How to install a tin ceiling
Victorian elegance that transforms a room—and hides cracking plaster.
by Mac Wentz | Jun 01 ‘98 | Courtesy of Home Service Publications, Inc
Some friends of mine recently installed a tin ceiling as part of an expensive (and stressful) kitchen remodeling project. At first they were skeptical about tin. The materials for the tin ceiling they wanted came to about $4 per sq. ft. (plywood included). Considering that they could install drywall for less than 30¢ per sq. ft., $4 seemed outrageous.
But now that the project is done, they say their tin ceiling was a bargain. It draws more praise from visitors than the prefinished oak flooring, the maple cabinets or the solid-surface countertop, each of which cost more than twice as much as the ceiling. And they like the way the shiny surface brightens the room. If my friends have one complaint, it’s that the tin reflects sound, sometimes making their kitchen a noisy place.
Tin ceilings—made by stamping patterns into thin sheets of steel—have been around since the mid-1800s and reached the peak of their popularity about a century ago. Victorian-era homeowners liked the way tin dressed up their otherwise boring ceilings and permanently solved their cracking plaster problems.
Tin ceilings are being installed today for the same reasons. Most modern homes lack the ornate decor and high ceilings to accommodate large, deep tin patterns, but more subtle designs fit comfortably into homes with 8-ft. ceilings. Tin ceilings are most often installed in kitchens, but I’ve also seen them look great in living rooms, dining rooms and bathrooms.
What it Takes
Installing a tin ceiling takes a lot more time than a simple drywall ceiling. From plywood preparation to final painting, two of us worked three full days on our 200-sq.-ft. ceiling. We spent about half that time driving hundreds of little nails up into the plywood and complaining about our sore arms.
Stiff muscles aside, most of the project was simple, something any midlevel do-it-yourselfer could handle. To install the plywood (Photo 1) and ceiling panels (Photo 3), we needed only a few tools (hammer, chalk line, circular saw, drill, aviation snips) and the basic know-how to use them.
The frustrating part of installing our tin ceiling was fitting the corners of the cornice (Photos 7 and 8). We spent hours trimming and retrimming, trying—without much luck—to make them fit together tightly. Then we found a better way: We made a big miter box from plywood and cut the corner pieces with a reciprocating saw (Photo 6). We still had to do a bit of trimming with aviation snips after cutting the cornice in the miter box, but we got near-perfect results.
Fig. A. Layout Plans for a Tin Ceiling
Planning the Layout
Planning a tin ceiling is a complex process requiring lots of careful measurements—and concentration as you put all the measurements together.
Tin ceilings have three basic components: field panels, which cover most of the ceiling; cornice, which—like wood crown molding—covers the corner where the walls and ceiling meet; and filler, which forms a border between the field and cornice.
Tin ceiling materials are sold almost exclusively by mail, so begin by requesting a catalog from the suppliers listed in the Buyer’s Guide (p. 36). When you’ve chosen the field pattern and cornice you want, carefully measure the dimensions of your room and make a scale drawing on graph paper (see Fig. A). Each square on the paper should represent 6 in. since tin ceiling patterns repeat in 6-in. increments (every 6, 12 or 24 in.). NOTE: When you request a catalog, ask about design services. Some suppliers will guide you through the layout process.
Next, draw a line inside the perimeter of your room sketch to represent the “projection” of the cornice, the distance it projects onto the ceiling from the corner where the wall and ceiling meet. Cornices can project 12 in. or more, but in rooms with 8-ft. ceilings, cornices with projections of 6 in. or less look best. Ours had a projection of 4-3/8 in.
Now you’re ready to sketch out the field, the area covered by the field panels. The panels are 24-1/2 in. wide and 48-1/2 in. long, and overlap one another by 1/2 in. So your field will always have a measurement that ends with 1/2 in. (8 ft., 6-1/2 in. x 15 ft., 1/2 in., for instance). The field panels can be cut wherever the pattern repeats. So, for example, a field pattern like ours, which repeats every 6 in., could be cut to 6-1/2, 12-1/2 and 18-1/2 in. lengths or widths.
But even when cut, chances are the field panels won’t fit perfectly into the area between the four cornices. And that’s where filler panels come in. Filler panels have small, subtle patterns so they can be cut to any width without looking awkward. In addition to covering the leftover space between the field and cornice, they create a transition where walls aren’t at 90- degree angles. For appearance, you can make the filler wider or narrower by adjusting the size of the field. But your filler most likely won’t be a consistent width around the perimeter of the room. On the north and south sides of the room, it may be 10 in. wide, for example, while on the east and west it may be 11-1/2 in. wide.
Don’t forget to consider lighting when planning your ceiling. This is the perfect time to add or move fixtures; you can hack up the ceiling to run cables without having to patch the holes. But you must position light fixtures carefully if you want them centered on the tin’s pattern.
IMPORTANT: Electrical boxes in the ceiling must be flush with the 1/2-in. plywood that will cover the ceiling. Install new boxes so that they protrude 1/2 in. from the existing ceiling. Existing boxes can be lowered 1/2 in. or extended with “mud rings” (available in the electrical aisle at home centers).
Ordering Your Ceiling
Using your graph-paper sketch, you can determine exactly how many pieces of cornice, filler and field panels you’ll need. Still, it’s a good idea to order at least one extra of each piece to allow for mistakes. NOTE: You can’t cut a field panel exactly in half—you must cut it on one side of the row of buttons that run down the center of the panel. So for estimating purposes, any panel that will be cut to half-size or larger must be counted as a full panel.
TIP: Some panels are available in 8-ft. lengths, but we recommend the 4-ft. versions. They’re easier to handle and you’re less likely to bend and kink them.
Filler panels come in two versions: Some have an overlapping bead that fits over the upper edge of the cornice (Photo 9); others have no bead. If you choose the no-bead filler, order “nosing,” a narrow decorative strip that hides the seam between the cornice and filler.
The W. F. Norman Co. makes one-piece inside and outside “miters” (corner pieces) to match some of its cornice patterns. If you choose one of these patterns and buy the one-piece corners ($9 to $13 each), you can skip the steps shown in Photos 6 through 8. But we don’t recommend buying “precut” parts for inside and outside corners that some other manufacturers offer. You can get better results yourself by using a plywood miter box (Photo 6).
Finally, your order may include decorative “cone-head” nails. If not, use flat-headed common nails: 1 in. for the ceiling, 1-1/2 in. for the lower edge of the cornice.
Preparing the Ceiling
A layer of 1/2-in. CDX plywood screwed to the ceiling is the best base for tin, whether the existing ceiling is plaster or drywall, in good shape or bad.
Fig. B. Plywood Miter Box
Before you attach the plywood, locate all the joists and studs and mark their centers with a chalk line (Photo 2). To find the framing behind drywall, use an electronic stud finder ($10 to $40). Not all stud finders work well through plaster, so you may have to find framing by driving a nail through the plaster repeatedly until you hit wood. TIP: If your tin ceiling is part of a major remodeling project that requires tearing into walls, place 2×4 blocking between the studs to provide a continuous nailing surface for the lower edge of the cornice.
There are a couple of rare situations that require a grid of 1×2 or 2×2 furring strips, rather than plywood, to be screwed to the ceiling: The first involves tin patterns that protrude toward the ceiling rather than down into the room. Furring strips provide a recess for deep concave patterns.
The other situation that requires furring strips is a ceiling that’s badly sagging. The straight lines of a tin pattern will accentuate the bulge in a badly sagging ceiling. To flatten a ceiling, attach furring strips over shims.
NOTE: A badly sagging ceiling may indicate structural problems. Consult your local building inspector.
Tin Installation Tips
- Check and double-check your drawing and chalk lines before you begin installation. Once nailed in place, the panels are almost impossible to remove without damage.
- To make seams less visible, begin installing each part of the ceiling (field, cornice, filler) in the corner farthest from where you most often enter the room (see Fig. A). That way, the overlapping edges will face away from you when you enter the room.
- Work in courses; that is, complete an entire row of panels before beginning the next row.
- If you plan to cut any of the field panels, install the course of cut panels first. If you leave them until last, the imperfect edges you cut will be exposed instead of overlapped by adjoining panels.
- Be careful to align the field panels so that the buttons on adjoining panels overlap each other perfectly.
- You can install panels by yourself, but we recommend you have help. You’re more likely to damage or misalign them working alone.
- When you install a panel, nail all the buttons along the two edges that overlap previous sheets. Then drive five or six nails into the middle rows of buttons. The remaining button can wait until all the panels are up.
- If you dent a panel, repair it with auto body filler (found at auto parts stores). First roughen the damaged area with 80-grit sandpaper, then apply the filler. You can restore the shape of the pattern by carving and sanding the filler. This is slow work and the results won’t be perfect. So do your best not to damage the ceiling in the first place.
- Finally, don’t get discouraged. When I drove the last nail into our tin ceiling, I was thoroughly dissatisfied: The ceiling was full of gaps and misalignments. But after we tightened the seams, caulked all the imperfections and painted, it looked great. I still see our mistakes, but nobody else does.
Painting the Ceiling
Tin ceilings are sometimes left unpainted and are then simply coated with clear polyurethane. But if you don’t paint, your work has to be perfect; you can’t caulk and paint gaps between the parts. So if you want the shiny look of metal and the benefits of paint, use metallic paint (available at paint stores).
Manufacturers give tin ceiling materials a light coat of oil to prevent rust. Wipe away this oil with a rag soaked in mineral spirits. Then prime the tin with an oil-based primer.
IMPORTANT: Don’t use latex primer. The water in it will rust metal.
You can prime the ceiling before or after you install it. In a high-moisture room like a kitchen or bath, it’s a good idea to also prime the backside of the tin to inhibit rust.
When the ceiling is installed, caulked and ready to paint, wipe it down once more with mineral spirits to remove dust and fingerprints. With the metal already primed, you can use a latex paint, although oil-based paints are less likely to show brush and roller marks. Paint the cornice first using a brush, then switch to a roller for the ceiling itself. A roller with a 3/8-in. nap works well on most patterns.
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1 COVER the ceiling with 1/2-in. plywood. The plywood sheets should run perpendicular to the joists. The ends of the sheets should be staggered and must meet at joists to allow for fastening. Don’t place the sheets tightly together. Instead, leave a 1/8-in. gap at the seams to allow for expansion of the plywood in high humidity.
2 MARK the layout of the ceiling using a chalk line. When you’re done, you’ll have lines marking the upper and lower edges of the cornice, the border that will be covered by filler panels and the field. Correct layout is the most important step in this project. Take your time and double-check your work.
3 NAIL up the field panels first. Begin each panel by nailing into each button along the edges that overlap the adjoining panels. Then work your way across the panel, nailing buttons row by row. But don’t nail the buttons that will be overlapped by adjoining panels. Important: Leave nails protruding about 1/4 in. around the perimeter of the field so you can pull them out and slide filler strips under the field panels later (see Photo 9).
4 PROTECT the tin from hammer dents with a nailing shield made of 1/4-in. plywood or hardboard. Hammer in each nail as far as you can with the shield in place, then remove the shield and carefully drive the nail home.
WEAR GLOVES WHEN HANDLING TIN CEILING PARTS. THOSE EDGES ARE RAZOR-SHARP!
5 CUT tin ceiling components with aviation snips. To cut out a circle for recessed lights or ceiling fixture boxes, punch a hole in the center of the circle, then cut an outward spiral. See “For More Information,” p. 36, for more on using snips.
6 CUT inside and outside corners in a miter box made from 3/4-in. plywood. Clamp the piece of cornice into the miter box upside down and cut it with a 12-in. metal-cutting blade in a reciprocating saw. Be sure to position the cornice so that the pattern on it will correspond with the other side of the corner (see Photos 7 and 8). For a clean cut, run the saw at full speed and ease the blade slowly through the cornice.
7 BEGIN inside corners with an uncut end of cornice. Then hold a cut piece against it to check the fit. Chances are you’ll have to do a little trimming with aviation snips to get a tight fit.
8 FIT outside corners by tacking one cut side in place. Leave the nails sticking out so you can adjust the position of the cornice if need be. Then hold the other cut side in place to check the fit before nailing it. When the corner is done, smooth the sharp edges by filing them lightly with a fine “rattail” (round) file.
9 SLIP the filler strips under the field panels, overlapping the upper edge of the cornice, and nail them into place. At corners, you have to miter the filler. To mark the angle of the miter, cut a filler to the proper width and slip it into place (under the field, overlapping the cornice). Then mark the corner of the field on the filler, remove the filler and draw a straight line from the corner of the filler to the mark.
10 TIGHTEN open seams in the field by lightly tapping a wood block against them. Be careful not to crease the metal. Then fill all the gaps in the field, filler and cornice with caulk. When the caulk dries, you’re ready to paint.