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I'm planning to do an "unconventional" ceiling tile installation in my garage and I find myself in need of about 1000 linear feet of white rigid plastic strip, about 0.75" wide by maybe 1/8" to 1/4" thick. Looking for something cheap. Exact profile isn't important as it's going up with a finish nailer.

Any ideas? I have checked all the 8' trim stuff at Lowes/HD and the closest I can come up with is the FRP board joint strips. Those would work fine but are about $2.50 each or $0.30/ft.

I'm trying to get in the $0.10/ft range. Something bulk in a roll would be perfect.

Any ideas?

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

I get regular catalogs from these guys and their pricing seems reasonable, mostly. They have a wide variety of "stuff".
http://www.outwatercatalogs.com/2007_Master/index.cfm
Charlie G

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

Only way I know to get material like that is in sheets (doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but...). Check this out:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/varian ... 5Fid=45028

You'd have to cut it, and if we said you'd get 50 strips that are 8' long out of a sheet (64 is what you'd get at 3/4" wide out of a 48" sheet except you have to factor in your blade thickness when you cut), my math says that's about $.20 per foot. That's not including shipping, though, which could be annoying on pieces that big. Plus you gotta do all that cutting, which will definitely suck, though not horribly so with a tablesaw and the right blade.

Good luck finding strips, but if you do let us know what you find. My guess is you'll have to find something that's intended to be used for something else. I just can't think what that might be.


--Donnie

Does it have to be rigid?

If not, there are various vinyl RV trim "inserts" available.

http://www.rvpartworld.com/categories.php?catID=288

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

You might want to give Piedmont plastics a call to see if they can help you.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.

Thanks for the ideas so far --

Charlie - I checked that catalog, they have a lot of neat stuff, but the few pieces which will work are similar for what I can get cheaper at HD/Lowes

Donnie - Good idea, but yeah those sheets are pricey. I was considering buying FRP panels from HD for $20-30 each and doing the same thing, but they are pretty thin. Hmmm

George - I found out about Piedmont plastics earlier today and left a message. Good call!

Any other ideas?

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

I think I need something more rigid than those. I'm planning on directly stapling 2x2' ceiling tiles to the 24" OC trusses. Eight staples will hold a panel up but it's not very strong and I wouldn't trust it over time. So the plan is to nail a strip over the rough edges where I'm stapling through. So something that won't warp too much over a 2' length (going crosswise) is what I'm after.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

So now I see what you are contemplating. Although the staples will support the ceiling tiles initially, it has been my experience with my mom's house that the ceiling tiles are susceptible to moisture and will begin to sag over time if they are supported at points. How much more expensive is it to use the larger ceiling tiles that are commonly used in commercial buildings and hang the ceiling with the T-strips. It is much easier to make repairs. My mom's house has some of the old tongue and groove interlocking tiles that were installed with staples to furring strips. After a roof leak destroyed a few tiles it was virtually impossible to replace them cleanly.
It would have taken less than 5 minutes to replace hanging tiles. I have worked in several buildings where the ceiling tiles were routinely replaced by simply lifting them from the hanging strips. Just as soon as you staple the tiles to the studs, you will either drop something in the attic space through the tiles or you will bang the ceiling with something you are working on and forever curse the damaged tiles.
I found it inexpensive to hang sheetrock in my garage. After I discovered I could rent a sheetrock lift to hold the sheet in place while I screwed it in place the work went really fast.
Having a ceiling in the garage really improves the environment in both summer and winter.
My $0.02
Charlie G

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

Mike,

if I understand correctly, you really only need something to support the area directly around the staple, right?? If so, then I'd try to find something like the plastic strip that you can then cut into smaller pieces, that should greatly reduce costs, though it might leave something to be desired in terms of looks....



Bret.

OK, Mike here is your opportunity to create another spread sheet to show the relative costs and labor to put a ceiling in the garage.
A brief web search for suspended ceilings brings up these two sites that have a new approach to the ceiling tile and instructions in how to do it.
http://www.empirewest.com/ceilingtiles/ ... arison.htm
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/rm_walls_other ... 59,00.html
I still think that the sheet rock is faster. The ceiling in my garage is fire retardant even though the taping of the joints was never fully sanded and painted.
Charlie G

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

That isn't an option for Mike. He already has a TON of ceiling tiles stacked up in his garage. I seem to remember something like 3 or 4 stacks at least 7 feet tall. All in brandy new sealed boxes. Probably one of Mike's better deals.

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Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

Yeah, he posted a pic of all the tiles loaded up on his trailer, some sort of Craigslist deal- I think he traded a used BFG R1 for them or something like that......

Yeah, Todd and Bret nailed it - I got 1500 sqft of 2x2 Armstrong acoustical ceiling tiles for $80. So one way or another they are going up They are also the humidity-resistant tiles and quite rigid so I am pretty confident that if I get a strip nailed along the edge they will work fine. Looks are somewhat important, Bret (you know me ), so I'll hold out for something to cover the whole length. Good idea though.

I considered just doing them in a suspended grid but I don't want to loose ceiling height and want to avoid the hassle. If I felt like spending $600 this would be perfect:

http://www.ceilinglink.com/

Even with a nailed strip it shouldn't be *too* hard to replace a buggered tile. And I'll have plenty of extras!

Charlie, I totally agree on how nice it is to have a finished ceiling for climate control -- I finished stapling up R-13 24" paper faced insulation and WOW does the garage hold heat well with just the insulation. It loses like 4 degrees overnight with a 20 degree difference to outside with no additional heating.

Off to continue the search for cheap semi-rigid trim strips!

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

hey, i was tooling around on craigslist today and came across this...anyone interested in doing ceiling tiles, this might be a good source.

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05 MCS

rigid plastic might be an issue, likely to crack if nailed with a finish nailer, bow between nails with temp changes so the ceiling will look like a rough sea. I'd use wood trim lath, might seem a little pricy, but in 5-6 months you'll forget about the extra 30.00. Try Stock Building, they are usually cheaper than Lowes, HD especially if buying quantity.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.