Installing A Tin Ceiling
Layout and design of your tin ceiling should be planned prior to purchase, therefore we make our designers available for consultation Monday through Friday: 8am – 6pm, and Saturday: 9am- 2pm. - Call us toll free: 1-888-231-7500 - www.AmericanTinCeilings.com
The type of panel purchased will determine the method of installation.
Drop-in
Drop-in panels are placed into a suspended ceiling grid. No other installation method is required. We do not carry suspended ceiling grids nor do we consult on grid installation.
Nail up
Prepare your room.
Run chalk lines to map out the positioning of your panels on the ceiling. Start from center and work you way out to the walls. Mark a center point in the middle of the room. If you have a fixture in the center of the room you can often center the initial panel on the fixture, or have 4 panels meet at the fixture.
Install your substrate.
Nail up panels require 3/8” plywood or particle board substrate or a furring strip array to which the nail up panels are fastened.
Fasten your panels to the substrate. Fasteners most commonly used are brad nails (for use with brad guns) and cone head nails. Both are readily available at most hardware stores. Attach the first panel at the prepared center starting point. Attach corresponding panels by overlapping the nail rails and nail through both panels. General rule is one nail per corner and one to two nails per edge or 1 nail every six inches.
Finalizing
Without filler: cut the final rows of panels to fit flush against the walls. Trim out the edges with crown molding or beveled molding.
With filler: Install your panels up to your filler area. Cut the filler to fit flush against the wall. Install filler by coating the backside with Liquid Nails or similar adhesive and position in place. Nail filler panel into substrate, placing one nail every 6 inches around the perimeter of the filler panel.
You should now have a beautiful Nail up tin ceiling.
Post installation tips
White colors need to have edges caulked with white caulking; otherwise the edges show against the white finish.
Nails can be hidden with touch up paint. Matching paints can be purchased at most hardware stores. Our installers use Behr paints.
SnapLock™
Prepare your room.
Run chalk lines to map out the positioning of your panels on the ceiling. Start from one corner and work your way to the opposing corner or opposite wall. Some people prefer to install one vertical or horizontal column at a time; others prefer to proceed in 4 panel blocks. Either way, you start with the male flange against the wall. Some installers cut the male flange off to flush the panel against the wall.
Attach the panels.
On the prepared starting point, fasten your initial panel directly to the drywall by screwing six drywall anchors through the six pre-drilled screw holes. There are three holes on each of the two screw flanges.
Snap the corresponding panels to the attached panel via the patented interlocking flanges.
Fasten the snapped panel to the drywall as done in sub-step ‘a'.
Continue ‘a' through ‘c' until you've installed all the panels.
Finalizing
Without filler: cut the final rows of panels to fit flush against the walls. Trim out the edges with crown molding or beveled molding.
With filler: Install your panels up to your filler area. Cut the filler to fit flush against the wall. Install filler by coating the backside with Liquid Nails or similar adhesive and position in place. Nail filler panel into substrate, placing one nail every 6 inches around the perimeter of the filler panel.
Backsplash
To install a tin backsplash, coat the backside with Liquid Nails® or a comparable adhesive and position the panel in place. Then nail finishing nails every 6 inches around the panel perimeter. Cut the panels to fit the neccessary area. You can trim out the backsplash with wood molding painted to match or use our tin molding for a more dramatic look.
Cutting tin
There 3 tools that can be used to effectively cut our tin.
Tin Snips. Effective at cutting holes and tin, but time consuming and tiring on the wrist and hands.
Metal Shears. Quick! Tricky to use, but once you get use to them they are great. They take a ¼ inch section of metal with them when they cut through the tin. They can be purchased at most hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowe's for approximately $160. Most consumers and contractors rent them from equipment rental stores. Some Home Depot's also rent them.
Guillotine Paper Cutters. Heavy duty table top paper cutters similar to those used in schools and office environments. Our installers swear by them! Every job requires cutting of varying lengths. We carry Martin Yale ‘Premiere' model, 18” x 26” guillotine cutters. They are available to clients for our cost of $150 plus $25 shipping and handling.
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