How to Install Wood Ceiling Panels

Ron traveled down Florida's southern gulf coast to Cape Coral, one of the state's youngest cities. With more than 400 miles of canals, most of the homes here sit right on the water. Steve and Barb Hirsch invited Ron to their Spanish-style home to help them give their den ceiling a dramatic new look. They had fallen in love with a ceiling done in pecky cypress that they had seen in a restaurant in Ft. Meyers.

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Wood ceiling panels are generally made from pine, but this once abundant, but now rare, native Florida wood, called pecky cypress, makes a beautiful ceiling. "Pecky" refers to the pockmarks, or elongated holes, that give this wood its unique character. When the bark gets damaged or a branch breaks off, a fungus invades the tree and then works its way up the trunk causing these interesting marks in the wood. The Hirsch's home improvement center special-ordered the wood for them.

1. Locate ceiling joists

• After removing all the furniture, Steve and Barb used electronic stud finders to locate all the ceiling joists, which they marked with a pencil.

• They identified the location of the joists by snapping a chalk line along each one. The paneling planks that they were about to install would run perpendicular to the joists and would then be nailed into the joists.

2. Measure for planks

• The ceiling was divded into four sections, separated by two beams that crossed in the center. The ceiling planks needed to be cut to fit inside the beams, so Steve began taking the measurements.
  
  
• Ron explained that it was likely that there could be as much as a quarter inch difference between the beams from one end of each section to the other, so he recommended taking a new measurement about every 12 inches.

3. Cut panels

• Before making the measured cuts, Ron precut all of the ends of the boards so they had a nice square end to start with. Ron set the stop on the miter saw to the first measurement. They would then place all the boards of that length into the saw so that each board would come out exactly the same size.

• Ron showed Barb how to slide the saw out toward her, then bring it all the way down until it stopped and then push it all the way forward until it stopped again. She then let the saw come up and released the trigger.

• Steve cut the next batch of boards slightly longer, since the distance between the beams was slightly wider at one end.

• There was one corner that was cut off because of the fan light box. They had to cut an angle on the end of the first board to make it fit perfectly.

• First, Ron measured from the corner down to see where the angle began. They marked that measurement on the board.

• To determine the actual angle, Ron used a bevel gauge. He adjusted the gauge until it fit perfectly inside the angle. When he removed the gauge, he had the angle that they needed to transfer to the end of the board.

• Ron laid the bevel gauge right on the saw and then rotated the saw table until the edge lined up with the bevel gauge.

• They lined up the left edge of the blade on the mark they had made earlier on the board.

• Barb handed the board up to Ron and he dropped the cut board into the angle on the ceiling. It fit perfectly!.

4. Panel installation

• The next step was to begin gluing the first section of panels into place. Ron demonstrated how each piece had a tongue on one side and a groove on the other side. When they installed the panels on the ceiling, they would slip the tongue into the groove, which would provide a lot of strength, making the panels almost as strong as if it were cut from a solid piece of wood.

• The paneling would be attached primarily with construction adhesive, also called panel adhesive. Ron demonstrated how to apply the glue to each panel in a serpentine pattern. He cautioned against using too much adhesive. The easiest way to control the amount of adhesive was to apply it in a thin line.