16 inch mobile home ceiling panels

Q: What is the cheapest way to cover a ceiling?

If youre looking for an affordable option thats low maintenance and easy to install, consider a glue-on or staple-on ceiling. Theyre available in basic textures and elaborate designs and attach directly to the existing ceiling or onto furring strips attached to the ceiling.

Homax Aerosol Popcorn Ceiling Texture is the fastest way to patch commercially applied popcorn ceiling textures. This aerosol popcorn ceiling texture features a water-based formula with real polystyrene chips and is designed to match commercially-applied popcorn acoustic-ceiling textures. The upright nozzle sprays vertically for convenient application and the texture offers easy water cleanup. To achieve the best results, please read the directions carefully before starting your textured ceiling repair project. Protect carpet, furniture and walls from overspray. (TIP: Pin up plastic drape or hold a box around patch area to contain overspray) Spray in short rapid bursts as material discharges rapidly. Water-based formula contains polystyrene chips, use warm water for clean-up. Use on popcorn-textured acoustic ceilings, eye protection recommended. Dries in 120 minutes, if over-painting, allow to dry 24 hours. 1-container covers up to 2 sq. Ft. Upright nozzle provides a vertical spray, do not spray sideways or upside down, do not clear nozzle or test product by spraying upside down, do not hold nozzle down for more than 1 second. Flat sheen offers a popcorn texture.

Newer Homes. Repairing the ceiling in new homes is quite a challenge and requires work that is best done by experienced people. To do it well you are going to have to remove & replace a large, heavy, fragile sheet of drywall. You will then have to seal the seams, cover the screw heads and texture to match the rest of the ceiling. Finally you will probably want to paint the whole ceiling to make the color match. Unfortunately, if you have one of the acoustically textured ceilings, painting is not an option.

Table of Contents Show

Sheetrock Ceilings
What material is used for mobile home ceilings?
What can I use to replace a ceiling in my mobile home?
What is the cheapest way to cover a ceiling?
What are the available sizes of ceiling panels?

Older homes. Mobile home supply stores sell replacement ceiling panels for homes that have the flat panel ceilings with the plastic strips every 16″ inches. Note that in spite of what it looks like these are 4′ x 14′ panels. They are awkward & fragile. They will probably not have the exact pattern your home has but most people are not that sensitive to the pattern and seldom look up anyhow. Thus an approximate pattern match, which is the best you can hope for, will probably be acceptable. The new plastic strips will probably not match your old ones which will have yellowed with age and/or been painted. You will probably want to plan to paint the entire ceiling to make the repair as inconspicuous as possible.

You will be unable to remove the old ceiling panel more than an inch or so back into the wall and will want to make sure there are no nails or rough spots that would make it difficult to slide the new panel into place. The walls are probably not square so you will want to measure carefully before you cut the replacement panel. You are going to have to let the replacement panel bow down in the middle while you position the ends at the wall line and lift up the middle to force (gently) the ends into the wall. The depth you can get will depend on how long the replacement piece is and how far you can bow the panel without breaking it. Especially for a short piece, such as in the kitchen ceiling, you will probably want to trim the edge with quarter-round because you will not be able to get the panel far enough into the wall for reasonable support.. You also have to make sure you have the replacement panel positioned properly from side to side. If you are off by just a little you won’t be able to insert the plastic trim strip on one side and it won’t stay in place on the other.

If the tile has become wet due to a ceiling leak and has sagged (left picture), the sag will generally not come out. Very slight sags may be corrected by wetting the tile with a spray bottle, pushing up and holding for several days. No guarantee that it will work. Below is another way to fix the sagging seam that’s pictured to the left.

A more forceful option is to push the panels up at the seams using boards. At the seams of each panel is a truss. The boards can be pulled into place using long screws. Either the ceiling panels will pull up into place or break (depending upon how deep the sag was). Of course, to make everything look symmetrical, you could add these boards to every seam in the room. Paint and stain before screwing them up. The picture to the left shows the sagging seam (pictured above) pulled and secured together with the board.

Replacing

When a ceiling tile becomes damaged, replacing it can be a real headache. The first headache is finding ceiling tile to match. Many types of tile are unavailable, and if it were available installation is a real challenge due to the length. In fact, just getting a ceiling tile into a room may be challenging. So if you can’t replace the tile(s), your only option is to build a new ceiling. Three types of ceilings are commonly installed in manufactured homes – suspended, sheetrock and paneled.

Suspended Ceilings

Suspended ceilings are tile set in a grid work. Tile sizes are either 2’x2′ or 2’x4′. All kinds of textures are available. The suspended ceiling can be installed just below the existing ceiling. However, any of the old ceiling that is loose or hanging should be removed to prevent it from falling or pushing on the new suspended ceiling. To install, first hang your grids with wire fastened to the old ceiling then drop in the tile. There is no special instructions to installing a false ceiling. Most likely the store you buy the grid and tiles from will have details.

Sheetrock Ceilings

When installing sheetrock ceilings, weight should be a consideration. In normal construction 5/8″ thick sheetrock is hung on ceilings because it won’t sag. However, 5/8″ thick sheetrock is heavy and generally hung on joists 16 inches apart. Using ½” sheetrock would be much lighter and less apt to cause roof problems, but would require joists or supports every 12 inches.

This is accomplished by screwing furring strips (1×4 boards) across the ceiling joists 12 inches apart (left picture). The strips can be screwed over the existing ceiling assuming you have a flat surface. Or the existing ceiling can be removed, the insulation updated if desired, then the furring strips screwed up. Any dips in the furring strips can be correct by shimming before screwing. Double check the flatness of the furring by pulling strings from side to side and corner to corner. If the gap changes by more than a ¼” between the string and the furring strip, adjust the furring strips to even the gap. The better job you do of leveling the furring strips, the better your ceiling will look once completed.

Once the furring strips are leveled and screwed in place, ½” sheetrock can then be installed. First, apply a bead of construction adhesive to the furring strips, then screw-up the sheetrock carefully setting the screws below the surface but not breaking the paper. Then tape the seams using self-stick mesh tape (other types of tape are available but the mesh tape is easiest to work with and least likely to crack.) Then apply three coats of joint compound (mud). After applying the first coat of mud, allow it to dry then lightly sand. The second coat should be applied wider than the first coat and the third coat applied wider yet. Allow each coat to dry and lightly sand. Lite weight joint compound is easiest to sand. Finally, apply a coat of sheetrock primer, paint then texture. Mix paint in with the texture (see below) to avoid a final coat of paint.

What material is used for mobile home ceilings?

Manufactured home builders use gypsum wall panels and ceiling panels. Gypsum ceiling panels are a close cousin to drywall. The major difference being drywall is usually thicker and has a paper wrapping on all sides making drywall smooth.

What can I use to replace a ceiling in my mobile home?

1/2″ thick drywall is the most recommended for mobile home ceiling replacements. assuming the trusses can handle it. If not You will need to reinforce the trusses and add furring strips to give the drywall a way to be screwed in every 12 as recommended.

What is the cheapest way to cover a ceiling?

If you're looking for an affordable option that's low maintenance and easy to install, consider a glue-on or staple-on ceiling. They're available in basic textures and elaborate designs and attach directly to the existing ceiling or onto furring strips attached to the ceiling.

What are the available sizes of ceiling panels?

There are two industry-standard sizes used for most ceiling tiles – 600 x 600mm and 1200 x 600mm. Tiles of all materials, colours, and finishes tend to be mass-produced to these sizes.

inch mobile home ceiling panels