Such ceilings will decorate any home
It's no secret that unusual and beautiful ceilings in the interior today, most often, they are made using plasterboard. And if you look at sketches, diagrams or photographs of interiors where there are complex multi-level ceiling structures, it may seem that it is impossible to make two-level plasterboard ceilings with your own hands.
However, it is not. The process is, of course, complex, but quite real. And it’s difficult, mainly because the master will require maximum attention, accuracy and, of course, effort. The practical part is relatively easy to learn, of course, after first familiarizing yourself with the theory.
So let's talk about theory.
So, in order to make a two-level ceiling from plasterboard as quickly and relatively easily as possible, the master will need the following “gentleman’s kit”:
Well, as a rule, two-level plasterboard ceilings imply the presence of complex lighting, which means you will need a standard set of tools for electrical installation work.
As for consumables, in order to make a two-level plasterboard ceiling with your own hands, you will need the following material:
In principle, having such equipment and materials, you can begin work. But first, let's decide on one important point...
In fact, two-level plasterboard ceilings in terms of design, they are so different that it is simply impossible to list and consider all the schemes and options. Therefore, let's look at some of the most popular and simple solutions two-tier ceilings from plasterboard, which will be the easiest to implement yourself.
Only boxes with or without canopies are installed around the perimeter or in certain areas of the room.
The option of installing the box around the perimeter or in the center of the room as an “island” without the presence of canopies for the light cord is the easiest to implement. Suitable for rooms in which the main plane of the ceiling is quite flat and you just need to putty it. The second tier is usually needed here in order to visually divide the room into functional areas, or in order to hide any communications along the perimeter of the ceiling.
The second tier with a canopy, into which lamps or light cords are then placed, looks very beautiful and, in fact, can not only divide the room into zones, but also at a certain moment set the desired atmosphere for the interior.
For example, if such a second level is being created in the bedroom, then, if necessary, you can turn off the main spotlights and turn on only the cord in the side. Due to the fact that the cord itself will not be visible because of the visor, the lighting will become dim and unobtrusive, and this, in turn, will create a cozy and romantic atmosphere in the room.
It is worth noting that the second-level plasterboard ceiling box can be made not only rectangular, but also, for example, oval, round and, in principle, any shape you like.
Two-level ceiling - box with straight lines
Advice: which design of plasterboard ceilings to choose depends, of course, only on specific situation and on the characteristics of the room. However, it is worth remembering that the smooth lines of the second tier, as a rule, go well with a dynamic interior, as if emphasizing its dynamics. Therefore, if the furnishings and color scheme in your room are laconic, then better than the second one make the ceiling tier with straight lines.
Unlike the first technology, it is impossible to do without creating the first tier from plasterboard. In most cases, because the plane draft ceiling either very uneven, or there is some old coating that cannot be putty. Well, or because there are too many communications all over the ceiling.
As a rule, the entire base ceiling area is installed first, and the second-level elements are hemmed onto the first-level frame.
Or a box is mounted, and a guide profile for the main plane of the ceiling is attached to its side.
But no matter which method is used, in the end, two-level plasterboard ceilings still look something like this (in the case of installing a box with straight lines around the perimeter of the room):
Therefore, which installation technology to choose in order to create the most good interior plasterboard ceilings can only be determined directly by the owner of the premises, after taking into account the characteristics of the premises and budget possibilities.
Well, we as clear example Let's look at how to make a universal, standard two-level plasterboard ceiling with your own hands - the video at the end of the article, by the way, may serve as a good addition to this short “manual”.
So, let's start making a ceiling, the first tier of which is fixed to the side of the second-level boxes.
Of course, any two-level plasterboard ceilings should be started from a stage that will require maximum attention; there should be no mistakes here!
Now, along the plane of the remaining space, inside the perimeter of the future boxes, you need to draw a grid for the suspensions of the first tier. We will attach the hangers at the intersections of the lines of this grid.
Making such a grid is simple: along the longitudinal boundaries of two opposite lines we place marks at a distance of 50 cm from each other. And on all remaining perpendicular lines we place points 60 cm from each other (at the intersection of all lines a right angle should be obtained).
So we have marked out the future two-level plasterboard ceiling, now we can begin installation.
The main thing here is: when you make such a two-level ceiling from plasterboard, do not forget about lighting, what you need to plan in advance, where and what wires will go, at what points the lamps will be installed, etc.
And one more moment...
If two-level plasterboard ceilings are planned so that the boxes are more than half a meter wide, then the middle of each piece of the supporting profile must be fixed on a suspension. This way the frame will be rigid, and the sheet will be more securely fastened.
However, from almost any video on this topic you can learn that the more suspensions in the frame, the safer and better it is.
Let's continue making two-level plasterboard ceilings. Let's move on to the next and final stage.
In principle, at this point the two-level plasterboard ceilings are almost ready. All that remains is to double-check whether everything is level everywhere, if necessary, correct individual areas, and you can sew up the frame with sheets.
If you still don’t really understand how two-level plasterboard ceilings are made, the videos that are on the site will probably tell you about it better.
Happy renovation!
A two-level plasterboard ceiling system allows you to realize the most daring design solutions, create cozy atmosphere and visually divide the room into zones. In addition, such a system also has practical meaning: a suspended ceiling can hide large differences in height, ceiling beams, pipes and electrical wiring.
It is quite possible to make a two-level plasterboard ceiling with your own hands, the main thing is to understand the methods of fastening guides and plasterboard sheets, calculate the consumption of materials and follow the technology.
In addition to sheets of drywall, you will need:
Tools you will need:
First you need to decide what will be the top level: an existing ceiling or a plasterboard ceiling. The first case allows you to significantly save money, time and effort, but its implementation is only possible with flat ceilings with small differences in height. There are several systems for creating ceiling levels:
Next, you need to draw a plan for laying out the sheets, decide where the second level will be located, and how the lighting equipment will be located. When making a drawing, it is necessary to take into account standard sizes GCR - it will be much faster and more convenient to install the ceiling if it consists of large sheets.
The next step is attaching the ceiling guides
A two-level plasterboard ceiling looks beautiful and modern, and if you do it yourself, it can significantly save money on repairs. Remember that they are afraid of moisture, so in the kitchen and bathroom you must use moisture resistant drywall.
Throw on the skeleton of the frame, install the jumpers, screw the sheets - it’s all clear. Making one level of plasterboard ceiling is very simple. But what to do if the wife wants “a kind of curlicue”, or the daughter says that it should be “here is a headband like this, and there’s a light bulb inside, I saw it at a friend’s place”? You can order such work from any construction company.
But is it really better to pay strangers than to make a two-level plasterboard ceiling yourself? How can you please your family while saving money? So, we make it ourselves from drywall.
We decide on the height of the second tier.
The height from floor to ceiling minus the height of the second level from the ceiling.
At the required height, mark marks around the perimeter of the walls. It is better to use a laser or hydro level. But a laser level is expensive to rent for one day, but a hydraulic level is quite easy to get. Yes, and you can replace it. Any hollow transparent hose will do for us. It is most convenient to have about 10mm in diameter. The length is at your discretion, but not less than 10m.
How to fill:
lower one edge of the hydro level into a large container of water (bathtub, basin, bucket), raise it higher than the other edge and suck in air through the second edge.
The water will flow on its own and fill the tube correctly - without bubbles, to avoid errors in the markings. Make sure that the water does not spill out; the amount of water in the tube should remain unchanged until the end of the measurements.
Don't forget to withdraw in advance in the right place wiring for connecting spotlights or LED strip soft light. This needs to be done on at this stage so that you don’t have to disassemble the entire structure later.
So, we put an arbitrary mark in any corner of the room. Place one end of the hydraulic level next to it so that the water line in the tube is at the mark itself. We bring the second edge of the hose to another corner of the room and place a mark on the wall where the water level stops. The water will take the same position relative to the horizon. Transfer the marks to the desired height future using roulette.
Now you need to connect the marks with a straight line. Use a chop cord. To do this, you need to pull the cord between the two marks in the corners and pull it back in the middle. The powder from the cord will leave a mark on the wall in the place we need.
We attach a 27*30 mm guide profile around the perimeter of the room. We attach it to a 6*40mm dowel nail (if the wall is not very strong, you can use 6*60mm).
We find the center of ours, from it to different sides measure the required distance and mark it with marks. Using a tapping cord, we draw lines and scroll the profile along them. For this we use metal screws (if the ceiling is plasterboard) or a dowel-nail (if the first level is a concrete slab).
The guide profile was secured.
Now you need to wind the profile in a semicircle. Using metal scissors, make cuts every 2.5 cm.
We make cuts in the right places.
Now the profile can be given the shape we need.
We screw the profile.
We fasten the profile according to the previously made markings.
We screw the drywall to the guide profile perpendicular to the ceiling. We do this around the perimeter of the room. Except for semicircular areas.
Strips of the required length and width must be prepared in advance.
When making a two-level plasterboard ceiling with your own hands, you often have to bend the blanks to the desired shape.
To bend a sheet of drywall without breaking it, you need to wet one side of the cardboard with a wet cloth or palm
there is no need to soak the sheet, you need to make it soft and damp. Moreover, only on one side. Be careful: wet drywall is extremely soft and delicate and breaks quite easily.
Screw the cardboard to the profile. Do not embed the screws, leave 3-4 mm until the cardboard dries.
In the corners, the semicircular sheet still tends to straighten out, but since one of its edges is held by screws, the bottom one lifts up. To prevent the cardboard from drying in the wrong position, adjust the cardboard into place and screw the profile piece tightly, as shown in the photo below. Thanks to this, the sheet will not unfold.
Now we screw the profile to the pieces of cardboard that we screwed. Along the bottom edge, from the inside. It should look like this:
Now you need to make jumpers from a 27*60mm profile. We insert them into the grooves of the guide profile every 60 centimeters. We get 4 rectangles along the walls, which are marked along the perimeter with a profile (27*30 - long side, 27*60 - short side). And 4 squares with cut corners. In these places we place the so-called “ears” - we cut off the edge of the profile diagonally on both sides, leaving a small trapezoid - the “ear”.
Prepared jumpers with cut edges.
We insert the jumper into the guide profile with its flat side, and attach it with the “ear” to the perpendicularly placed 27*60.
Two-level plasterboard ceiling - assembly of the second level frame.
We fasten the profile using LN screws, 3.5 * 9.95 mm. We bend the suspension on one side and screw it to the ceiling above the wide profile so that the long end of the suspension is adjacent to the profile.
Despite the fact that we have set the perimeter level, the center of our structure can “walk” up and down. To prevent this from happening: screw a thin thread to the guide profile on both sides of the room and stretch it to the other end of the room. Make sure that the profile does not push the thread down. Now you have a visual layer. Keep the bottom edge of the profile at the level of the thread and screw the profile to the hanger. We bend the protruding edge upward.
When fixing ceiling profile it is necessary to control the horizontal level. The protruding part of the suspension is simply bent
It turns out something like this:
Now we cut out a piece of cardboard into each corner of the room according to the template. A square with one round corner. The diameter of the circle should be larger than the inner circle (perpendicular to the ceiling). This is necessary in order to create a niche (shelf) on which it will lie. We screw these sheets to the profile.
Two-level plasterboard ceiling photo of the hemmed second tier.
We bring out the wires for and twist the sheets into the middle. Remember that the width bottom sheet slightly larger than the width of our structure, that is, the edges stick out into the center of the room. We screw the guide profile onto these edges, along the very edge.
Now we screw small sides to this profile. The size of the sides is approximately 1/3 of the height of the second tier of our two-level plasterboard ceiling.
The second tier of the ceiling is ready! We connect the lighting. It’s better, of course, to buy a neon tube and lay “soft” light around the perimeter. Or you can simply install regular light bulbs evenly around the room.
It’s up to you to decide which two-level plasterboard ceiling you will make. There are plenty of options. On our website there is a special section “photos of plasterboard ceilings”. In this article I wanted to show that not everything is so scary. The main thing is to think in advance about what you want and try to draw it on paper at the chosen scale. Then it will be easier to do second-level markup.
Watch the tutorial video. How to make a two-level plasterboard ceiling with your own hands:
Good luck with your renovation!
A plasterboard ceiling will reliably hide all the reliefs of slabs and communications, and will also change the appearance of the interior beyond recognition, delimiting it into comfortable zones using lighting. In addition, by installing your dream ceiling with your own hands, you can significantly reduce repair costs.
A two-level ceiling is called a structure when it is on concrete or wooden base install the power frame; lay communications in it (electrical, television cables); another surface is installed on the frame (gypsum board for painting); ceiling and new surface the second tier is being finished. Due to new superstructures that are erected along the perimeter or in separate parts(in the center, in the corners), the ceiling goes down.
On construction market They offer 2 types of gypsum boards: wall – 12 mm thick, and ceiling – 9 mm. Thin ceiling plasterboards are suitable for two levels of ceilings - this will reduce the weight of the structure.
The process of installing a two-tier ceiling with your own hands consists of several stages, but first of all, you need to prepare tools and materials:
It is also necessary to purchase the required quantity (with a small reserve) of self-tapping screws and gypsum boards.
The first layer of gypsum plasterboard is fixed to the ceiling and the upper edge of the walls. The level marks the location of the frame. Then they determine optimal height between ceiling levels - on average about 20 cm. If the ceiling is planned to be equipped with lighting, it is necessary to provide space for replacing lamps.
The old layer of plaster is usually left; if it is very weak and uneven, it will have to be replaced.
The supporting structure is a frame made of profiles made of galvanized steel. Its main components:
Using metal scissors, cut the profile into pieces, focusing on the markings. Next, the profile is attached with dowels, for which they drill holes with a hammer drill, hammer the base and tighten the dowel with a screwdriver.
Start fixing the structure from the end of the profile. Then they move on to installing the ceiling profile. It is cut into pieces 5 cm less than the planned ceiling height. To ensure that the profiles are mounted evenly, it is better to bend their ends. Initially, 2 parts of the ceiling are attached to the guide profile at each end.
On the upper guide profile, 2 sections of the ceiling profile are fixed at the ends. Then they measure the lower guide profile, checking the length with the upper one, turn it around with the back side, cut grooves and screw it to the lower ends. Now you can make fastenings for the remaining parts of the profile.
Next, mark the places where the lamps will be, install profiles for attaching gypsum boards. Profiles are cut 5mm less than the width of the frame. After bending the ends, they are fixed inside at a sufficient distance, taking into account the position of the lamps.
After installing the profiles, a place is marked for direct hangers; they should hold parts of the profiles. The hangers are designed for 40 kg of weight, these parameters determine their number, but they need to be placed no further than 100 cm from one another.
After fixing the hangers, the installation of the profiles is completed, securing them to the guide profile with 4 x 16 mm screws. We use the same fasteners to fix the hangers to the profiles. A strong and smooth structure is ready.
If the project provides for the installation of additional lighting, the entire electrical wiring system is placed in the frame (without lamps for now). The cable is led out to sockets or an installation box, where lighting devices will be connected in the future.
Sheets are cut into pieces required size, if you need a side for lighting, you need to make a reserve of 8-12 cm. You can form the sides with pieces of drywall up to the middle of the ceiling profile. Their ends are sanded and prepared for puttying - they are chamfered at an angle of 22° to 2/3 along the thickness of the gypsum board. The sections are secured with self-tapping screws to the profile in 15cm increments.
The joints between the drywall and the places where the screws are screwed in must be primed and puttied in two passes. After drying, the joints are ground with a sanding block until completely level with the gypsum board surface. Then the joint is sealed with a special tape, it must be moistened with a primer, smoothed and glued to the seam. Once again they are treated with putty, dried, sanded, primed and puttied again. For a high-quality result, you cannot speed up the procedure; you must wait until each layer of primer on two tiers has completely dried.
Before installing the gypsum boards, mark the places for screws and holes for lighting. They are drilled out using a hole saw drill attachment both before and after installing the sheet. But before that, you need to make a board for lighting from gypsum board scraps. The height of the outer side is half as high as the inner one. Before installation, the ends of the sections are sanded. For installation, 3.5x11 mm screws and a guide profile are required.
It is cut to the length of the sheet and pieces of gypsum board are fixed to it, then the entire structure is fixed with screws on inside leaf. It is better to start installing gypsum boards with self-tapping screws from the corners.
The joints between the drywall are filled with putty, tape is laid and putty is applied in two layers similar to the previous option.
On final stage install ceiling plinth, paint the surface and install the lamps.
To install the backlight, use a level to set the zero point around the perimeter.
The device of this design looks like this: a guide profile is fixed along the marking line. Using hangers, the rack profile is mounted. The structure is reinforced with fastening “crabs” and longitudinal profiles. For maximum gain, you can also duplicate it with suspensions.
Before fixing the gypsum board, wiring for lighting is laid over the frame. Then they fix it to the gypsum board frame with self-tapping screws. The screw heads must be completely recessed. After installation, the gaps and holes from the caps are puttied and sanded. LED backlight Installation is simple: make markings, drill holes. Sometimes holes for lamps are cut out after installing gypsum boards. This must be done carefully so as not to damage the wiring.
A certain difficulty arises with the parallel arrangement of the ceiling and the two planes being built. When sheathing the gypsum board frame, it is controlled by the water level. When constructing 2 tiers, where the lighting is mounted, discrepancies are possible.
In construction jargon, this is called “the ceiling is blocked.” One of the ways to level the levels with your own hands is to create a primary base from plasterboard.
Installation of lighting in two levels from gypsum plasterboard has one more feature. The cable must be placed in a special sleeve or cable channel. Placing wiring along or on top of the profile is strictly prohibited. The wiring is hidden in junction boxes. When choosing a cable type, the total load is taken into account. The switches are placed at a height of 100mm from the floor; it is important that it disconnects a phase and not a zero. This will come in handy when replacing LEDs or lamps. To prevent the cable from fraying on sharp edges during operation, its sleeve must be sealed. If safety regulations are not followed, there is a risk of a short circuit when humidifying two levels. Moisture can get in not only in the kitchen or bathroom, but also in emergency circumstances - flooding by neighbors.
