Plywood ceiling: pros and cons

Many buyers have long been paying attention to ceilings made of natural plywood. The material is affordable, has a smooth surface, which makes it popular with builders and finishers. Plywood ceilings will look great in private homes, they will be an excellent alternative to more expensive coatings, such as plasterboard structures.

Before deciding on the design, you should study the features of the material, find the best option for decoration, figure out what the ceiling hemming is.

Plywood is made from thin veneer sheets that are glued together. The pattern on the surface of the material depends on the type of wood. In the manufacture of plywood, conifers and birch are more often used.

Birch plywood will delight you with a variety of color shades, which will make the ceiling visually attractive. Such products are highly durable.

Plywood varies in thickness, this parameter depends on the number of layers that have been used. The minimum number of such layers is three, there are more multi-layer options.

When self-finishing ceilings, preference is given to thin sheets, they will not weigh down the structure, they are convenient for work. For the ceiling, material from 3 to 6 mm thick is suitable, thick options will be much more difficult to fix on your own. When installing plywood on a frame, choose a product with a thickness of 3 mm.

When choosing plywood sheets, you should carefully examine them, they can be smoothly sanded or raw. Rough and untreated sheets are not suitable for interior decoration... You can choose an option where the surface is ground only on one side. Such plywood is quite suitable for interior decoration, since the inside will not be visible.

Plywood is a flammable material, therefore, the use of such surfaces should be approached with caution.

When choosing products, pay attention to the marking:

• FC - the product is moisture resistant, can be used indoors.
• FKM - moisture resistant product, but contains melamine resin, used with caution.
• FOF - such marking means that the material has a special coating, can be used for the manufacture of furniture.

The advantages of plywood include the following properties:

• mechanical strength;
• good heat and sound insulation;
• the possibility of using in rooms with high humidity;
• high decorativeness;
• light weight, which will reduce the load on the ceiling;
• environmental safety.

The cover is made from natural materials, which is an undoubted advantage.

It is no coincidence that plywood is very popular in the design of residential interiors. With its help, you can create an original, beautiful ceiling covering without a large investment of money. Plywood ceiling, when properly installed, is practically indistinguishable from more expensive wood coatings.

When choosing plywood, you should pay attention to its thickness: the thinner the sheet, it is more convenient to use it for decorative elements... Not only flat ceilings, but also domed, curved surfaces can be faced with a thin sheet of plywood. This material makes it possible to make original decoration elements. Curly cutouts are made of plywood; such a carved ceiling will become a real decoration of the room.

In the manufacture of decorative panels, a sheet of plywood of the desired size is cut out. A sketch of the ornament is drawn on paper and transferred to the material... With the help of a drill, holes are drilled, the final stage of work is carried out with an electric jigsaw.

Before starting work on decorating ceilings with your own hands, they carry out a preparatory stage:

• The concrete ceiling is cleaned of the previous coating, the cracks are closed using a mixture of cement and sand.
• Residues of dirt and dust are removed from the sanded coating, and primed.

If the ceiling is hemmed with plywood, then the preparatory work is not carried out, sometimes an antiseptic is applied to the coating. In order to hem ceilings with plywood, you can use several options.

One of the easiest and fastest ways is to fix it on the surface with glue. Installation on glue will keep the height of the room. With your own hands, you can sheathe ceilings in small rooms, where there are no temperature drops. This method takes a little time, you just need to apply glue and press the material to the surface.

If space should be left between the ceiling and the plywood surface, they are installed on the corners.

With this installation, the finishing is carried out in a certain order:

• Marking is applied.
• They deviate from the corner the required distance and mark the points for installing the fasteners.
• Using a screwdriver and self-tapping screws, corners are installed on the wall.
• A sheet of plywood is laid on the corners and pressed against the wall.
• The last sheet is cut with a jigsaw.

If the plywood sheets will perform a decorative function, then they are mounted on hangers.... For the lathing, use an aluminum profile or wooden beams. They calculate how the plywood sheets will be placed on the ceiling, their edges should be attached to the crate, which eliminates sagging and peeling of the material.

Plywood sheets should be fastened from the center of the room; fragments that have already been cut will be screwed along the edges.

The crate is fixed in this way:

• The frame is attached to the concrete ceiling with quick installation.
• The lathing is fastened to the wooden ceiling with screws more than 40 mm long.
• The finished crate looks like beams, which are arranged in parallel rows on the ceiling.

For even and prepared surfaces, mastic is used. When cladding using mastic, the height of the walls does not decrease, while the work itself does not take much time.

Operating procedure:

• Marking is applied to the surface.
• Epoxy glue is applied on the back of the plywood, sprinkled with sand on top to ensure secure attachment.
• After the mixture has dried, mastic is applied. For work, use a curly spatula.
• The plywood sheet is attached to the surface.

This is the rough stage of the work. After the installation is finished, finishing is carried out to hide the joints, remove minor defects, cracks, close the indents from the wall, etc.

The ceiling of a wooden house can be finished in various ways and materials:

• stain and varnish;
• paint;
• use stencils for decoration;
• wallpapering;
• use structural plaster.

When choosing the first method, take a roller or brush, apply a stain on the plywood and leave to dry. After the plywood has dried, it is necessary to smooth out the roughness; sandpaper or a sander is suitable for this. Apply varnish to the prepared surface using a roller, brush or spray.

Water-based paints are best suited for painting plywood ceilings.... A primer is applied to the surface, after it dries, the cracks are sealed with a putty, irregularities and bumps are eliminated. Then you should go along the seams with sandpaper. The preparatory work is completed, you can paint the surface, it is better to use a roller, and paint over the places near the walls with brushes.

After painting the surface, a stencil drawing is applied at will. To apply a picture, a stencil should be applied to the selected areas and painted over with paint of a different color.... Then carefully, so as not to smear the drawing, remove the workpiece.

Before gluing wallpaper, you should carefully prepare the surface so as not to tear it during work. Glue is applied only to wallpaper, working with non-woven products, the ceiling is also coated. For a plywood ceiling, it is better to use liquid wallpaper..

You can also decorate the ceiling with structural plaster.... The material is applied with spatulas of different sizes. Finishing with putty will definitely not be cheaper, but this option is the most durable.

Ceiling cladding with plywood will make it possible to create an interesting design that will look harmonious in the room. In addition to plywood, OSB is used during repairs. These boards are easy to work with and can be cut, glued and painted with wood glue and paint. OSB can compete with plywood products, the thickness of the sheet allows using the material for wall cladding, roof sheathing, as a basis for tiles, slate. OSB is attached to logs, they are intended for flooring roofing surfaces.

Despite the fact that new materials for facing ceilings are appearing on the market today, many craftsmen still recommend using plywood. Finishing with this material will significantly simplify installation and spend less money on renovating the premises.

When working with plywood sheets, the correct technology should be followed and the work should be done carefully:

• First, you should decide where the solid sheets of plywood will be located so that there is no sagging after the end of the work. Using a ruler, pencil and tape measure, markings are made on the crate, while taking into account that the edges of two adjacent plywood sheets will be located on one batten of the crate.

• It is necessary to apply the sheet to the crate so that its edge is located exactly in the center of the timber. One screw is enough to fix it. The first sheet must be well centered to the rest of the lathing, only after that the sheet is fixed with the help of the remaining screws. The distance between the screws must not be less than 20 cm.
• After all solid sheets are installed, you should fix the cut pieces along the edges. You can hide the seams between the sheets using baguettes; they should be glue-glued and fixed.

To understand whether it is worth making a plywood ceiling, you just need to look at a few examples from the photo gallery. They will help you decide and choose an acceptable option.

The ceiling looks very beautiful and unusual using a stencil.

The carved plywood ceiling will become a real decoration of any interior.

Stained glass windows and unusual chandeliers will make the room unusual and original.

For information on how to make a plywood cut on the ceiling with your own hands, see the next video.