New construction and decoration materials appear almost every month. What yesterday seemed a fashionable and popular way of decorating a living room is now hopelessly outdated.
Therefore, when deciding to repair, you usually have to first communicate with people in the relevant forums, read literature and visit stores in order to at least see what industry offers. Surely this is familiar to many.
So, one of the new products on the domestic market is stretch ceilings. Why precisely “new products”? Because although this method of decoration has been known for quite some time, it began to spread actively only recently. The main reason for this is that the price is too high, far exceeding the cost of alternative options. An impressive informative base has been created on the global Web, in which you can learn all about stretch ceilings. Well, indeed, sometimes it makes sense to wait a bit. In addition, now many companies offer a unique service - photo printing on suspended ceilings, which allows you to quickly and easily get any pattern, and not rely on manufacturers. In general, right now the time has come when this type of finish is becoming popular. However, as in everything else, there are pros and cons to suspended ceilings. That's what we’ll talk about.
Pros and Cons of Stretch Ceilings
Let's start with the equalization of some myths. In fact, we list the disadvantages. The main one is related to cost. As we already said, the price of the tension material is constantly decreasing. As a result, if we take popular solutions, when decorating a living room, there are two options left - a stretch ceiling and plasterboard sheets. The argument is often made that the total cost of the work is almost the same. This is partly true. But this does not take into account that the installation of a plasterboard ceiling can be performed independently. With proper skill, even one person can lift and fasten sheets to the frame. But stretch ceilings require compliance with a number of rules that are not obvious. Since the article deals with the pros and cons of suspended ceilings, we indicate the first “drawback”: after all, the price is high, since you have to hire specialists. In addition, a small number of people who decided to install such ceilings indirectly testify to this.
What else can be called the pros and cons of suspended ceilings? Firstly, the material. If with a direct "competitor" - drywall - everything has already been decided, and there are only 2-3 well-known companies on the market, then stretch ceilings can be of different quality. More expensive and reliable are made in Germany and France. But far from everyone will be able to determine the original and fake.
Secondly, such ceilings impose a limitation on the
thermal power dissipated by the fixtures
. In fact, the use of only “economical” fluorescent and LED lamps is imposed.
Thirdly, a large area of the room can cause sagging. To prevent this, special measures are necessary (read - costs).
Fourth, the issue of environmental friendliness is still open. Most stretch ceilings are made of polyvinyl chloride, and this is a modified insulating tape known to everyone. Is it green? Smaller batches are made of polyester and polyurethane, but they are more expensive.
If at least some of the shortcomings are eliminated, then we can talk about the appearance of one of the best options for ceiling decoration. And that's why:
- the mass of stretch ceilings is incredibly low, so in private homes there is no additional load on the foundation. It is especially true in old houses where there are violations of construction technologies;
- the amount of debris during installation is minimal;
- cracks cannot appear in principle;
- There are different types of textures: for fabric, suede, glossy, which makes it possible to show design abilities.