Competent installation and decor of ceiling beams, features of installing products from different materials, methods of finishing old beams. Decorating the ceiling surface with beams looks stylish and respectable. This is a great way to highlight the originality of a design and transform a room. The laying of wooden beams on the ceiling is carried out during the construction of the house. However, such elements are heavy and expensive, therefore, for decoration, they often attach a kind of false beams made of different materials.
Ceiling Beam Styles
If you decide to finish the ceiling in this way, then you need to correctly combine the installed beam with other decorative elements. Moreover, if you have certain design skills, this detail can be beaten in almost any style.
Let's take a look at what style solutions can be used to decorate beams:
- Classical … Beams made of wood or wood-like material combined with matching furniture or parquet flooring are undoubtedly a classic. Contrasting dark wood looks original on a pastel light background. But the carving and painting will add respectability to the traditional interior.
- Victorian … Premises decorated in this style look aristocratic and luxurious. Therefore, the beams must be installed from an expensive type of mahogany with antique finishing.
- Modern … Beams in rooms with this design can be painted in bright colors, installed inside lighting and embody various stylistic ideas.
- Hi-tech and loft … Finishing the ceiling in such rooms with polyurethane beams with a texture that imitates metal will be very useful. Especially if the walls in the room are presented in the form of brickwork.
- Provence … Perfectly flat beams painted with snow-white paint on the ceiling will be an excellent complement to the French, rural style.
- Rustic … A rough wood finish that emphasizes the natural structure of the material is the best option.
Do-it-yourself technology for mounting beams on the ceiling
The equipment for simulating beams on the ceiling consists of several stages. In order to carry out the installation work quickly and efficiently, you need to decide on the type of model, correctly draw up a diagram taking into account the characteristics of the room and securely fix it so that the structure turns out to be smooth and durable.
Rules for drawing up beams on the ceiling
The arrangement of beams on the ceiling can visually expand the space or make the room lower. Therefore, the scheme of their installation primarily depends on the effect you want to achieve.
When creating a drawing, it is recommended to take into account the following nuances:
- If the beams are placed along the length of the room, then it can be visually lengthened even more. Accordingly, the ceiling elements are positioned laterally to expand the space.
- The cross-shaped fastening of the beams visually makes the space more voluminous.
- You can visually reduce the height of the room by fixing the beams below the ceiling.
- One beam with installed lamps or other decorative details is able to divide the room into zones.
- Placing multiple beams in one part of the room will visually highlight it. In this case, the elements do not have to be fixed in parallel or crosswise. The Christmas tree arrangement looks interesting.
- You can visually increase the height of the room by fixing the structures on the wall and making a continuation on the ceiling. In this case, it is not necessary to fix the entire beam on the ceiling, but only part of it.
The correct arrangement of ceiling elements will allow you to change the geometry of almost any room. Before drawing up the drawing, it is imperative to measure all the walls. Also include the communication supply scheme in the project.
Selection of materials for mounting beams on the ceiling
A variety of building and finishing materials allows you to use for the installation of beams:
- Wood … It is environmentally friendly and looks respectable. Most often, preference is given to conifers (pine, larch, spruce, cedar). They are more practical and durable. Hardwoods (for example, oak) are used less often due to their high cost.
- Drywall … Practical, relatively inexpensive, easy to process. It can be finished in almost any way.
- Polyurethane … Modern material with high performance characteristics. It is available in a wide range of colors and textures, is lightweight and is moisture resistant.
Whatever material you choose for installing the beam on the ceiling with your own hands, consider how harmoniously the products will fit into the overall design.
Beams made of artificial materials also differ in the types of profiles:
- Chipboard or MDF … Veneer elements in parts with straight joints are then joined at 90 or 45 degrees. Beams with rounded edges are made of veneered MDF or chipboard and connected with a profiled rail at the inner joint. Such models can be patinated and painted.
- Made from solid wood lamellas … For manufacturing, oak, ash, pine, larch are used. May have straight or rounded edges. It is processed like a regular tree.
- From an array … In production, we use a common timber bar. The beam can be suspended and load-bearing. The cladding is carried out in the same way as from ordinary wood. These models will cost much more.
When choosing the material of manufacture, it is important to take into account the specifics of the premises in which the installation is planned. For installations in high humidity conditions, for example, polyurethane products are ideal.
Preparing to install ceiling beams
Before proceeding with the installation of beams on the ceiling, the coating should be prepared. This is a stage consisting of the following processes:
- We take out all the furniture from the room, remove lighting fixtures, mirrors, curtains, carpets, cornices.
- We clean the surface from the old finishing layer.
- We get rid of insecurely fixed elements.
- If necessary, remove the old wiring.
- We treat spots of mold, mildew or rust with a special primer. It is necessary to get rid of them, otherwise they will appear in the future on a new finish.
- We seal large cracks and crevices with a cement-based putty.
- We prime the coating with an antiseptic composition.
- We level the surface with plaster (with irregularities from 5 cm) or starting putty (with irregularities up to 5 cm).
- We prime the ceiling and glue it over with fiberglass for reinforcement.
- Apply a layer of finishing putty and wait for it to dry.
- We sand the roughness with fine-grained paper and impregnate it with an acrylate-based primer.
It is recommended to install beams at this stage. Please note that the surface should be as flat as possible.
Features of fastening wooden beams to the ceiling
Ceiling elements made of natural wood are heavy, and therefore special attention must be paid to the reliability of fixation. The beams themselves can be purchased ready-made or made with your own hands from a bar. In the latter case, it is worth choosing a tree with a shrinkage of up to 12%, on which there are no damage and traces of rot. It is also important to treat the material with antiseptic compounds to protect it from moisture, mold, rodents and insects.
The installation is carried out as follows:
- We adjust the ends of the elements using a planer and grind with fine-grained paper for the most snug fit.
- We fix the bars to the side panels using self-tapping screws.
- To fix the lower element with a drill, we drill holes in the bars with a pitch of 15-20 cm. They should be located at an angle of 90 degrees to the self-tapping screws connecting the bar and the sidewall. The distance from each hole to the self-tapping screw should be about 5 cm.
- For reliability, we coat the wood with joiner's glue at the joints.
- We connect all the parts with self-tapping screws, forming a U-shaped false beam.
- We fix the bars on the floor with a step of 0.5 meters. The width of the bar should correspond to the internal dimension of the empty space of the box.
- We attach the beam to the bars using self-tapping screws, deepening the heads of the fasteners inward.
- We cover the places of the grooves with a putty in the color of the wood.
- We carry out finishing of the ceiling element.
Pay attention, in order not to damage the ceiling finish by painting the beam, you can paste over the joints with the ceiling covering with masking tape.
How to install plasterboard beams on the ceiling
The correctness of the installation of a plasterboard structure on the ceiling, first of all, depends on the accuracy of the marking. That is why, using a level, tape measure and a chopping cord, it is first recommended to apply the lines for attaching the profiles and only then proceed to work.
Before making a ceiling beam from gypsum plasterboard, we recommend that you read the installation instructions:
- We attach the guide profile with dowels along the marked lines.
- We make segments from the supporting profile, which will be equal to the height of the beam.
- We insert the cut blanks into the starting profile and fasten them with self-tapping screws in increments of 10-15 cm.
- At the bottom edge, we connect all the segments with a guide profile.
- Using a jigsaw or a sharp drywall knife, cut out parts from the sheets according to the dimensions of the beam.
- We attach drywall to the profile with self-tapping screws.
- We glue the joints with serpyanka tape. We putty the gaps and deepening of the fasteners.
- Apply a finishing putty layer and, after complete drying, rub the roughness with fine-grained sanding paper.
- We prime the surface and finish the beam.
For the installation of such a structure, it is better to use a plasterboard with a thickness of 9 mm.
Fixing polyurethane beams to the ceiling
The main advantage of installing polyurethane beams on the ceiling is the simplicity and efficiency of installation work. The design is lightweight, so only three wedge bars are needed to attach a polyurethane beam of standard length (3 meters).
In the process, we adhere to the following action plan:
- We make the markings for the fastening of the beam.
- We drill a hole in the wedge-bar, with a diameter of 2 mm less than that used to fix the screw.
- We fasten the blanks to the ceiling in steps of up to one meter. If a joint of elements is planned, then a wedge must also be fixed to it.
- We process the surfaces of the wedges with a special glue and attach the beam.
- For additional reliability, we fix the structure with self-tapping screws.
If you want to hide the communications inside the beam, then cutouts can be made in the bars through which the wires are laid in the corrugated pipe.
Methods for decorating old beams on the ceiling
Installation of false beams does not take much time and does not require special skills. Anyone can cope with installation work. But what if you already have old beams on the ceiling? They can be given an aesthetic look. To do this, you need to use the following methods: painting (if necessary, preliminary putty and primer), installation of a polyurethane false beam on the old structure, decoration with ropes in a nautical style, pasting with mirror tiles. If there is a beam in the kitchen, then you can attach a special hanger (rail) to it and use it to store dishes, bags of herbs and kitchen utensils. Using the same methods, you can beat a concrete beam on the ceiling.
As for the methods of completely masking ceiling elements, the most common are:
- Tension cloth … In order not to lose the height of the ceiling, you can make a two-level structure.
- Plasterboard ceiling … Sheets and the frame should be attached specifically to the ceiling, and not to the beam.
- Coffered structure … The most elegant and expensive option.
- Lining … The easiest way. Instead of lining, you can even use a regular edged board.
Please note that you can completely mask the beam only in high rooms, otherwise hiding 15-20 cm of the height of the room, you can absolutely ruin the interior. How to decorate beams on the ceiling - watch the video:
In the article, we examined the main methods of installing false beams on a ceiling made of different materials. Acting according to the instructions and taking into account the recommendations, you will be able to carry out the installation work with your own hands. And the provided tips on how to beat the beam on the ceiling will help you transform the room and make this element not only decorative, but also functional.
