How to make a plasterboard ceiling with your own hands

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

With the step-by-step guidance of Artem Kozoriz, the process will take only a day and will not be more difficult than assembling a designer.

1. Prepare materials

• Drywall 12.5 mm;
• PP profiles 60 × 27;
• profiles PN 28 × 27;
• profile extensions;
• single-level connectors;
• direct suspensions;
• screws 3, 5 × 9 mm;
• screws 3, 5 × 25 mm;
• dowel-nails 6 × 40 mm;
• wedge anchor 6 × 40 mm;
• reinforcing tape;
• primer;
• putty;
• hydro level or laser level;
• bubble level;
• chopping cord;
• scissors for metal;
• screwdriver;
• puncher;
• drywall knife;
• plane;
• brush;
• putty knife.

2. Calculate the position of the false ceiling

The first step is to determine at what level the ceiling will be located. To do this, you need to find the lowest point of the overlap, add the thickness of the frame to it.

Using the hydro level, make a mark in one of the corners at an arbitrary height, and then transfer it one by one to the rest. If you have a laser level, just turn it on and mark the position of the horizon in each of the corners.

Connect all risks in one line around the perimeter of the room using a chopping cord. Measure the distance from the reference line to the slab at the corners and several locations along each wall. The smallest distance will show the lowest point.

If there is no need to specifically lower the ceiling, then mark down from the found point 40 mm: 30 for the thickness of the frame and another 10 for the clearance for installation. When installing large recessed luminaires, add a height so that they protrude from the frame.

In our example, the lowest point is 1,640 mm. We go down from it by 40 mm and get the level of the ceiling at a distance of 1 600 mm from the reference line.

3. Mark the frame

For correct installation, you need to accurately mark the position of all frame elements. It consists of guides mounted on the walls, where the main profiles are installed, and these, in turn, are attached to the ceiling with suspensions. Carrying profiles are mounted across the main ones, onto which drywall is directly screwed.

• Guide profiles. We have already noted their position in the previous step.
• The main profiles are installed at intervals of 1200 mm along the axes. In this case, the beams outermost from the walls are located at a distance of ≤ 1170 mm.
• The hangers are mounted with a pitch of 650–1000 mm.
• Support profiles are installed every 500 mm.

For example, let's mark a room 3, 5 by 3, 6 m. Three whole sheets clearly cover the entire width of the room. The length is not enough 1 m, so we will add pieces 1 × 1, 2 m to each row. According to the installation technology, the joints of adjacent sheets should be staggered, in the manner of brickwork. This means that we start the first row with a whole sheet, the second with a piece, and the third with a whole again.

Use a tape measure to measure all the spaces you need. Place the marks in the desired places, and then connect them in line with a chopping cord. Distribute the suspensions so that there is no more than 1 m between them, and preferably less.

4. Mount the guide profiles

Fasten profiles PN 28 × 27 around the perimeter of the room so that their lower part coincides with the line marked earlier. If the wall is concrete or brick, attach a profile and mark the fastening points with a pencil. Then drill a hole with a punch, insert a dowel through the profile and hammer in a nail with a hammer. The guides can be fastened to wooden walls with self-tapping screws using a screwdriver without preliminary drilling.

If necessary, join the profiles end-to-end, without overlap. The spacing of the fasteners is 250–500 mm, but not less than three pieces per piece of the profile.

For noise insulation, a special sealing tape or silicone sealant can be applied to the profiles before installation.

5. Fix the hangers

Further, using the previously marked points, install suspensions for the main frame profiles. In reinforced concrete floors - with the help of metal wedge anchors and a hammer drill, in wooden ones - with self-tapping screws and a screwdriver. Bend the hangers down after installation.

For sound insulation, they can also be glued with sealing tape or coated with silicone. An even greater effect is achieved when using special anti-vibration suspensions with elastic inserts.

6. Install the main frame profiles

Cut out the necessary pieces from the PP profile 60 × 27 and insert into the guides. Arrange them so that the centers of the beams coincide with the previously applied marks.

If the length of one profile is not enough, add an additional segment and join them together using a special connector.

7. Fix the main profiles in one plane

To obtain a perfectly flat plane for plasterboard cladding, you need to align all the beams in one line. The easiest way to do this is with a regular thread.

Lift all profiles 10-15 mm up and fix by inserting screws into the holes of the hangers. Pull the thread across the profiles between the walls and fasten with self-tapping screws on the guides flush with the latter.

Starting from the extreme from the wall, release the profiles one at a time and, aligning them so that they barely touch the thread, fasten with four screws 3.5 × 9 mm - two on each side.

First, fix the hangers in the middle of the beams to remove any slack. After that, the main profiles will almost clearly fit into their position. All that remains is to check the thread and screw the screws into the hangers.

8. Install support profiles

Now, across the main ones, you need to mount the bearing profiles that will hold the drywall. Cut the beams to size from the same PP 60 × 27 profile and fasten using one-level connectors ("crabs").

If there is no special fittings at hand, you can use cuttings of the PN-profile with a length of about 100 mm as improvised guides. They need to be attached to the main profiles with screws, and already insert the carriers into them and also fix them with self-tapping screws.

9. Install the wiring and noise insulation

Before facing the frame with plasterboard, you need to lay electrical cables. As a rule, they are attached to floors or suspensions. In no case should the wires be laid inside the frame, since there is a risk of damaging them with screws when installing the sheets.

To increase the sound insulation of the ceiling, mineral wool slabs are placed between the frame profiles or on top of it. With a sufficient length of the free ends of the suspensions, they are bent, thereby holding the sound insulation layer.

10. Cut the sheets

To cut the panels, mark the desired size with a tape measure and, applying a profile or a rule, cut through the cardboard with a knife. Hang and crush the cut section, then cut through the bottom of the paper. Then trim the edge along the cutting line with a plane.

Also, before installation, do not forget to chamfer with a plane or a knife at an angle of 22.5 ° at the edges that will adjoin other sheets. This is necessary in order to further qualitatively seal the joints with putty.

Be sure to measure and mark the places where the lighting wires are located on the sheets. After finishing the work, the drywall can be easily cut through and the cables removed.

11. Cover the frame with drywall

Together with an assistant, lift the sheet and set it in its place. Fasten along the contour to all frame profiles. Join sheets in one row only on the bearing profiles, not allowing the edges of the drywall to hang in the air. Mount the slabs in adjacent rows with an offset of at least one frame pitch.

Tighten the screws evenly, avoiding distortions. Do not leave their caps sticking out above the surface of the sheet, but do not sink too much: they should be flush with the plane of the drywall or 1 mm lower.

Fasten the screws with a pitch of 150 mm, retreating from the edges pasted over with paper by 10 mm, and from the open ones by 15 mm. Shift the self-tapping screws on adjacent sheets relative to each other by 10 mm.

12. Close up the joints

At the end of the installation, all joints of the sheets are covered with putty using a reinforcing tape. To do this, first make sure that the screws are securely fastened and, if necessary, tighten the protruding heads with a screwdriver.

Then use a brush to brush off the dust in the joints of the sheets and treat all cut edges with a primer. Fill the joints with putty using a putty knife. Glue the reinforcing tape in the center of the joint and press it in with a spatula. Then apply a second layer of putty. Seal the attachment points of all self-tapping screws with the same composition.

13. Complete the finishing

After sealing the seams, the lined surface is ready for any kind of finishing: the ceiling can be painted, wallpapered or decorative putty can be applied.