Hi,
I need some advice regarding a home project.
We are renovating the basement, and in the process, we're planning to encase the heating pipes that go to the radiators. Since our house is made of concrete, everything is exposed, which isn't very attractive. Moreover, huge amounts of dust accumulate on top of the pipes.
The idea is to build a box around the pipes. In some places, it will be a "U" hanging from the ceiling, in others an "L", with the box attached to the ceiling and the wall. I plan to make the boxes out of 12mm particleboard attached to strips mounted on the ceiling/walls. Why not gypsum board? Well, the box will be quite wide in some places - 340mm - and I thought gypsum might be too flimsy. Additionally, there will be downlights, so particleboard felt a bit more stable. Maybe this is a wrong assumption - is gypsum better? The boxes will be painted with water-based ceiling paint.
The boxes are 4 and 8 meters long, respectively, which means I have to join the particleboards. And this is where the problem lies. I realized early in the planning phase that it would be difficult to make the particleboard joints smooth. I put up a box a few weeks ago. At the joint, I added extra support behind it, screwed extra, filled, sanded, and painted so the joint was almost invisible/undetectable. But now it’s already cracked. I know I’ll be annoyed by this if I don’t fix it, so:
1) Is it possible to make such a joint look nice, without covering the box with microlite/fabric? If so, how?
2) If not, I understand that microlite can be used to 'hold' the surface together. Another option might be fiberglass wallpaper like the one on the wall. I have some fabric left over from when I did the walls that I could use. What do you think, would it look odd to have fabric on the boxes in the ceiling too?
3) Is it possible to fold microlite/fiberglass fabric to get nice corners, or would you need a corner strip too?
Thanks in advance
I need some advice regarding a home project.
We are renovating the basement, and in the process, we're planning to encase the heating pipes that go to the radiators. Since our house is made of concrete, everything is exposed, which isn't very attractive. Moreover, huge amounts of dust accumulate on top of the pipes.
The idea is to build a box around the pipes. In some places, it will be a "U" hanging from the ceiling, in others an "L", with the box attached to the ceiling and the wall. I plan to make the boxes out of 12mm particleboard attached to strips mounted on the ceiling/walls. Why not gypsum board? Well, the box will be quite wide in some places - 340mm - and I thought gypsum might be too flimsy. Additionally, there will be downlights, so particleboard felt a bit more stable. Maybe this is a wrong assumption - is gypsum better? The boxes will be painted with water-based ceiling paint.
The boxes are 4 and 8 meters long, respectively, which means I have to join the particleboards. And this is where the problem lies. I realized early in the planning phase that it would be difficult to make the particleboard joints smooth. I put up a box a few weeks ago. At the joint, I added extra support behind it, screwed extra, filled, sanded, and painted so the joint was almost invisible/undetectable. But now it’s already cracked. I know I’ll be annoyed by this if I don’t fix it, so:
1) Is it possible to make such a joint look nice, without covering the box with microlite/fabric? If so, how?
2) If not, I understand that microlite can be used to 'hold' the surface together. Another option might be fiberglass wallpaper like the one on the wall. I have some fabric left over from when I did the walls that I could use. What do you think, would it look odd to have fabric on the boxes in the ceiling too?
3) Is it possible to fold microlite/fiberglass fabric to get nice corners, or would you need a corner strip too?
Thanks in advance
340mm cc between the studs is considered stable walls. The construction does not become more stable with the sheet material. It is the studding that provides stability to the structure. If you set some fixed studs to prevent swaying, you can assemble everything with metal angles. I really recommend external corner profiles. You can splice the sheets simply by placing a stud behind. A 12mm plywood strip will also work well. You can quite safely splice the particleboard in the same way. But it is much more difficult to work with particleboard, as it needs to be sawn, while gypsum can be cut.
Particleboard cracks easily at joints, but a little gypsum with reinforcement holds well and does not move much at all.
Build them from gypsum in sections as long as the gypsum allows; on the ceiling, you can screw a metal L bracket all the way and attach a stud on the inside of the L or U box that fixes the gypsum and gives you something to screw against - it's advantageous to stagger these studs by 30-50 cm or similar so that the elements are also fixed to each other and cannot be pulled apart.
Each 2400 length will probably weigh around 20 kg if it is 340 wide and 150 high with wooden studs on the inside - if you're alone, it’s likely easier to attach the studs to the side pieces and then mount these, and then screw the underside to the studs.
Remember to place inspection hatches at pipe joints and also consider how much heat your lamps will generate. Typically, pots are placed around halogens, but in this case, you might say the whole box is a pot, who knows - I cheat with surface-mounted low energy lamps
Build them from gypsum in sections as long as the gypsum allows; on the ceiling, you can screw a metal L bracket all the way and attach a stud on the inside of the L or U box that fixes the gypsum and gives you something to screw against - it's advantageous to stagger these studs by 30-50 cm or similar so that the elements are also fixed to each other and cannot be pulled apart.
Each 2400 length will probably weigh around 20 kg if it is 340 wide and 150 high with wooden studs on the inside - if you're alone, it’s likely easier to attach the studs to the side pieces and then mount these, and then screw the underside to the studs.
Remember to place inspection hatches at pipe joints and also consider how much heat your lamps will generate. Typically, pots are placed around halogens, but in this case, you might say the whole box is a pot, who knows - I cheat with surface-mounted low energy lamps
Inspection hatches are always good to have, but from what I have found, it's not necessary for heating pipes.
If you maintain the specified distances to combustible materials according to the manufacturer's specifications, you don't need any pots. Remember to use heat-resistant cable.
A corner strip is probably recommended.
If you maintain the specified distances to combustible materials according to the manufacturer's specifications, you don't need any pots. Remember to use heat-resistant cable.
A corner strip is probably recommended.
