Facts about ‘false ceiling’ for new home buyers planning on interiors
Home buyers often think of a false ceiling for practical and aesthetic reasons. It could be to conceal the electrical wiring crisscrossing your rooms or to hide the unpleasant protrusions popping out of the ceiling or walls. Whether it’s your new home, or you are planning on renovation, you need to be driven by requirement. Sometimes, we blindly opt for fancy tray ceilings or false ceilings recommended by friends or family. Although a false ceiling truly makes your home look luxurious, one needs to be aware of what it has to offer. Decisions regarding a false ceiling need to be well-thought-out, practical, and also indicative of the lifestyle you yearn for.
Sometimes, practical reasons do not allow us to cover the entire ceiling with a false ceiling. For instance, If you do NOT have adequate height in your rooms, you are forced to think about the extent to which a false ceiling will impact the height of the ceiling. At times, it might be just worth avoiding a full false ceiling, and explore semi-false ceiling option. One could even choose to rely upon table and floor lamps, if lighting is one of the key requirements.
To make decision making easier, this article attempts to share some simple facts. Topics explored are:
1. False ceilings give you multiple lighting options
2. False ceilings help reduce electricity bills
3. False ceilings are normally made with plasterboard (Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate or Gypsum)
4. False ceilings can be made on different standard heights
5. Opt for an L-Box to retain your ceiling height or for installing ceiling fan
6. False ceilings can comfortably be installed in wet areas
7. It’s not a must to bring down entire false ceiling to repair or change the electricals
8. False ceilings need to be well-packed to avoid pests & rodents
1. False ceilings give you multiple lighting options
Besides hiding all the electrical wiring, a false ceiling look stunning with the amount of flexibilities it offer. You can align the spaces below the ceiling to highlight spots or zones that you need to be illuminated with multiple ‘pendant or spot lights’. The dark corners of the home can be illuminated with the help of lighting embedded in a false ceiling. The variety of ‘cove lights’ in itself are simply mesmerising. Cove lighting gives you indirect lighting built into various spots in a ceiling. You can direct light up towards the ceiling and down the adjacent walls. It works beautifully well both as primary lighting, or for aesthetics to highlight ceilings.
The ambience you can achieve with the help of ceiling can be unimaginably graceful and pleasing creating an extremely cosy ambience with lights evenly spread around all the spaces.
The use of downward facing lights in false ceilings makes them highly preferred. It simply lights up your spaces, without any other part of the lighting fixture visible giving it a clean and chic look.
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/47/77/32/477732b793dfc36ca8a0691d12a18c27.jpg]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f8/63/3c/f8633cc21b704c42748310e0e737ea7d.jpg]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/85/3e/48/853e489e7a3c5efd82e6290f290ec7dc.jpg]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/474x/77/11/d0/7711d0e19b0d563c007c9ae0afc4b06e.jpg]
2. False ceilings help reduce electricity bills
False ceiling allows the air to be trapped between the actual ceiling and the gypsum boards. This acts as an insulator, and helps reduce the temperature of the rooms where false ceilings entrenched. The effective ‘volume’ of your room is also further reduced with false ceiling. Both these factors mean that during extreme summer, your rooms are much cooler due to the reduced volume. Consequently, the air conditioning electricity bills are much lesser. The top most floors of the building benefit the most from this, since top-most floor homes take the direct impact of the sunlight, hence, false ceilings work like a true saviour for them
[Source: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8e/17/54/8e1754873979949a263eab1bf04bc0fe.jpg]
[Source: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/78/3b/60/783b60b5adf9b61b1c812d11d0b885ac.jpg]
3. False ceilings are normally made with plasterboard (Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate or Gypsum)
While false ceilings is made up from the more expensive ‘gypsum board’ or the cheaper ‘plasterboard’. You can achieve the same finishing from both the materials, and one cannot trace the difference between these two options once the work is completed.
Gypsum boards are only easier to install especially for those who are constrained on time or deadlines on huge projects. For residential purposes, plasterboards serve the purpose very well. These offer tremendous versatility and can be easily moulded into designs that you are looking for. You must choose best quality gypsum board that not only stick, but can be concealed well while nearing completion.
[Source- https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P8fFsnZVEL8/maxresdefault.jpg]
4. False ceilings can be made on different standard heights
The best part about false ceilings is the enormous flexibilities on adjusting heights. False ceilings are customisable, and you can create stunning effects in your home spaces. You could choose to anything like a ‘drop’ of between 4 inches to 10 inches from the actual ceiling. This means you can easily vary the floor-to-ceiling height depending on your needs.
Some home owners prefer a taller (more) floor-to-ceiling height, hence the false ceiling remains hooked to the actual ceiling with lesser spaces (like 4 inches). If the floor-to-ceiling height of the room is comfortable (11 feet of more), one can choose more space to be concealed within the false ceiling.
The homes with lower floor-to-ceilig height (around 9 or 10 feet) is that the play area gets reduced. One is forced to keep the space minimal with a 4 inch gap. Another problem with a 4 inch ceiling gap is the difficulty in fixing lighting equipment that’s embedded inside the false ceiling. The electrical equipment may not even fit in a space that’s only 4 inches. Hence, there are some technical challenges one has to work through, but the possibilities with false ceiling still remain endless otherwise!
[Source- https://img.archiexpo.com/images_ae/projects/images-g/illuminated-drop-ceilings-emphasize-height-inside-this-new-york-apartment-31290-9958111.jpg]
5. Opt for an L-Box to retain your ceiling height or for installing ceiling fan
L-Box designs are a huge saviour for those who are sold out to false ceilings regardless of the floor-to-ceiling space constraints. When ceiling height is low, and you still want the false ceiling effect with hidden lightings to illuminate your spaces, L-Box along the corners or borders works extremely well.
With the L-Box option, the perimeter of the room gets a fabulous false ceiling effect, and the centre portion of your room retains the actual ceiling height. This is a great way to transform your rooms into gorgeous spaces besides retaining the real spaciousness right in the centre.
Installing a fan becomes so much easier with an L-box option. The anchoring of the fan at the original ceiling height means it’s safer for those sitting under the fan, and the gush of breeze that a fan throws at you comes smoothly.
Plus, you get the best of both worlds, since your fans or pendant lights or chandeliers can be hung at the actual ceiling height, and the lighting magic can be created in the corner L-box perimeter areas.
The pricing of this L-shaped box turns out much cheaper than covering your entire room with a false ceiling, since it is usually charged on a running foot basis, and not on square foot like the regular false ceiling pricing.
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/7c/56/7e/7c567e84b46cc8034dbbefdd69676bd6.jpg]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b9/5e/ab/b95eab0bc05f971beb3d61211043d4c2.jpg]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/]
6. False ceilings can comfortably be installed in wet areas
False ceilings can easily be incorporated in the wet zones of your home like the bathroom or the kitchen. The beauty it renders to these spaces is truly awesome. The only precaution we have to take is to use the highest quality of materials, The plasterboard needs to be resistant to moisture. The high quality plasterboards, although expensive, but are able to take the onslaught of moisture without any problem.
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/]
7. It’s not a must to bring down entire false ceiling to repair or change the electricals
In most scenarios, the false ceiling gives you the flexibility to just cut out a portion to manage the repairs or change the electricals. There is also a possibility to add or modify the designs of your false ceiling to the extent you feel appropriate as and when required.
So, whether it is about changing the wiring, or adding extra lighting points in your false ceiling, it is achievable with ease! The portions that are chopped can be re–patched into their original shape after the work is accomplished. The patch work cannot be detected with plasterboard.
The only hitch comes with major repairs like redoing of air-conditioning ducts, changing wires, clearing the pests/rodents etc, which needs a complete removal of the false ceiling.
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/]
8. False ceilings need to be well-packed to avoid pests & rodents
The most important thing about false ceiling is to ensure that it is sealed properly. The locking or sealing is a must to prevent rodents and pests entering the enclosed area, and making it home. The worst part is when you get the smell of died insects or pests penetrating through the false ceiling, or even the rodents falling off from the false ceiling.
Pests and rodents like rats or lizards take refuge in less frequented areas like a false ceiling and build their nest. Besides chewing electrical wires and damaging the building, they can transmit diseases. The effective way to avoid this is to make sure that there are no tiny spaces in your false ceiling. A proper sealing rigour to block potential entry point for rodents is a must when making a false ceiling. Even the lighting fitted must be done with dexterity to avoid this possibility.
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a4/47/be/a447beedf180c8e0f5eb5f8c4e952d6f.jpg]
[Source- https://i.pinimg.com/474x/ec/8e/88/ec8e88feccde5d77a4d02164c58c27ef.jpg]
Conclusion-
False ceilings offer you a stunning range of styles, visual effects, textures, colors, and materials to go with. You can experiment with false ceilings in virtually all the spaces in your home be it living, dining, kitchen, bedroom or even bathroom. You can create the desired effects using light and electrical fittings in your false ceiling to match the mood and ambiance you are looking for. It helps temperature control besides concealing electrical and other cables.
The aesthetic uplift you get in your home is incomparable. However, you must be wise and practical in your approach. Tastes and preferences must be well balanced with functional and utility aspects when comes to false ceilings. A false ceiling can actually add a massive uplifting feel of luxury, modernity and glamour to complement your persona and lifestyle!
To know more about our interior designs offerings, click here
