Drop Ceiling Installation Tips: The Family Handyman

Drop Ceiling Installation Tip 1: Lay out the ceiling grid on paper

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Sketch and measure the ceiling so you can position the grid and add up the materials you need.

Even the pros use graph paper to lay out the ceiling grid for each room. It helps not only with your materials list but also with getting equal-size panels at each side of the room. Include items like light fixtures and heat registers. The room should be bisected at the center by either a main tee or a centered row of tiles. Wades tip on ordering materials: order by even numbers. If a room is 9 x 11 ft., order enough for a 10 x 12-ft. room.

Wade Sides has been hanging suspended ceilings for more than 30 years. He started out working with his dad while still in high school. Wade has hung ceilings just about everywhere, from residential laundry rooms to casinos and mega-malls. With these tips, $75 worth of tools and a little elbow grease, youll save about 40 percent of the total cost of professional installation.

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Cut one flange of the angle and bend it around outside corners.

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Slip a special outside corner piece over the flange to hide the corner cut.

Pick a height so the ceiling tile will clear the lowest ceiling obstruction, like plumbing lines or ductwork. Snap a chalk line marking the top of the wall angle. Nail the wall angle at every stud with 1-1/4-in. drywall nails. Try to avoid nailing on or near the corner beadsits a sure way to cause nail pops and cracks. Instead, run the wall angle long, snip the bottom and then bend it around the corner. Finish it with a slip-on outside corner.

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Drop Ceiling Installation Tips: The Family Handyman