False Ceiling: Yes or No?
If you are in two minds about installing a false ceiling, this should help you make up your mind
False ceilings have climbed up the design hierarchy a good bit since the time they were synonymous with stuffy office decor. Suspended or dropped ceilings, as they are also known, have slowly but surely made their way into urban homes and are here to stay. Yet, they are one of the least understood and most underutilised of interior design features. We show you the pros and cons of replacing a perfectly good concrete ceiling with, well, another one, albeit in a different material (POP, gypsum, wood, MDF and acrylic, to name a few).
Pros
1. Hides the electricals
It provides the best camouflage for electrical wiring, ducts and pipes meant for cooling and heating devices, lighting fixtures, sprinklers and so on, giving the ceiling a neat, homogeneous look.
1. Hides the electricals
It provides the best camouflage for electrical wiring, ducts and pipes meant for cooling and heating devices, lighting fixtures, sprinklers and so on, giving the ceiling a neat, homogeneous look.
2. Provides for ample overhead lighting
A false ceiling is the best way to introduce ambient lighting into a room. Be they recessed lights, cove lights or track lights, the false ceiling makes all of these possible.
Tip: Encase LED lights in the suspended ceiling and kill two birds with one stone – not only will your electricity consumption drastically drop, you won’t need lighting on the walls.
Find an interior designer to design your home
A false ceiling is the best way to introduce ambient lighting into a room. Be they recessed lights, cove lights or track lights, the false ceiling makes all of these possible.
Tip: Encase LED lights in the suspended ceiling and kill two birds with one stone – not only will your electricity consumption drastically drop, you won’t need lighting on the walls.
Find an interior designer to design your home
3. Enhances acoustics
The air cavity behind the false ceiling provides good sound insulation, thus reducing echoes and external noise, making the room quieter.
The air cavity behind the false ceiling provides good sound insulation, thus reducing echoes and external noise, making the room quieter.
4. Makes for a cosy atmosphere
By lowering the ceiling, especially in a high-ceilinged room, it makes a room feel more cosy and intimate – ideal for living spaces.
By lowering the ceiling, especially in a high-ceilinged room, it makes a room feel more cosy and intimate – ideal for living spaces.
5. Promotes energy efficiency
The insulating effect caused by the air trapped between the actual ceiling and the false one reduces heat in summers and cold in winters, thus lowering your electrical bills. It also improves the performance of air conditioners, thanks to the smaller space and the insulated ceiling.
The insulating effect caused by the air trapped between the actual ceiling and the false one reduces heat in summers and cold in winters, thus lowering your electrical bills. It also improves the performance of air conditioners, thanks to the smaller space and the insulated ceiling.
Cons
1. Haven for pests
If not sealed on all sides or not treated for pests intermittently, false ceilings can turn out to be a breeding ground for unwanted organisms.
1. Haven for pests
If not sealed on all sides or not treated for pests intermittently, false ceilings can turn out to be a breeding ground for unwanted organisms.
2. Risk of installed fixtures falling
Unlike the roof that your home came with, a false ceiling needs to be gauged properly for strength and durability before hanging anything from it.
Unlike the roof that your home came with, a false ceiling needs to be gauged properly for strength and durability before hanging anything from it.
3. Reduces height of room
A dropped ceiling is inadvisable in a room that’s less than 7.5 feet in height, as it can make the space appear closed in and claustrophobic.
Tip: Factor in the gap between the roof and the false ceiling (minimum 6 inches) plus the thickness of the dropped ceiling when you decide to install one.
A dropped ceiling is inadvisable in a room that’s less than 7.5 feet in height, as it can make the space appear closed in and claustrophobic.
Tip: Factor in the gap between the roof and the false ceiling (minimum 6 inches) plus the thickness of the dropped ceiling when you decide to install one.
So, is it a yes or a no?
I’d give it a resounding yes, space and budget permitting. A false ceiling is the best way to play around with the design and aesthetics of a room – and what a large canvas it is! A mass of ‘dead space’ waiting to be designed in different shapes, in a myriad of materials and embellished as you please – what’s not to love!
Read more:
Which False Ceiling Material is Better: Gypsum or POP?
5 Ways to Amp Up With False Ceilings
Tell us:
What are your insights on false ceilings? Share in Comments below.
I’d give it a resounding yes, space and budget permitting. A false ceiling is the best way to play around with the design and aesthetics of a room – and what a large canvas it is! A mass of ‘dead space’ waiting to be designed in different shapes, in a myriad of materials and embellished as you please – what’s not to love!
Read more:
Which False Ceiling Material is Better: Gypsum or POP?
5 Ways to Amp Up With False Ceilings
Tell us:
What are your insights on false ceilings? Share in Comments below.
Comments (3)
tsworn
last year
Im installing drywall ceilings in my new villa in Cambodia for the pro reasons above, as well as the aesthetic effect of a European / Italian villa (cornice, etc). Some will be completely covered due to mechanical / electrical above and others just the edges so that there is soft lighting in the recesses. The ceilings are all high so can take the lower effect. Attached are some images of the plastered centred area getting ready for the drywall at the edges.
Anupama Das
last month
Catherine Choo