Stretch ceilings attract with their unusual texture and perfectly flat surface. Now they are installed everywhere - in offices, trading floors, apartments and houses. The range of paintings is diverse: you can choose simple options or complex designs with three-dimensional effects and original drawings.
But, before you establish such beauty at home, you should think about lighting. After all, installing a chandelier on a stretch ceiling implies many nuances. If you do not take them into account, you can easily damage the surface, hopelessly ruining its aesthetic appearance.
In our material we will tell you how to choose the right lighting fixture, we will analyze the possible ways of fixing the fixtures to tension structures and give detailed recommendations for DIY installation. In addition, we explain what to do when the canvas is already stretched, and the installation of the chandelier was not thought out in advance.
Chandelier Requirements for Stretch Ceilings
Not every chandelier is suitable for installation on a stretch ceiling. The main catch is that the PVC fabric and textile materials can darken and deform due to the bright directional light of the lamps and exposure to high temperatures.
The power of the incandescent bulb in the device should not exceed 60 W for textile coating and 40 W for PVC fabric. Such a lamp gives little light, so you should opt for multi-track models or mount several devices.
So that a beautiful coating does not deteriorate, you need to choose a device that will meet a number of requirements. Lamp shades should be directed down or to the sides. If the rays of light are directed upwards, the ceiling blackens over time
Lamps with a lower power (less than 40 W) do not create dangerous heat, which significantly extends the life of the stretch fabric. As an alternative, it is better to choose bulbs with caps for LED and energy-saving light sources that can be used without restrictions.
The distance from the appliance to the tensioned coating also matters. It is desirable that the design allows the lamp to be suspended at a distance of at least 25 cm from the ceiling. Especially careful should be with forms of the "plate" type: they must have a special diffuser above the lamps and a non-metallic base.
Ideal for stretch ceilings - a luminaire with the most streamlined shapes without sharp ends and universal deep shades that completely hide the lamps
In addition, when choosing a product, you need to consider the type, shade and texture of the stretch fabric, focus on the interior design of the room. For glossy coatings, classic horn models and devices with a wide horizontal surface are not quite suitable. Too complex and heavy structures should also be avoided.
In addition to the chandelier, are you planning to buy lamps for installation in suspended ceilings? We recommend that you familiarize yourself with their main types and nuances of choosing the best option.
Methods of mounting ceiling chandeliers
There are two ways to fix chandeliers to the ceiling. The first one involves fixing on the hook, the second - on a straight or cruciform mounting plateat. The nature of the preparatory work before installation depends on how the device will be mounted.
Suspension hooks
A hanging hook is one of the most common fasteners in lighting device configurations. This item is usually included in the base kit, but can be purchased separately. Hook-mounted chandeliers are equipped with a special ring, bracket or carabiner on the body.
Hooks have different rod diameters and load-bearing characteristics, differ in design, which is designed for specific types of bases
The main types of fasteners:
- anchor - are fixed by surprise in a pre-drilled hole of the required diameter and depth;
- end-to-end type - fixed through the floor overlap during the construction process of the building;
- mortgages - used for floor panels in which there are hollow channels.
The size and type of hook is selected according to the weight of the device.
This method of mounting for suspended ceilings is considered simple and quite reliable, but there is always a risk that the base of the device will be uneven. The hooks are fixed in the black ceiling, and a hole is made in the stretch fabric itself, through which the device is suspended.
Mounting plates and trims
Mounting plate - a fastening metal profile equipped with studs or side holes with thread and clamps. This design is attached to the ceiling, and the chandelier is put on protruding studs, fixing with decorative nuts. The main load is taken by the floor slab.
A mortgage of wooden blocks, plywood or in the form of a finished plastic platform is pre-installed on the main ceiling coating. A hole is made in the tension web through which the mounting plate is screwed to the prepared platform
Mounting plates have standard dimensions and similar characteristics, and there are several types:
- longitudinal - designed for light, small lamps;
- cruciform - consist of two long strips, used for medium-sized devices with a large base diameter;
- I-beams - necessary for fixing heavy, dimensional chandeliers.
Installing a lighting fixture with a bracket on a suspended ceiling is an order of magnitude more difficult than attaching to a hook. But in this case, it is easier to ensure that the chandelier hangs evenly.
Step-by-step installation instructions for the chandelier
All preparatory and installation work, including the laying of electrical wires, the fixation of embedded elements and the main fixtures for the chandelier, must be carried out before installing the stretch fabric. We will analyze all the nuances in stages.
Step # 1 - preparing tools and materials
To install the lighting device, you should prepare a set of necessary tools.
First of all, you need a puncher or a manual electric drill and a stepladder of sufficient height, which can be replaced with an ordinary table.
The basic set of tools and materials for installing the chandelier includes: pliers or side cutters with insulated handles, a set of screwdrivers of various types and sizes, including indicator screwdriver, fasteners in the form of a mounting plate or hook
It will also be necessary:
- switch and distribution box;
- matching wires and terminal blocks;
- stripper or other wire stripping tool;
- concrete and wood drills;
- pliers or side cutters with insulated handles;
- insulating tape coil;
- clerical knife with a sharp blade;
- screws and dowels;
- decorative flask or glass;
- plastic rings for stretch linens.
In addition, you should find a suitable wooden block or moisture-proof plywood, which will serve as a mortgage structure.
Before starting the installation process, you should carefully read the instructions that come with the product. Typically, this guide provides detailed recommendations for connecting a specific model.
Step # 2 - wiring
The main preparatory stage preceding the direct installation is the wiring for connecting to the mains. To perform this work, knowledge and experience in performing electrical work will be required. Also in this matter, it is important to comply with safety rules. If you have doubts about your own strengths, it is better to use the services of an electrician.
The first step is to make a plan with a layout of all the electrical devices that you plan to connect. On the base ceiling, marks are placed at the places of potential fixture mounting and marked areas of the passage of wires.
It is important that the wiring is safe and can provide the necessary voltage to all devices. Therefore, the choice of a suitable cable must be approached responsibly. The best option for these purposes is a VVGng format cable with a reduced flammability jacket.
The cable section is selected depending on the power and the number of installed fixtures.
Experts recommend placing the wires parallel or perpendicular to the ceiling and the junction of the walls. Junction boxes must be installed so that they can be easily reached for repair or maintenance in the future.
Before starting work, it is necessary to de-energize the room by turning off the power in the switchboard. Check if there is a current supply, you can use a standard indicator screwdriver.
Then you need to lay the prepared cable to the calculated places for the installation of devices. Laying in an open way behind a stretch ceiling is not recommended: it is more reasonable to insulate the cable with a protective corrugation. This will ensure fire safety of the tensile structure, prevent coating deformation, probable short circuits and breakouts. The corrugated casing is attached to the ceiling plate with brackets.
The cable is bred with a small technological margin. With a shortage of length, you can increase the wire, for which they take stranded wires with a margin
The wiring is fixed to the base ceiling using special clips or wall plugs. They must not sag and touch the tension web. The recommended fastening step is 50-90 cm. If the wires intersect, they should be additionally insulated at the intersections. Before tensioning the blade, it is important to check the voltage supply for each lamp.
The main nuances of competent DIY wiring are examined in detail in this article.
Step # 3 - preparing the foundation
The preparation of the base depends on the chosen suspension of the chandelier.
In case of fastening on a hook, it is enough to drill an armhole equal to the diameter of the fastener in the concrete surface of the ceiling. Usually it is 6-14 mm, which depends on the severity of the device. If the hook length is not enough for fastening, you can supplement it with a strong chain.
An anchor bolt is inserted into the prepared hole at the required height and tightened with a hanging nut. It should be flush against the inner surface of the armhole.
In private houses, a through method of fastening can be used:
- a through hole is made in the interfloor plate;
- one plate is placed in the floor of the upper floor or in the attic, and a second under the ceiling;
- a hook is taken and a nut is screwed that will hold the plate;
- the hook is pushed into the ceiling hole, another nut is screwed on top, which will tighten the plates.
For hollow core slabs, another method is suitable.
It provides for the following types of work:
- a hole of the right size is made in the ceiling;
- reinforcement is inserted into the hole, the length of which is selected depending on the thickness of the plate;
- a hook is made from a wire rod with a ring at the end;
- reinforcement is put on the hook, previously laid in the hollow channel.
If the chandelier will be mounted on a mounting plate, you need to install a mortgage of a wooden bar, durable moisture-proof plywood or finished plastic platforms of a round, square or cross shape.
It is desirable that the dimensions of the embedded part coincide with the base of the lamp, and the thickness is 2-5 mm less than the distance from the base ceiling to the tension web line. The edges of the wooden beam must be well sanded
The wooden die is attached to the concrete base with long self-tapping screws and dowels, which are inserted into the holes made by the puncher.
If plywood is used as a mortgage, metal legs should be attached to it for fixation. For dimensional devices with a mounting crosspiece, a more solid thick support is needed.
Step # 4 - fixing the chandelier to the ceiling
After installing the stretch ceiling in places where the hook or the mounting plate is fastened, it will be necessary to cut holes of suitable sizes. Previously, a thermal ring is glued in this zone, which will protect the material from overheating and prevent it from dispersing.
The procedure is quite simple: you should carefully lubricate the adjacent surface of the ring with glue, attach the part to the ceiling and gently press it. The size of the hole should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the base of the chandelier.
To strengthen the film at the points of attachment of the chandelier to the embedded base, small tread rings or reinforced tape are used
After the glue has set, it remains to cut the film in the interior with a clerical knife. Electric wires are pulled through this hole. Zero wires are connected in one bundle, and phase wires are separated if a double switch is installed in the room.
You can check where zero and where phase is using an indicator screwdriver by turning on the power supply. For convenience, it is worth marking the phase and neutral wires in different colors.
The longitudinal mounting plate is carefully attached to the embedded base with self-tapping screws on top of the stretched web within the hole bounded by the ring
To install the cross in the finished stretch fabric, five holes are made: one large in the middle for wires and four small ones - for fixing the plank to a wooden platform proportional in size.
At the joints, thermo rings or cut pieces of plastic are glued. The fastening of the I-beam is similar to a cross-shaped one, with the exception of small differences in the way of connecting to the platform.
The base of the chandelier should be placed on the bar, reinforced with studs and nuts, or hung on a hook for a loop.
Step # 5 - connecting to the mains and troubleshooting
Upon completion of all installation work, the chandelier is connected to the mains, and its performance is checked.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Turn off the power.
- Check the presence or absence of voltage in the wires of the wires with an indicator screwdriver.
- The ends of the wires of the installed lamp and the supply wire of the home electrical network should be stripped about 6 mm, correctly connected to each other and fixed in the terminal box. We recommend that you read the detailed manual for connecting the chandelier to the two-gang switch.
- Turn on the power supply in the panel, make sure that the lamp is working and the lamps are lit.
- In case of problems with the device’s operability, check the bulbs, the switch on the wall, the integrity of the contacts and wiring on the way from the switch to the device, and the place of connection of wires in the chandelier.
The final step when hanging the chandelier on a hook will be the installation of a decorative glass or ceiling outlet. In the first case, you need to hide the wires, carefully lift the cap all the way and fasten with decorative nuts. And about the installation of the ceiling outlet, we described in detail in the following material.
If interior design indoors requires it, to decorate the chandelier mountings, you can use lightweight polyurethane sockets of different diameters that imitate gypsum stucco
At the time of screwing or suspending the lamp, it is impossible to overdo it and apply unnecessary efforts, since the stretch fabric can easily be deformed.
In the end, you should inspect the surface, carefully checking its integrity. If tears, scratches or chips remain near the installation site, try to eliminate them. For example, use special thermal stickers to hide defects, carefully glue the broken ends of the film with tape, add a masking pattern along the entire damage line.
How to hang a chandelier on a mounted canvas?
Installing a chandelier on an already mounted stretch canvas is very difficult. But such a need arises quite often.
In some houses, the hook for hanging the lamp is laid in the ceiling. In this case, it remains to make a hole in this place with a sharp knife and glue a plastic ring around its edges, which will clamp the material, preventing possible divergence. Then you should tighten and connect the wires, suspend the device and close the opening with a decorative element in the form of a concave plate or cup.
If there is no hook, you can solve the problem with an anchor bolt with a bent end. It is better to drill a hole with a perforator, having previously enclosed the place of work in a ring.
And although fastening the lamp to the stretch fabric is possible even after its installation, it is still better to think through the lighting in advance. Thus, the fixation will be more reliable, which guarantees the durability of the device and the safety of the tension web
With the installation of the device on the mounting plate, everything is much more complicated. It is difficult to do without a mortgage base with this method of fastening. To mount the platform in the base ceiling, you will have to remove the canvas or make a noticeable cut in it. You can try to close the resulting hole with wide shades or a baguette frame.
When fixing the device without a mortgage, it is necessary to select self-tapping screws of sufficient length and mark the attachment points on the canvas. Then thermo rings are glued, a film is cut out along their inner contour, holes in the overlap are drilled through the rings.
To strengthen the bar after installation, you will need a plastic pipe with a diameter slightly smaller than that of the rings. It must be inserted into the opening all the way into the base ceiling, and then measure and cut the desired length
When using plastic tubes to fix the mounting plate, the base of the chandelier will become more stable.
Visual instruction for attaching the lamp to the mounting plate with a plywood pad:
How to “drown” a chandelier in an already installed stretch ceiling:
Installation of lighting devices without a mortgage platform:
With installation work when installing the chandelier on a tensile structure, you can quite cope on your own. This does not require special skills and sophisticated equipment. Enough knowledge of the basics of wiring and a set of available tools. It is more correct and easiest to carry out work even before stretching the ceiling.
The main thing is to observe safety precautions when working with electrical wiring, choose the most suitable type of fastening and carefully check the stability of the mounted structure at the end.
Do you have experience installing a chandelier or fixtures on a stretch ceiling and want to share it with other users? Tell us about this, focus on the difficulties that you have encountered - the feedback form is located below. Also here you can show the result of your work by adding original photos of the installed chandelier.