With most ceilings, there is very little preparation required. The 4’ X 4’ panels can be easily mounted to any existing ceiling. Although it isn’t necessary, if the ceiling is heavily textured you may prefer to scrape the ceiling prior to installation. If the panels are being attached to painted drywall or white surfaces, a thin coat of dark colored paint is recommended so that white spots won’t show through the weave.
These panels are delivered to you unfinished and ready for stain and desired finish. Before you begin, determine which side is the front verses the back (the back may have seams and will have a slightly rougher finish). Next, you should carefully test a small area on the back of the panel to determine if you’ve selected the correct shade. Use caution not to let this test stain bleed through to the front. Once you’ve selected the appropriate color, stain all panels uniformly. After the stain has dried a polyurethane or similar finish is recommended on both the front and back. If the room has a lot of windows, you may wish to use a matte finish to avoid glare. In darker rooms a semi-gloss is fine.
The room should be accurately measured. Decide if you prefer to maintain the four-foot pieces and center them in the room so that the borders are uniform. Or they can be easily trimmed to equal sizes to fit the room. Either way, the center of the ceiling should be marked with chalk lines.
Once you’ve chosen the layout, you’re ready for installation. If you have decided to cut the panels you can easily do this with a fine bladed jig saw or table saw. The small areas can even be trimmed with a sharp utility knife.
You will attach the panels using a brad gun with 1-1/2” brads. Your air compressor should be turned down low to prevent the brad from going completely through the panel, and the brad gun held at a 45° angel. The placement of the brads is very important. They should be centered on either the horizontal slat where it intersects with the vertical slat or on the vertical slat where it intersects with the horizontal. Either way the slat should be touching the ceiling. Reinforcement brads should be placed at about eight inch intervals throughout the panel.
The panel seams can be covered with your choice of trim.
* Instructions are based on standard 4’ X 4’ panels.
