When installing suspended ceilings, the height of the room is reduced due to the design features. The reduction can reach from 2 to 30 cm. For small-sized apartments, it is especially important to know in advance how many centimeters the new structure will take away. The minimum distance from the base floor to the suspended ceiling depends on the type of profiles for fastening the canvas, light sources, condition of the walls and load-bearing floors. Let's consider each case in detail.
What affects the height of the ceiling?
First of all, the height of the room in the corners is important.
In some houses it is completely different. The installation of the guide profile will begin from the bottom corner to ensure the possibility of fixation in the remaining areas of the room. Fastening is done by level, so the distance between the main ceiling and the one being installed may be different. Secondly, lighting fixtures affect the distance between ceilings. For example, installing LED elements with an MR-16 base will take up a space of 6 cm, and lighting fixtures with a GR-53 base will take 4 cm. Chandeliers require less distance: when choosing an option with ceiling fixation, be prepared to lower the ceiling to 5 cm, a chandelier with a hook type of fastening, requires the smallest space - only 3-4 cm.
If every centimeter is important to you when installing the ceiling, choose lighting using wall lamps or use lamps. Modern options can make your room as bright as traditional chandeliers, and at the same time give the room a unique, unique look.
The third factor influencing the distance is the ventilation elements present in the kitchen, bathroom and toilet. When setting the distance, the presence of hoods, grilles, air ducts and other ventilation elements is taken into account. Taking into account their features, the ceiling can drop from 7 to 17 cm.
The installation of a stretch ceiling is also affected by the presence of an air conditioner in the room.
The distance to the stretch ceiling also depends on the method of fixing the canvas. For example, the harpoon installation method will take from 5 cm or more, since the baguette that is attached to the wall to fix the film has exactly this width. The minimum distance will be ensured by glazing bead or wedge installation technology. In this case, only 3 cm will be required from the main ceiling to the tension ceiling.
In rooms where it is very important to maintain the height of the walls, for example, to comply with sanitary and epidemiological standards, you can use a ceiling profile rather than a wall one. Its maximum height is only 22 mm
Of course, this method of fastening has its drawbacks - if the ceiling was initially uneven, the ceiling covering will not hide it.
The lowering height of the stretch ceiling is affected by the location of the distribution cable. To avoid accidents when working, it is better to step back a couple of centimeters lower.
Often there are voids in the walls, in such cases, if it is possible, it is better to install the ceiling on a stronger section of the wall. To do this, however, you will have to go a few centimeters lower, but the ceiling structure will be much more reliable.
In production premises it is necessary to leave space for alarm systems and fire safety systems. Some cases require sound insulation, which can be provided by a stretch ceiling with this function, but its height will be 6-8 cm.
Many companies involved in installing stretch ceilings provide a designer service. It will help improve the room, taking into account all the above factors. Based on experience, the designer will indicate which canvas fastening, the color solution will be best in your case, and will also offer an option for lighting the room.
Reasons for lowering altitude levels
It is known that there are three reasons that determine how much the ceiling will drop with suspended ceilings at the time of installation. Each of them affects its height level:
In most cases, voids form at the junctions of ceiling slabs and walls. This happens because these places most often do not have a flat surface. Since it is impossible to attach a frame to the voids, thanks to which the material is tensioned. If you do carry it out, the baguettes will be unreliable. For this reason, the canvas is lowered until the void in the walls ends. Installing lamps of any kind requires lowering the ceiling level. Lighting systems can have different types, and their size determines how far the entire structure will be lowered. The upper part on which the fastening is located must be hidden under the tension material. If the surface of the slab is uneven. This problem may arise from the shrinkage of the building or from the experience of the builder who carried out the renovation work.
It is important to eliminate the reason why the defect may have formed. The height of the room will depend on how much the ceiling drops with suspended ceilings
The best way to solve the problem is to change the ceiling height. If you neglect this, then at the time of installation the canvas will be uneven and unreliable.
Stretch ceiling height
How far will the suspended ceiling drop?
A profile is attached to the wall on the left, with screws every 10 cm. The height of the profile is 3 cm, a film for a stretch ceiling is stretched under it. If your base ceiling is perfectly flat, then use a laser level to mark the profile fastening line under it with an indentation of 3 cm.
If the existing ceiling in the room is not completely level, then the markings for the stretch ceiling will be made from the lowest point of the base ceiling down 3 cm. In order for the stretch ceiling to be level and not repeat the slope of the old ceiling, in some places the indentation will be exactly 3 cm, and in some places maybe 4.5 cm from the base ceiling, depending on the specific situation. A person in an empty room may not notice a ceiling slope of 1-2 cm, but if you have a high closet almost to the ceiling, then the gap will become noticeable in one place more, and in another place less. To do this, the suspended ceiling is mounted exactly relative to the laser level. Exceptions are cases of installation in a plasterboard box, then the line of the stretch ceiling is measured not from the base ceiling, but upward from the bottom edge of the plasterboard box.
Exceptions to the rules.
If spotlights need to be built into a suspended ceiling, the ceiling height may be reduced, depending on the height of the lighting fixtures.
If the body of the spotlight is recessed into a suspended ceiling, then the indentation can be 7-10 cm.
In cases of creating hidden film lighting, the height of the lowering of the stretch ceiling also increases. To create a diffused glow due to the translucent stretch ceiling, an LED strip is mounted behind the film along the entire plane of the base ceiling, which will be hidden by the film. For a natural glow, you need space behind the film so that the LED strips are not visible, but create the feeling of a glow across the entire surface - this is approximately 10 cm in height.
Then, by placing a light source on the existing ceiling and lowering the suspended ceiling by 10 cm, we get diffused, daylight-like light from the ceiling.
When installing the starry sky system, the ceiling is lowered by 10-15 cm, depending on the desired effect and installation method.
Minimum and maximum indentation for a stretch ceiling.
The maximum height of the stretch ceiling indentation is practically unlimited. You can mount a suspended ceiling 10 cm, 30 cm below the existing ceiling, and even 300 cm, as long as it meets the objectives. In our practice, the client wished to lower the ceiling 3 meters lower than the existing one; this was dictated by the very high height in the production room and the management did not want to heat the extra 3 meters of height.
It also happens that you need to run a large-diameter ventilation duct behind the ceiling, then again, depending on your wishes, you can lower the stretch ceiling to a greater or lesser height.
How much does a suspended ceiling consume in height?
It seems to me that the term “eats” is not entirely appropriate when applied to a suspended ceiling system. Indeed, despite the fact that a suspended ceiling, like other suspended ceilings, still lowers in comparison with the basic suspended ceiling, at the same time, thanks to its mirror effect, it visually increases the height of the room. Therefore, of all suspended ceilings, suspended ceilings are the most successful solution for low rooms.
How much does the ceiling drop in the case of other ceiling structures?
- A suspended ceiling eats up at least 10 cm of ceiling space. When installing suspended systems, a metal profile is used, which is attached to the walls and ceiling using special hangers. When using lamps, this parameter can increase to 15 cm or more;
- Slat systems can reduce the useful height in a room by 35-40 cm;
- When gluing the ceiling with polystyrene boards, the height decreases by a maximum of 1 cm;
- The minimum lowering of the ceiling surface with hemming technology is 400 mm.
Installation of chandeliers
This is one of the most popular options, but there are nuances here too. First you need to decide on the type of chandelier, there are two types:
- ceiling - it is mounted on a mounting baguette
- hooked, it is hung on a loop or hook.
For a hook chandelier, the required gap between the lathing and the covering is 3 cm.
From all of the above, we can conclude that the gap by which the ceiling can be lowered can be from 2 to 10 cm. It depends on the area, the height of the walls and the method of lighting. To choose the right ceiling covering, you need to familiarize yourself in detail with the types of ceilings in high and low rooms.
The sky blue ceiling is also designed for high ceilings. There are different technologies to create such a wonderful ceiling covering. For example, for a ceiling with any images, only a 5cm gap is required. For methods using lighting-finishing (for example, fiber-optic threads imitating a starry sky), the height of the ceilings is reduced by 15-20 cm. A coating with several levels reduces the height by 10-12 cm.
Ceilings with several tiers are installed only in high, large halls; the main rule when installing a ceiling of this type is not to overdo it. It is for such coatings that the gap is 30 cm. Very often, multi-tiered ceilings are installed to hide ceiling communications.
Some features of stretching ceilings in low rooms. The height of the walls in the finished form of the ceiling will depend on the type of lathing, lighting fixtures and communications. If the difference between the plates is 10 cm, then, of course, not a single coating will reduce this distance.
In cases where the ceiling is perfectly flat, a frame is installed, then the height is reduced by 1.5-2 cm. But, we hasten to please you, owners with low ceilings should not panic. You can create a beautiful interior in all rooms.
There are some design tricks that can make the tension covering look very beautiful. In rooms with low ceilings, designers recommend glossy surfaces (due to reflective properties, they visually increase the area) and spotlights. When installing spotlights, you can advantageously reduce the gap. But there is one nuance: the base of the spot must be hidden under the ceiling covering.
The presence of various communications can also “lower” the ceiling. The height of the lowering can be from 12 cm (with conventional structures) and up to 25 cm (with air conditioners, volumetric pipes, fans, fire alarms).
Conclusion: the distance that can reduce the height of the ceilings varies from 1.5-30 cm and will depend on many reasons: the original height of the room, the method of lathing, the type of suspended ceiling, lighting devices and the presence of existing communications.
Features of installing a single-level ceiling
Before starting work on the installation of the standard version of single-level tension fabrics, the craftsmen carefully inspect the following:
- the surface of the base ceiling for the presence of any protrusions and growths;
- the condition of the walls in the room and the places where they join the concrete sheet, for the presence of any voids or irregularities in them;
- the room itself for the presence of central heating system pipes and previously installed lighting fixtures.
Taking into account the results obtained, the buyer is offered several possible options for the design and installation of the ceiling sheet. If there are no protrusions in the room on the walls or base floor, the minimum distance from the ceiling for a stretch ceiling will be from one to four centimeters, depending on the dimensions of the mounting moldings and their location.
A significant influence on the minimum indentation is exerted by the lighting devices with which the room is illuminated; such a suspended ceiling with lamps built directly into the canvas increases it by the size of its own dimensions. In the case of placing lighting elements inside the space between the concrete ceiling and the decorative canvas, the distance from the ceiling for suspended ceilings is made even greater, taking into account the power of the lighting devices, the luminous flux of which can expose the ceiling material to excessive heating, which will lead to its deformation.
The presence of ceiling sound insulation in the room also affects the minimum indentation, the size of which greatly depends on the types of materials used to make its structure, namely:
- the lathing made of wooden blocks has a width of 2 to 3 cm;
- the frame made of metal-plastic profile has a width of 4 to 5 cm;
- the frame is made of aluminum profile, is the most compact and has a width of 1 to 2 cm.
In the case of installing any of the above structures, the size of the tension fabric fastening baguette is added to its width and thus the minimum distance of the decorative material from the base concrete ceiling is obtained.
In addition, the size of the indentation, the space of which is consumed by the suspended ceiling, is influenced by various protrusions, both on the ceiling itself and at the places where it meets the walls.
In this case, the countdown begins from the largest protrusion on the ceiling or wall, which may also contain voids, especially characteristic of old buildings, as a result of which the wall moldings of the stretch ceiling will be attached even lower.
What to consider
The countdown is from the bottom point. The height of the ceiling directly depends on the unevenness and curvature of the base surface. In Soviet-built buildings, any reduction is very sensitive, but there is a way out. You just need to use visuals. The height of the suspended ceiling will not seem small if the color of the membrane is light or even with a glossy surface. This gives the effect of a mirror and does not visually reduce, but, on the contrary, increases the height of the room.
The degree of lowering depends on the size of the profile with which the canvas is attached. Therefore, if you plan to install a ceiling structure, its height will be at least the width of the profile below the extreme point.
Another point is lighting. The chandelier and each lamp are taken into account in advance; electrical wiring is preliminarily supplied to their locations. The lamp base is built into the ceiling covering, so its size is taken into account.
If ceiling lighting is not planned in the room and wall light sources are often used, then the height depends only on the width of the profile. It may differ due to different ways of tensioning the membrane. When using wedge technology, the minimum ceiling gap is reduced to 3 cm. The harpoon stretching method will require at least 5 cm.
The membrane material is tensioned perfectly evenly, otherwise the meaning of its installation is lost. When walls are marked for attaching baguettes for tensile structures, the distance from the ceiling is calculated so that plinths, chandelier mounts and electrical wiring fit there.
Thus, the ceiling will have to be lowered by as many centimeters as is required for the installation and integration of the planned light sources.
How this will affect the appearance of the room depends on the chosen coating. It is worth noting once again that light colors visually increase the space, not to mention membranes with a reflective coating.
When these features are taken into account, you will get a beautiful and elegant ceiling that pleases the eye, hides construction flaws and creates an individual style in the room. It is easy to wash, minimal maintenance, the materials are modern and safe. How appropriate this option is - decide for yourself.
Baguette sizes
There are many types of profiles for attaching suspended structures, also called baguettes. Their values are given in the table.
| Baguette type | Its height size |
| PVC wall profile | 2.5-3 centimeters |
| Aluminum wall profile | 3.5-3.7 centimeters |
| Aluminum ceiling profile | 2 centimeters |
| Combined profile | 2.4 – 3 centimeters |
As you can see, the type of baguette used directly determines what the loss in room height will be after installing the suspended ceiling.
When using a wall profile, it will drop by 4-7 centimeters, if all values are taken into account during installation. In the case of using a ceiling molding, at least 2-3 centimeters. In the case of a combined profile, it all depends on whether the walls are curved, but usually about 3 centimeters.
But you should understand that when installing the structure, you need to attach the profiles not close to the ceiling, but at a short distance, for ease of installation. In this case, it may drop to an even greater value. But it happens that already installed stretch ceilings begin to sag significantly, let's figure out why this happens.
Height standards for premises
Before talking about stretch ceilings, I would like to note this point. There are sanitary and epidemiological standards, according to which the height in the room is specified during construction.
Having opened the regulatory documentation, we will see that there is no single value for the ceiling height for all rooms; they are divided into categories. The specific numbers are:
- Living areas, including kitchen and dining room. For territories with special climatic conditions, that is, the northernmost and southern regions (for example, Yakutia, Magadan, Tyumen, Tomsk regions, Krasnodar Territory, Dagestan and others), the ceiling height should be at least 2.7 m, for other territories with milder climate – from 2.5 m;
- Due to the conditions of safe movement, ceilings in corridors and halls are determined to be at least 2.1 m;
- Rooms in apartments and kitchens located on upper floors or attics with uneven structures can be made lower than specified by the standards.
Buildings made of panels and blocks
Initially, panel houses were built under Khrushchev. The standard configuration of such houses assumed that they would have five floors, and they would be built in the southern regions. The standard ceiling height in panel houses was about 2.5 meters, and the walls were built of brick. By and large, these buildings were very similar to typical “Khrushchev” buildings - there was little free space, and there was not enough natural light even on sunny days.
Renovation of houses made of panels and blocks occurred already in the 80s. The new buildings were distinguished by an increased number of floors, large area of premises and high ceilings - their minimum height was 2.65 m, and in some cases reached 2.75 m. Even with a superficial examination, we can safely say that such apartments were much more convenient.
This convenience was evident not only during the operation of the apartments, but also during renovations. Thus, finishing the ceiling was extremely simple - initially the surface of the floors was flat, so it could be arranged in any way. The high ceilings typical of such apartments made it possible to use suspended and suspended ceiling structures.
Various installation options
Let's take a closer look at the different options. This will help you understand exactly how much the suspended ceiling really takes away from the size of the room.
So, if it is customary to use a standard hanging chandelier as a lighting fixture, then the height of the room will decrease by a few more centimeters, which, in principle, is acceptable and will reach approximately 10-14 centimeters. In the case of installing recessed spotlights, the design takes up a little less - from 9 to 11 centimeters.
Situation 3
Combined profile.
This profile is used extremely rarely; it can be used in non-standard situations and in cases where it is necessary to combine ceiling and wall mounting.
The height of the combined profile is from 2.4 cm or more, depending on the manufacturer.
Height of the combined profile (baguette) 2.5 cm
Is a tension structure necessary?
The imperfections of the walls are hidden by the furniture, and the ceiling is completely visible; this is the first thing that catches your eye when entering the room. It often doesn’t look very good: the floor slabs are not level, there may be gaps between them, and the seams are sometimes poorly filled. Therefore, many owners try to hide these construction flaws, giving the ceiling a sophisticated look. One way to do this is a stretched canvas with built-in lights.
There are many advantages to this option. These designs are beautiful, durable, easy to maintain and modern. However, they are necessarily mounted below the existing ceiling, and therefore the owners are interested in what is the minimum distance from the ceiling required for installation? There are nuances here.
Expert advice
Many specialists who have been installing suspended ceilings for a long time note the following points regarding the height of the indentations:
You should not mount baguettes to the walls, focusing solely on a small indentation. Very often, at the junction of the ceiling slab and walls, there are small niches in which electrical wiring is laid, and often the quality of the concrete in these places is very low, as a result of which the baguettes may not be securely fastened and will fall out over time. For these reasons, it is worth lowering them below the level of the concrete ceiling by 5-6 cm.
If you plan to provide additional lighting inside the stretch ceiling, the canvas itself should be mounted at a distance of at least 10 cm from the spot diode lighting fixtures; this will protect the tension material, especially PVC film, from excessive thermal effects, which will increase the service life of the stretch ceiling.
