Armstrong ceiling: device, types, installation, photo, video

An attractive ceiling is one of the conditions for a good appearance of the room. Therefore, when repairing this issue, a lot of attention is paid. But making the ceiling attractive is more difficult than the walls – more difficult working conditions. If you need to quickly, inexpensively put this part of the room in order – your choice is the Armstrong ceiling. This is a quick-mount suspension system that offers a lot of possibilities. 

System device

Suspended ceiling Armstrong consists of a system of profiles, with the help of suspensions attached to the draft ceiling. These profiles form square or rectangular cells in which luminaires and slabs are installed. All this together is the armstrong ceiling system.

Profiles are bearing (guides). It is they who are attached to the draft ceiling through suspensions and carry the main load. The total mass of the entire system is small, therefore guides are installed every 120 cm. Hangers are mounted along the marked lines with a step of 50 cm. There are hooks in their lower part, and there are holes in the guides. The guides are simply hung on hooks. After that, we received parallel guides spaced in 120 cm increments.

Between them with the same step – 120 cm – a transverse profile is installed. As a result, we get a cage of 120 cm * 120 cm. Armstrong suspended ceiling slabs have a size of 60 * 60 cm (to be precise, then 598 mm * 598 mm). To install them, frame profiles are also attached – to get a cage with the desired dimensions. After that, it remains only to mount the lamps and install them in the plate cells.

Advantages and disadvantages

Initially, Armstrong ceilings were developed for use in industrial, service and public buildings. But a number of excellent qualities have led to the fact that they are also used in private houses and apartments. Here is a list of properties of suspended ceilings such as Armstrong:

• Low price. This is the cheapest way to arrange false ceilings.
• A large number of options for plates and profiles. Plates can be not only white matte. They are metal, painted in different colors with varying degrees of gloss. There are glass, mirror, pasted over with a film “under the tree”, etc. Moreover, these plates are easy to make yourself, having received a unique design.
• Easy installation. All operations during installation are elementary, time is required at a minimum.
  

• High maintainability. When the plate is damaged, it is simply removed and a new one is put in. Therefore, when purchasing components, take the plates with a margin.
• The false ceiling perfectly hides all communications and allows you to organize excellent ventilation – the plates very often have perforations. Even if it is monolithic, it simply lies on the frame, there is no tightness and the ventilation of the ceiling space is good.
• The system turns out to be light – the profiles are made of aluminum alloy, the plates are made of pressed paper waste of different thicknesses or light alloy.

The Armstrong ceiling is truly a wonderful product. Apparently, this is why the owners of offices, shopping centers, cinemas, etc., liked it so much. But there are also disadvantages. First, the appearance of such a ceiling is ideal for an office or public space, but in private spaces, not everyone perceives them. But this is a matter of taste. The second is a suspended system and “eats” the height of the ceilings, with which many people already have problems. But if the ceilings are more or less normal, this system can be installed. That’s all the cons.

Elements of the system

The Armstrong ceiling system consists of a set of elements that are easily interconnected. One of its advantages is modularity, which allows you to get a ceiling of any size and configuration. The problem is only with non-linear forms – they are not provided and there are no regular solutions. Therefore, this type of suspended ceiling is used only in square and rectangular rooms.

Profiles

Armstrong ceiling profiles are made of light aluminum alloy. On the upper part of the profiles there is a perforation, with the help of which they are attached to the hangers and joined together. The lower part of the profiles – the one that is visible from the room – may have a silver color, but more often it is white. There are also black and gold, you can find other colors, but you have to look for them.

Profile length 600 mm, 1200 mm, 3600 mm. Bearing profiles must be solid (if necessary, they can be spliced), therefore we select the length so that the profile is not shorter than the room. It is cut into sections of the desired length.

You dial the transverse profiles partially with a length of 120 cm, partially – 60 cm. You will have to consider how many you need to create a suspension system in your case. Cutting them will not work – protrusions are made along the edges, with the help of which they are joined to the carriers.

Bearing and transverse profiles come in two sizes – for different types of plates: with a shelf of 15 mm and 24 mm. The “back” is also different – for different thicknesses of the plates (19 mm, 24 mm and 29 mm).

There are also wall profiles. They are made in the form of a corner, mounted around the perimeter of the room. The end plates rest on them. They are also available with shelves of different sizes – 19 mm and 24 mm.

Plates

Armstrong suspended ceiling tiles come in two sizes – 120 cm * 60 cm and 60 cm * 60 cm. The second option is more common, perhaps because squares are better perceived than rectangles. There are also they of different thickness – from 6 mm to 19 mm. The greater the thickness, the greater the degree of sound insulation such a ceiling has, but in many respects this characteristic depends on the material from which the plates are made. And they are of several types:

• Economy class The cheapest of all, they are highly hygroscopic and do not tolerate high humidity. They absorb moisture in the forehead – in the form of a liquid when flooded by neighbors from above or from the air. Having been saturated with moisture, they become heavy, begin to change shape – to bend, which spoils the appearance. In general, the option is cheap, but feels good in rooms with climate control and constant humidity. This group includes Oasis (Oasis) and, Oasis +, Cortega (Gortega), Tatra (Tatra), Bajkal (Baikal).
  

• Prima class. These are more expensive panels, but they are much better in terms of performance. Firstly, they are more durable, have increased resistance to moisture (85% versus 65% for the Economy class). They are better in terms of sound insulation and appearance. This group includes the collections Adria (Adria), Casa (Casa), Cirrus (Cirrus), Plain (Plain), Duna + (Dune plus).
  

• Moisture resistant. This type of false ceiling tiles can be used in damp rooms or at high humidity. There are two types of Mylar (Mular), Newtone Residence (Newton Residence).
  

• Acoustic. They have improved sound absorption characteristics. Are suitable for installation in trading floors, offices. Available in two types: Neeva (Niiva), Frequence (Frekvens).
• Hygienic. These plates are well washed, designed for medical institutions and food industry enterprises. There is only one view – Bioguard (Bioguard).
  

• Designer. These armstrong ceiling tiles are significantly different in appearance from all the others. They are used in the design of clubs, restaurants, bars. They have a presentable, and sometimes luxurious look, but they already cost a lot. There are several modifications: Visual (Vizhual), Cellio (Sellio), Graphis Linear (Grafis Liner), Cirrus Image (Cirrus Image).
  

Above, we talked about authentic stoves manufactured by Armstrong. There are other types and types produced by other companies. The name and appearance may differ, but the categorization is about the same.

For example, there are metal plates – white, made of a single sheet and with perforations of different sizes and shapes, some are painted in different colors, some are made of plastic – translucent and with applied photo printing. In general, various plates are built into this system.

Another point: the plates on the Armstrong ceiling have a ledge along the edges. This ledge comes in different widths and depths. Under the dimensions of this protrusion, the type of profile is selected. It can be the other way around, but they should fit together.

Suspensions and how they can be replaced

Hangers for Armstrong ceilings have a hole in the upper part for installing fasteners, in the lower part there is a hook that holds the profile. The upper part is attached to the ceiling with dowels or other fasteners (depending on the floor materials).

Of all this variety, the option with two hairpins is most often used (in the photo above – the third on the right and in the photo below). These suspensions are inexpensive, quickly assembled, and allow you to easily adjust the height of the ceiling when it becomes necessary to set it in one plane.

But these hangers have a minimum height of 25 cm. This is a lot even in some offices, and even more so in houses and apartments. The way out is to shorten the studs (as in the upper photo on the right) or use improvised materials. The most suitable are steel studs with a ring at the end and a piece of elastic steel wire. The disadvantage of this mount is that it is difficult to adjust the height of the suspension. You will have to make them exactly the length that they are needed.

Dowels with hooks at the ends are also suitable. But here, too, additional wire hooks will be needed, since too small a distance to the ceiling will not allow laying the plates – you need room to maneuver. The minimum distance between the main and suspended ceilings is 25 mm and this will be very inconvenient. It is desirable to have at least 50 mm. But this is only if lamps or fans are not installed in the ceiling.

Luminaires and ventilation grilles

Regular lamps and ventilation grilles are well suited for offices, trading floors, public and medical institutions. They are the same size as the slabs and are simply installed in the selected location. There are no problems with connecting lamps – a vast ceiling space allows you to bring the wires of the desired section without problems. They are placed in metal trays fixed on the ceiling or cable channels.

In apartments and houses, standard lamps look at least strange, and their power is clearly greater than necessary. In this case, recessed spotlights are usually used. It is better to take with LEDs – they almost do not heat up and consume little electricity, but they give enough light.

The use of ventilation grilles in houses and apartments is rather an exceptional case. The system itself is not hermetic, many of the plates are perforated, which provides a sufficient degree of ventilation of the space above the ceiling. If, nevertheless, additional holes are needed, you can either use the regular grille or build in a smaller one by cutting a suitable hole in the plate.

Armstrong ceiling installation

Assembling the Armstrong ceiling is simple: you need a drill, suitable fasteners (dowels or self-tapping screws, depending on the floor material), it’s nice to have a laser level, but you can get by with water and bubble levels. For cutting profiles, you can use metal scissors, or you can use a grinder with a cutting disc or a hacksaw with a metal blade.

Armstrong suspended ceiling installation technology steps look like this:

1. We mark on the walls the level at which the suspended ceiling will be located. It is easier to do this with a level, more difficult with a bubble level.
2. We fix the wall profile along the intended line. There are profiles with different widths of the shelves, do not confuse during installation – the shelf must have the same size as the profiles. Fix to the walls with suitable fasteners every 50 cm.
   

3. Having attached the wall profiles, we measure the required length of the supporting profile and cut off the required number of pieces. At the same time, please note that not always the dimensions of the room are a multiple of 60 cm. In most cases, you have to cut the extreme plates. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is necessary to correctly develop a plan for placing the plates on the ceiling – the “undercut” must be dispersed on both sides. But this must be done so that there are no narrow stripes along the edges (see the figure).
   

4. On the ceiling we mark the fastening lines of the guide profiles. They are installed after 120 cm, that is, there will be fewer load-bearing profiles than cells. On these lines every 50 cm we install suspensions.
   

5. On the installed suspensions we hang the carrier profiles cut into segments of the required length. The profiles are perforated. We put a hook into one of the holes and press it in to hold it tighter. We start the edges of the supporting profiles into the already installed wall profile.
   

6. We take transverse profiles 120 cm long, install them by inserting the protrusions at the edges into the cutouts on the carrier profile. The result is a grid of rectangular cells 120 * 60 cm.
7. We take short transverse profiles of 60 cm each and insert them so that a grid with a cell of 60 * 60 cm is obtained. The fastening is the same – the ledge is inserted into the cutout.
   

8. We expose all suspensions so that the ceiling is in the same plane. Here, again, a level (laser level) can help, but you can get by with the usual building one.
9. We put plates into the resulting system. We turn them sideways, carefully wind them up, then lower them into place. You need to work with clean hands – the plates get dirty. If necessary, they are cut with an ordinary clerical knife (place it on a flat, clean surface, apply a ruler or a rule along the cut line, draw it along with a clerical knife, pressing it well).
   

Here is Armstrong’s step-by-step installation instructions for you. Everything is really easy. It is only necessary to first think over the plan for the location of the plates and find out for yourself where, at what distance from the walls the supporting profiles will pass. Then everything is assembled as a constructor.

Photo of Armtsrong ceilings in the interior