Due to its practicality, durability and reasonable cost stretch ceiling have long won the trust and love of apartment owners seeking to ennoble their homes. Often, after installing such a ceiling in one room, the owners decide to use this type of finish throughout the apartment. And when they reach the bathroom, they ask the question: is it possible to make such ceilings in the bathroom, where they will constantly be exposed to high humidity? Below we will reveal all the secrets of your favorite ceiling.
Bathroom Features
The bathroom is, without a doubt, the wettest room in the apartment. In most apartment buildings, a standard hood simply cannot cope with the removal of all the moisture from this room, especially if several people live in the apartment. Under such conditions, it is inevitable that condensate on pipes, walls and ceiling. Condensation, in turn, favors the development of mold and fungus, which leads to the need for periodic repairs in the bathroom. In such a situation, it is important to choose materials for finishing the bathroom that would be most adapted to these conditions.
Although the bathroom is not a public space, it is nevertheless visited by all the guests of your apartment. Therefore, its interior decoration will also affect the overall impression of the apartment. Naturally, the ceiling covering will surely attract attention, and each owner cares not only about the durability and practicality of the materials that he intends to use, but also about their aesthetic qualities. PVC stretch ceilings are the best suited for this difficult task.
Why choose PVC film?
So what qualities of stretch ceilings not only allow them to be installed in the bathroom, but also make this ceiling finishing option one of the most attractive?
To form the plane of the stretch ceiling, two types of coating are used: fabric or polyvinyl chloride film.
- The fabric ceiling is definitely not suitable for the bathroom, as it does not have sufficient moisture resistance and quickly deforms. In addition, this material requires regular and rather time-consuming maintenance. If the neighbors from above have a leak, then the fabric ceiling will have to be changed.
- Stretch ceiling made of PVC film meets the required conditions in the best possible way. This material is not afraid of moisture, easy to care for, saves from leaks. PVC ceiling covering can withstand up to 100 liters of water without losing its properties. After draining the water, the dried canvas restores its properties and does not require replacement. This is important, because in most apartment buildings, bathrooms are located one above the other, and leaks, as you know, are not uncommon.
What are the advantages of stretch ceilings?
The choice of apartment owners in favor of a stretch ceiling in the bathroom is often based on the speed of its installation. In an ordinary room, you can make repairs for a long time without experiencing any particular inconvenience from this. It doesn't work that way with a bathroom. In most apartments, there is only one bathroom and all family members use it several times every day. Therefore, it is desirable to carry out repairs as soon as possible in order to minimize inconvenience.
A team of specialists will be able to install a stretch ceiling in 2-4 hours, after which it will be possible to immediately use the bathroom as usual.
At the same time, the inhabitants of the apartment may not even make changes to their daily routine. All work will fit perfectly into the period of time when they are not at home: they are at work or at school.
Also a positive point is the minimum of dirt and dust during the installation of the ceiling.If whitewashing or painting is planned, then the old coating must be cleaned off. Before that, you will have to cover all the furniture and plumbing with a film so as not to get dirty, peeling off the old coating and applying a new one. After completion of the work, it will be necessary to carry out general cleaning of the premises.
When installing PVC film ceilings, the old ceiling coating can be left untouched, only treated with special solutions against fungus and mold. A small amount of dust generated during installation can be easily removed in a few minutes.
What you need to know before installing a stretch ceiling?
There are no ideal materials, and stretch ceilings have their own small drawbacks:
- After installation, the height of the room is reduced by at least 5 cm. With standard room sizes, this is not critical, especially if there are no very tall people among the residents. The decrease in height is compensated by the ability to remove all wiring and communications under the ceiling plane.
Before starting installation, you should consider the layout of the fixtures, in the future it is very problematic to change the place of their attachment.
- The surface of the canvas can be easily damaged during mechanical action. But in the bathroom this is unlikely.
- Stretched PVC film rarely has a width of more than 2 m. With large dimensions of the bathroom, you will have to look for wider rolls or make a seam on the ceiling surface. However, the size of the bathrooms in most apartments is more than modest, so this situation rarely occurs.
- Overlappings under the film are poorly ventilated. But, having treated them with antifungal drugs in advance, this issue can be closed for a long time.
- Stretch ceilings are almost impossible to install with your own hands. This process requires not only specific skills, but also the availability of special expensive tools and equipment. So you have to hire a team of professionals.
- Pretty high cost. You have to pay for comfort, materials and installation services will cost a lot. But in return, you will get a beautiful and durable ceiling covering, installed in the shortest possible time.
PVC film color selection
Stretch ceilings coated with PVC film are divided into two varieties: matte and glossy. In glossy ceilings, many are annoyed by the glare that appears when light hits its surface. But such material visually increases the space of the bathroom. Dark glossy ceilings allow you to create a unique mirror effect. At a cost, they are slightly more expensive than matte ones.
The most commonly used colors for stretch ceilings are light colors: white, beige or blue. At the same time, the color of the ceiling should harmoniously fit into the overall interior of the room. There are several ways to select the desired color of PVC film:
- The easiest way is to choose the color of the ceiling to match the tiles that line the walls of the bathroom. Almost a win-win solution, but unoriginal.
- The ceiling of contrasting colors cannot be used in small rooms, it will make it visually even smaller. But in large bathrooms it can look very good.
- To make the bathroom more light and open, use white. The matte surface imitates a conventionally coated ceiling after painting or whitewashing. For very small bathrooms, it is recommended to use a white glossy surface.
- Photo printing applied to the film will add zest to the interior. In this case, the ceiling can be a separate element in the design of the bathroom or overlap with some interior details, such as furniture or tile decor.
Thus, stretch ceilings are not only well suited for bathrooms, but also provide ample opportunities for design solutions that will make the room beautiful and unique.
