Installation – Ceiling Panels With Battens

If you are having problems with mould spots then ceiling panels with battens is one possible solution.

Bathroom ceiling are a notorious area for problems. Flaking paint or mould (as previously mentioned) can plague bathrooms or shower rooms.

Fitting waterproof ceiling panels is an easy solution. It is also easy, clean and relatively cheap.

 

 

There are many factors that need to be taken into account:

  • is the ceiling level
  • is the current covering unsuitable for fixing to
  • are there any cables that need to be run
  • what lighting is being used
  • does the ceiling height need to be lowered

All of these issues can have an influence on your chosen installation method.

 

Installing Directly On To The Existing Ceiling

Panels can usually be fitted directly on to the existing plaster as shown in the photograph here.

You can use a combination of staples and adhesive to fix them in place. Or it is also possible to use screws if you envisage a need to remove the panels at any time although this is unlikely. This is also a much slower installation process using this method.

But there are occasions when installing straight on to the existing ceiling is not possible. So in these circumstances most fitters tend to resort to using battens.

Install Panels On To Battens

This photo shows a ceiling being installed using battens. The finished job can be seen in the photo at the top of the page.

There are various other reasons you might want to use battens.

 

Recessed Lighting

Spotlights have become very popular and can be sunk through the ceiling to give a neat and attractive finish. But they require quite a bit of cabling so fitting batten means that he cables can be run wherever they are needed and will be covered up once the ceiling is finished.

 

 

 

Existing Ceiling Surface Is Unsuitable

Sometimes the existing ceiling covering is not suitable to be fixed to – wallpaper can peel off if you are thinking of just using adhesive. If you have texturing compound on your ceiling, such as Artex, then usually you can fix directly over this with adhesive (use blobs of adhesive rather than a “snake” on the back. Use props, staples or screws to hold the panels in place while the adhesive dries.

 

Current Ceiling Is Too High

Some large Victorian style properties have extremely high ceilings.

Whilst these do provide a feeling of space they can also be difficult to heat. Heat rises so the warmest part of the room might be 9 foot above the floor level.

You can use battens to create a false ceiling at a lower height in the room. You might need to use heaver timber to act as joists depending on the spans involved.

There are no hard and fast rules regarding how far apart you should space the battens but the closer they are to more solid the job will be – we would say no more than 16″ apart with a batten right around all of the edges. You can use adhesive, staples or screws or any combination to fix them to the battens.

Conclusion

As you can see, fitting ceiling panels with battens is just one of the methods available.

We have lots more information, photographs and design ideas on our ceiling panel page

There are also more articles on our blog, including:

Easy To Fit Ceiling Panels

Examples Of Ceiling Panels