Grid rails support the ceiling tiles in a drop ceiling.
Many homeowners choose to install drop ceilings when they finish their basements. Purchase all the necessary supplies at your local home builder's supply store, then install them yourself, which saves a lot of money. A drop ceiling works in a grid system. Each ceiling tile rests in one grid square. A straight and level drop ceiling requires you to pay close attention to how you install the grid rails. If the rails are off, the ceiling will look warped and crooked.
Instructions
1. Measure the room's length and width. Use these measurements to determine the grid placement. For example, if your room is 10 feet (or 120 inches) long and you are using the 2-by-2 foot ceiling tiles (i.e. 24 inches square), you would divide 120 by 24 to get 5. You would need five ceiling tiles to span the room's length.
2. Measure 3 to 6 inches below the ceiling joists and place a mark on one of the walls at this height. The amount of space you need above the grid rails depends largely on the type of lighting you plan to use.
3. Set up a laser level in the center of the room. Aim the laser at the mark you made in Step 2. Run a stud finder along the laser line to locate all the wall studs.
4. Lift a piece of wall molding rail against the wall. Hold the wall molding so the back rests flat against the wall and the bottom points out toward the room's center. Align the 's bottom edge with the laser line. Secure the wall molding to the wall studs with nails. Butt the wall moldings' edges up when you reach an inside corner. Cut the wall moldings' edges at a 45-degree angle, with a tin snips, when you reach an outside corner.
5. Place a mark above the wall molding, on either side of the room, to indicate the location of the first main beam. The main beams run perpendicular to the ceiling joists. Hold a chalk line across the room, connecting the marks you just made, and snap it across the ceiling joists. Move the length of a ceiling tile down the ceiling and snap another chalk line. Continue until you reach the room's opposite end.
6. Hammer a wire fastener into the chalk line on each ceiling joist. Add 12 inches to the ceiling drop. For example, if you installed your wall molding at 4 inches, you would add 12 and 4 to get 16. Cut hanging wire, with a tin snips, to this length. You need one wire for each wire fastener.
7. Put a hanging wire 6 inches through a wire fastener. Twist the wire around itself three times, with a pliers, to secure it in place. Repeat with the remaining hanging wires and fasteners.
8. Measure 7/8 inches up from your wall molding's top edge. Aim the laser level at this measurement. Bend each hanging wire, with a pliers, into an L on the spot where the laser hits it.
9. Insert a tape measure's metal tab into the first side slot in the first main beam. Measure from the slot toward the main beam's nearest end to mark the width of the first ceiling tile. Cut the main beam at this mark with a tin snips by first cutting the back, then bending it down and cut it off. If you are installing a full ceiling tile at the edge, skip this step.
10. Lift the main beam up and rest its edges on the wall molding. Center it under the chalk line across the . Insert the bent hanger wire through the holes near the main beam's top edge. Bend the wire up and wrap it around itself to secure it in place. Repeat Steps 9 and 10 for the remaining chalk lines. If your room is longer than the main beam, connect two beams together with the tabs at their ends.
11. Push the cross tees tabs into the slots in the main beam's sides. Cross tees should be approximately 2 feet apart. Check that the grid is square by measuring diagonally from corner to corner. If both measurements are the same, the grid is square.
Tags: main beam, wall molding, ceiling joists, ceiling tile, chalk line