Any tricks for getting ceiling tiles to lie flush? (heating, vacuum cleaner, cleaner)
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Maybe someone here has a secret trick to share about this? I am in the process of replacing some old, acoustical tiles on a drop ceiling grid in my basement. We wanted the smooth look, so I am trying out some of these PVC-based tiles. They look great, but since they are a lot thinner than the acoustic tiles, they tend to not lie completely flush against the grid in some spots - mostly corners.
Does anyone have any ideas for how to resolve this? I don't really want to use any kind of adhesive, unless it's something designed for this, that would let me remove the tiles easily somehow. I also thought about using some type of weight on top, but not sure if that's a great idea either.
That's a great one! Will definitely try that tonight. I'm not sure if it will fix my problem though, because the tile is in place, but is angling up slightly - I'm assuming because of the grid not being 100% level - or slightly bent in areas. The acoustic tiles were heavy enough that it masked it - just sat in there snug. The PVC ones are thin and light, so they angle up sometimes. Wonder if I should try to stick some weights on top, so that it gets pushed down more.
The gird is probably abit out of square- this makes installing "square" panels somewhat difficult. Sometimes you can tweek the grid by pushing/pulling- or you can just trim the edge of the panel.
Is it possible that these tiles are not completely flat to begin with? If you find one that doesn't sit properly, can you swap it out with another tile to see if it sits properly? Since it is thin PVC, maybe heating it up via a hair dryer slightly will allow it to settle into place.
Do they bulge down or bulge up. If they bulge up, time will perhaps allow them to flatten via the gentle tug of gravity. If they bulge down, and are identical on both sides, flip them over. Just an idea.
They don't really bulge - they just don't life completely flat. Maybe it's nitpicking - but when the whole ceiling has little spaces like this, it doesn't look good. Here's a video of what's going on:
I am having the exact same situation only I'm using the actual acoustical tiles because I don't want to replace the whole basement ceiling. The wire that holds the suspended grid is in the way. Your like me I want it to look good.
I am having the exact same situation only I'm using the actual acoustical tiles because I don't want to replace the whole basement ceiling. The wire that holds the suspended grid is in the way. Your like me I want it to look good.
Interesting...I thought using the regular, thick, acoustical fiber tiles would result in it being flat - but I don't like the look of those, so I chose the thinner, PVC ones. I think if i put some weights on the corners it would lie flat, but not sure how heavy, or what kind of weight I should use.
Maybe they will eventually lay flat in the grid. A little weight might help, like a paper back book, not too much, just a little, it may gradually lay down. I doubt if anyone's suspended ceilings are perfectly level and different even. The video does show the problem well. Are the panels off a bit, or just the grid, possibly a little of both.
I would not use adhesive, but maybe that clay type stuff you can use to hang posters on walls or some double stick tape.
I am sometimes the queen of improvising.
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