How to update your drop ceiling.
Replacing old ceiling tiles.
I will show you how to repair a ceiling that has been severely water damaged.
Then we snapped on the grid covers which came in two sizes 2 and 4 pieces.
Make sure the strips are left smooth.
Before you work on a ceiling that old contact your regional epa office state environmental office or local health department for advice on testing and handling.
This is another project that can be done by one person and in most cases the tiles that go into place can be easily cut to size using scissors.
Dropping ties with an old drop ceiling is easy.
The replacement tiles have two sides with an extended lip for stapling to the framework as well as a recessed groove for the lip of the tile next to it see first photo below.
This goes faster with two people or more working on ladders from various points of the room.
Unlike drop ceiling acoustic tiles that fit into a suspended frame most interlocking tiles are mounted on the ceiling with nails staples adhesive or a combination of the three.
Surface mount ceiling tiles are easy to install.
Learn how to fix sagging ceiling tiles with this 5 step guide.
We simply removed all tiles in that corner to install replacement tiles.
Sagging ceiling tiles is a very common problem observed in old houses.
For a quick update pop old tiles out of the ceiling grid and replace with fresh ones.
Fortunately our damaged ceiling tiles were in a corner of the basement used as a laundry room.
Use a pair of pliers to pull the old staples from the furring strips.
First remove the old crown molding then use a pry bar or claw hammer to pull the old tiles loose image 2.
Here is a post explaining a do it yourself method to fix this problem.
Begin removing the tiles.
If your grid holds 24 x 48 tiles try a scored product that s designed to look like 24 x 24 panels.
This basically meant we removed all the middle tiles and left all four corners and three of the side walls.
Upgrading a drop ceiling.
The grid for this system is much easier that the drop ceiling grid and the tiles attach directly to the grid.
First we removed all the old tiles that were exactly 2 2 in size meaning no cuts required.