Suspended Ceilings

Residential Applications:
 

Basement Conversions:  While the tradition of converting basements into recreation rooms and dens continues, the so-called SOHO Movement (Small Office/Home Office) has witnessed a rapid rise in the number of telecommuters seeking to create a comfortable yet productive home working space.  However, basements present some unique structural and logistical challenges to fashioning the ideal place for work or play, and suspended acoustical ceilings represent the most versatile solution.

Home Theaters:  From audiophiles to channel surfers, suspended acoustical ceilings can enhance anyone's listening experience.  The designs of many newer homes anticipate the technological desires of its future residents by seamlessly integrating the A/V infrastructure into acoustically tailored home theater rooms.  However, modernizing a conventional living room or master bedroom entails considerations beyond which stereo and video components to purchase.  Reverberations, echoes, and distortion generated by the surrounding walls and ceilings can undermine the performance and quality of the finest equipment.

Kitchens:   One of the most important features of a kitchen is lighting.  Suspended ceilings offers several options that satisfy both functional and aesthetic concerns.  Backlit illuminating ceilings simply combine grid with translucent or semi-translucent lenses instead of tile.  Fluorescent fixtures mounted above the suspended ceiling shine down through 2x2 or 2x4 lenses available in a variety of styles, including prismatic, parabolic, smooth, cracked ice, egg crate and others.  The grid can also be coordinated with the existing paint and appliances, including flat and semi-gloss colors as well as chrome and brass.  Multi-level, tiered soffits and light troughs can also be framed to created a dramatic interfaces with sky lights, windows, pot racks, or exhaust hoods.

Garages and Workshops:  For those home craftsmen and craftswomen who work to live, and live for their hobbies, suspended ceilings can create a more productive and efficient workspace, by increasing brightness, reducing noise, and limiting heat loss.

Commercial Applications:

Offices:   Whether your office resembles a labyrinth of cubicles or a series of conference rooms, suspended ceilings can deliver the privacy, brightness, and sound control needed to perfect the ergonomics of any professional workplace.  The accessability offered by suspended ceilings also anticipates the rapidly evolving communications technology, and facilitates the installation of new telephone and computer cabling.

Bathrooms & Lockerrooms:  A new generation of lay-in ceiling tiles resistant to moisture, bacteria, and temperature fluctuations has introduced an alternative to the traditional "hard" sheet rock lids.  Ranging from gypsum-backed tiles with fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) surfaces to vinyl-faced, mineral-fiber based tiles, suspended ceilings can provide the durability of gypsum ceilings while simultaneously offering the acoustical and accessibility features lacked by the former.  Suspended ceilings obviate the need to install metal access doors and panels in the ceiling, as every tile functions as a point of access to overhead pipes and valves.  Moreover, the labor and material costs of patching and repairing a water stained "hard" ceiling caused by overhead leaks, far exceeds that of replacing one or two water stained tiles.   

Food Preparation Areas:    Restaurants, delis, bakeries, caterers, breweries, wineries, caneries, and other food preparation and food processing outfits have to pass stringent federal, state, and local sanitation laws.  Many of these laws address the cleanliness of surrounding surfaces, including walls and ceilings.  The same tiles suited for use in bathrooms and lockerrooms also apply to these environments.  Many FRP-faced and vinyl-faced tiles are designed for fast and thorough purification with a variety of cleansers from bleach to warm water.

Laboratories and Clean Rooms

Hospital & Exam Rooms

Show Rooms and Retail Areas

Corridors

Gymnasiums

Cafeterias

Classrooms

General Benefits:

Accessiblity.   Suspended ceilings allow the homeowner to maximize the height of the ceiling to clear windows and doors, while also leaving the needed clearance above the ceiling to access light fixtures, plumbing infrastructure, duct work, electrical wiring.

Light Placement:  The orientation or direction of the ceiling grid can accommodate numerous different lighting configurations, including: lay-in 2x2, 1x4, or 2x4 fluorescent fixtures; adjustable track lighting; and recessed can lights.  By removing, replacing, or exchanging tiles, the layout of lights can be modified after the initial installation of the ceiling.  This allows homeowners the flexibility of altering their illumination pattern as the use of the room or arrangement of furniture changes.  Many tile have specific Light Reflectance (LR) ratings that can brighten rooms without increasing energy consumption or heat generation.

Sound Transfer:  Suspended ceilings reduce the amount of sound transferred between floors and over interior walls.  Depending on the existing architecture and insulation of the home, acoustical tile used with or without fiberglass batts can achieve various levels of sound transfer reduction.

Sound Attenuation:  Suspended ceilings treat the sound within a room as well as limiting the transmission of sound between rooms.  Home theaters, home offices, and game rooms all generate different acoustical demands.  HCA has the experience, expertise, and reference materials available to design a ceiling that meets specific Noise Reduction Coefficients (NRCs) and targets the reverberation time of particular frequencies.  Sound panels and baffles can also be incorporated into rooms requiring additional acoustical engineering.

Thermal Values:  Suspended ceilings can also improve the efficiency of a home's heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.  The versatility of the suspended ceiling applies to HVAC fixtures, such as lay-in registers and vents, as well as light fixtures.  The use of acoustical tile, with or without fiberglass batts, reduces heat loss, stabilizes room temperatures, and lowers energy costs.

Humidity and Moisture Resistance:  In many basements humidity and moisture levels remain problematic.  However, many acoustical tiles are designed to resist moisture absorption, sagging, warping, and molding.

Fire Suppression:  A variety of UL-tested, fire-rated suspended ceiling products are available.  Depending on the existing architecture of the home, fire ratings from one to two hours can be achieved.

Backlit Illumination

Sanitation & Purification

Anti-Bacterial

Cleaning