In addition, the consumption of this glue is small – on average, about 6 ml is used per square meter, or four tiles. Thus, for a medium-sized room, one 400 ml tube is enough, but it is more profitable to take a 450 ml tube – such a gun is equipped with which it is easy to apply glue, in addition, some stock is needed for gluing the ceiling plinth at the end of the work.
• Another suitable glue is “Titan”. It is very durable and sets quickly, but there is one subtlety in its use: after applying it to the tile, you need to apply it in place, and then remove it and hold it for one minute in the air, then apply it again to the same place and press it tightly. The main difficulty in this case is to accurately hit the same place, especially at the beginning of the work.
• You can glue foam tiles to the ceiling using cheaper adhesives, such as “Dragon”, “Eltitans”, “Power”. They are made in China and are not of high quality. The main disadvantage of these adhesives is the long setting time, so you will have to stand for a long time with your arms raised, which is quite difficult for untrained people.

Tool

You don’t need many tools to work with polystyrene foam tiles, and they are all quite affordable.

You will need:

• painting cord for marking the ceiling before gluing;
• scissors or a special assembly knife for cutting tiles;
• a spatula (and also putty) for leveling the ceiling surface before gluing;
• a roller for application and primer;
• a thread, tape measure and pencil for marking tiles;
• a brush (or gun) for glue, a clean cloth for removing its excess.

Preparation

Before starting to work with foam ceiling tiles, it is necessary to carry out work to prepare the surface.

1. The packaging of the tiles must be opened several hours before starting work. During this time, they will shed the deformation stress that appears due to packaging in polyethylene, and will take on the temperature and humidity of the room where they will be glued.
2. You can leave the old covering on the ceiling if it is smooth and strong, in other cases you will need to get rid of it. The tiles will not stick to the whitewash, it must be removed without fail.
3. If there are significant defects on the ceiling – potholes, cracks, they must be filled. Minor defects do not need to be filled, they will be covered by tiles.
4. Before you start gluing the tiles, the ceiling must be primed with a roller to ensure better adhesion of the two surfaces. The primer must dry for at least three hours, and even better – four. After this, you can start marking.

Marking

Before gluing foam tiles to the ceiling, you need to mark how they will be located. This is done as follows:

• Determine the center of the ceiling. To do this, draw diagonals from the corners of the room across the ceiling and mark the center of their intersection. This needs to be done in any case, whether you are going to glue the tiles parallel to the walls or diagonally to them.
• On each wall, find and mark the middle, and stretch a thread between the parallel walls – from one mark to the other. The thread should pass through the central point.
• It is possible that the walls will be of different lengths, and the thread will shift – then you will have to make an adjustment.
• Draw lines along the stretched threads with a pencil – they will serve as a guide when gluing the tiles.

Gluing

Tiles can be glued in rows, in rows with an offset, parallel to the walls or diagonally. Glue is applied to the tile in strips, leaving one and a half to two centimeters between them – otherwise, the excess will be squeezed out when pressed and may get on the front side of the tile, spoiling its appearance.

The first polystyrene foam tile is laid on the ceiling in any corner, from the intersection of the axes to the central point. It must be pressed tightly to the surface and held until the glue sets. If excess adhesive protrudes along the edges, it is removed either with a dry cloth or a sponge. The second tile is glued end-to-end to the first one in the second corner from the intersection of the axes. It is also held in place until the glue sets, after which it is released and the work continues.

TIP: Before you start working with foam ceiling tiles, check their edges and, if there are burrs, carefully cut them off with a sharp knife, otherwise the joints will be visible.

Continue working in a circle, starting from the center and moving to the periphery of the ceiling. When necessary, the tile is trimmed, for which preliminary markings are made with a pencil. It is better to cut with a stationery knife.

ATTENTION! Do not forget to cut a hole in the center for the chandelier! After completing the pasting, seal the joints if they are visible. The easiest way to do this is with acrylic sealant. After finishing the work, let the ceiling dry for 24 hours, and then cover it with paint, water-based or acrylic.

Installing the skirting board

After finishing painting, you can start gluing the ceiling skirting board. There are some tricks to this that make the job easier:

• It is more difficult to hold the skirting board near the wall than the tiles, since it is longer. Therefore, the baseboard, lubricated with glue and put in place, is fixed with small nails every half meter, hammering them into the wall. After a day, the nails can be removed, and the holes from them can be sealed with acrylic putty.
• It is very difficult to join the parts of the baseboard that meet in the corners of the room. To make them look beautiful, it is necessary to use a miter box – a special carpentry device for cutting material at an angle. The angle is set at 45 degrees. After gluing the baseboard, the cracks in the corners are coated with acrylic putty.
• The final stage of work is painting the baseboards with water-based or acrylic paint.