How to fit PVC ceiling panels

Do ceiling panels need battens, or can they go straight up?

Direct bonding onto a sound, flat plaster or plasterboard ceiling works. Batten anything uneven, anything you cannot trust, and any bathroom ceiling.

Push up on the existing ceiling in several places. Movement, damp staining, or artex of unknown age and thickness means battens. In a bathroom, battens earn their keep twice over: they give the panel something solid to be pinned to, and they leave a void for cable runs to downlights. Adhesive alone overhead, in a room that fills with steam daily, relies entirely on the bond to the old ceiling surface, and that surface is often the weakest thing in the build-up.

What batten size and centres?

50 x 25mm battens at 400mm centres, fixed at right angles to the direction the panels will run. 600mm is the absolute maximum and long panels will visibly sag between them.

Fix into the joists, not into plasterboard alone. Joists in most houses are at 400mm centres; find them with a detector and mark the lines on the wall so you can still see them once the battens are up. Pack the battens level against a straightedge or a laser line. A ceiling shows every hump, far more than a wall does, because light rakes across it.

How do I hide the joint where the ceiling meets the wall?

Coving. It covers the 5mm expansion gap around the perimeter and the cut edge of the panel in one piece.

You have two ways round. Fit a starting section around the perimeter first and feed the panels into it, which supports the panel edge and gives a fixed line to work to. Or leave the gap, panel the ceiling, and cover it with coving afterwards. Either way the coving goes on last. Mitre internal corners at 45 degrees, cutting slightly long and easing back until the joint closes. White coving beside white panels, chrome where the trim scheme is chrome. Caulk the top edge of the coving to the wall to close the hairline gap that no mitre and no plasterer ever quite avoids.

How do I cut round downlights?

Hole saw, cutting from the face side, with the panel supported flat on a board. Cut 1 to 2mm larger than the fitting’s stated cut-out so the panel can still move; the bezel covers the difference.

Mark the centres by measuring from two panel edges before the panel goes anywhere near the ceiling. Transfer measurements twice and cut once. Typical downlight cut-outs run 65mm to 75mm, but they vary by fitting, so measure yours rather than trusting a number in a guide.

Now the part that matters. PVC is a plastic and it softens with heat. Use LED fittings, check the fitting’s own data sheet permits installation in a plastic ceiling, and keep loft insulation clear unless the fitting is rated for cover. Do not put hot mains halogen lamps into a PVC ceiling. Isolate the lighting circuit at the consumer unit before you touch a fitting, and be aware that electrical work in a bathroom is notifiable. If you are moving lights rather than refitting existing ones, get an electrician in.

How do I work overhead without getting hurt?

Two people and a proper platform. Ceiling panels are 2.6m or longer, and one person on a stepladder holding a panel with wet adhesive on it will drop it.

Use a low working platform or staging boards across two trestles so you can walk the length of the panel rather than climbing down and moving a ladder. Stepladders are the single most common way people get hurt on this job, because you are looking up, both hands are full and you step backwards without thinking. Wear goggles: cutting PVC overhead puts swarf straight into your eyes. Double-sided foam tape at intervals holds a panel up while the grab adhesive takes, which turns a two-person lift into something one person can steady.

What figures should I work to?

PVC ceiling panels: working figures

Item	Figure
Batten size	50 x 25mm
Batten centres	400mm (600mm absolute maximum)
Batten direction	At right angles to the panel run
Fixings	Pin or staple through the tongue at every batten
Perimeter expansion gap	5mm, covered by coving
Adhesive when bonding direct	Continuous beads at 300mm centres
Downlight cut-out	65 to 75mm typical, cut 1 to 2mm oversize
Acclimatise panels flat in the room	24 hours
People needed	2
Wastage allowance	10%

What about steam and condensation above the panels?

Panelling a bathroom ceiling does not remove the moisture, it moves where the moisture goes. Extraction still has to work, and any existing damp problem needs finding before the ceiling is covered.

Seal the panel joints and the perimeter properly so warm wet air is not driven into the batten void. Use an anti-mould silicone where the panels meet a shower enclosure or a wall that gets wet, and decorators caulk on dry joints such as the top of the coving. If your ceiling already shows black mould or staining, deal with the cause first. Ring us if you are unsure what the ceiling build-up is; measurements and a photo are usually enough for us to tell you what you need.