Urgent Help, Suspended Ceilings, Any Advice Please

[Tigs]

I am currently at 60 000ft so jai yen yen, jai yen yen, deep breaths aaaah!

We are having a house built and we are at the ceiling stage. The architect for some reason had only drawn in flat ceilings, which on a 10M house is not really what I had in mind. The ceiling guys are around and basically they have allowed a 10-12cm cm drop for the ceiling 'decorative area' you know the type where you have circles, squares in the ceiling etc. Now 10-12 cm does not look a lot to me, but the ceiling guys are saying it is normal, my wife is saying 'well the builders say it is normal so it must be right', my view is that it is probably normal on a house that costs 500k to build, and will look completely naff. I imagined at least 25-30 cm from the lower part of the ceiling to the top, allowing for one or two small steps up and then to be able to put decorative trim inside the shape recessed into the ceiling. Am I completely off the plot here? Have I got it wrong? Are the ceiling guys correct or are they playing the 'it's too fing difficult card', as someone has already been in while I have been away and put in the aluminium frames with a 10-12 cm gap. Your rapid response could help save my marriage

Edited May 28, 2009 by Tigs

[longball53098]

We just had our ceiling stepped.

Living room has 30cm step but for a reason. It does look big. If I did not have a specific need for the 30 cm step I would choose maybe 2 smaller steps say 15 each. Or one of 20cm. The two bedrooms have 15 cm steps and look good.

12 cm sounds small to me but its all in the size of the room too I think.

[kennkate]

Stick to your guns 10 or 12 seems small to me. Like Longball said it realy depends on room size.

Try to compromise ask for 30 and give in to 20 or 25 You gain and more important they win everbody happy

Good Luck

[tattoodrob]

12 cm is for the basic flat ceiling with just enough room to put light fittings and electric cable......they are not allowing for steps etc......mine has 12 cm then 2 steps of about 12 cm again around outside of room so that means most of ceiling is 12cm but if you really wanted some steps then they could put after although they normally have an idea as they go along but if you aint there or discussed then its not easy to tell them how you want it....i drew pics and measured and watched and they still tried to do it wrong, i have learned a long time ago that you must be there if you want it correct.

[kamalabob2]

Our builder had a great ceiling subcontracting crew from Buriram. The actual initial drop to the FLAT part of the ceiling is at least 40 cm due to spaces for pipes, fans, cables and wires. The decorative one, two and three step ceilings are even lower. We have many rooms with "two step" ceilings, a closet with a one step ceiling. The curved 2nd floor hallway ceiling is 50 cm in the middle. The walk in closet has a 13 cm single step ceiling. The round ceiling design above a staircase is 42 cm since it is a Three step ceiling. The other rooms including Home Theater, Master Bedroom, downstairs hallway are 30 cm. Each step is aprox 15 cm. T5 tube lighting is easy to install in the hidden ledges for cost effective indirect lighting in some two step designs and recessed lighting is simple with this type of ceiling design. The curved ceiling is 9 ml thick gypsum the other two step ceilings are 9ml on the first floor and 12 ml on the 2nd floor ceilings. If your home is a 2 story home, seriously consider access squares in the ceiling UNDER the pipes of your 2nd floor bathrooms. Plus the SLOPE of your drain pipes from any 2nd floor bathrooms will be a consideration of your first floor suspended ceilings. My home is not in the O.P. price range and his architect should have this all drawn out so the ceiling sub contractor works to his specifications. In the photos you can see the simple basic closet one step, most rooms being two step, the round ceiling above the stair case is Three step and the long hallway is curved. Maybe the gypsum ceiling crew can wait until the O.P. returns to Thailand. Our ceiling crew came many times over a nine month period.

[trogers]

I am surprised that you did not employ an interior designer to detail the interior of the house, and just relied on an architect.

There is no right and wrong value in raising the ceiling. There is only proportion (size of room and floor to floor height), furniture layout, and lighting design. Example, no point making a circular raised ceiling in the middle of the room if your living area is to be placed at a corner. Such a feature would be more appropriate for a main foyer.

[kamalabob2]

We had a curved staircase built which seems appropriate to have a circular ceiling. The original OP had some legitimate concerns about the distance from the structure above each ceiling.

[kamalabob2]

I took the time again to read the O.P. and the "Drop for decorative ceilings" was his concern. It is actually the main foyer as suggested by Trogers which our architect suggested and drew out on the interior design plans the round three step ceiling.

[trogers]

I took the time again to read the O.P. and the "Drop for decorative ceilings" was his concern. It is actually the main foyer as suggested by Trogers which our architect suggested and drew out on the interior design plans the round three step ceiling.

Yes, that amount of drop has to be proportion to the dimension of the room. Think of it as the thickness of a shirt collar - a thicker collar for a larger size shirt, and not one thickness fit all.

For a large room with low floor to floor height, you may not even want to have a suspended ceiling in order to achieve max. ceiling height, and if the room is small but has a high floor to floor space, you have to lower the suspended ceiling to avoid living in a jar.

[trogers]

Interesting that you used a sunny yellow for the wall at the foyer. Why is there no large window to let in more light and air into this space?

Here is my condo with no suspended ceiling over the dining and living area.

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