A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings can be decorated to taste, and there are many fine examples of

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es and artwork on ceilings especially in religious buildings. A ceiling can also be the upper limit of a tunnel. The most common type of ceiling is the

dropped ceiling A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling til ...

, which is suspended from structural elements above. Panels of drywall are fastened either directly to the ceiling joists or to a few layers of moisture-proof plywood which are then attached to the joists. Pipework or ducts can be run in the gap above the ceiling, and insulation and fireproofing material can be placed here. Alternatively, ceilings may be spray painted instead, leaving the pipework and ducts exposed but painted, and using

spray foam Spray foam is a chemical product created by two materials, isocyanate and polyol resin, which react when mixed with each other and expand up to 30-60 times its liquid volume after it is sprayed in place. This expansion makes it useful as a specia ...

. A subset of the dropped ceiling is the suspended ceiling, wherein a network of aluminum struts, as opposed to drywall, are attached to the joists, forming a series of rectangular spaces. Individual pieces of cardboard are then placed inside the bottom of those spaces so that the outer side of the cardboard, interspersed with aluminum rails, is seen as the ceiling from below. This makes it relatively easy to repair the pipes and insulation behind the ceiling, since all that is necessary is to lift off the cardboard, rather than digging through the drywall and then replacing it. Other types of ceiling include the cathedral ceiling, the concave or barrel-shaped ceiling, the stretched ceiling and the coffered ceiling. Coving often links the ceiling to the surrounding walls. Ceilings can play a part in reducing fire hazard, and a system is available for rating the fire resistance of dropped ceilings.

Types

California Mid-Century Modern Home with open-beam ceiling 1960

Ceilings are classified according to their appearance or construction. A cathedral ceiling is any tall ceiling area similar to those in a church. A

is one in which the finished surface is constructed anywhere from a few inches or centimeters to several feet or a few meters below the structure above it. This may be done for aesthetic purposes, such as achieving a desirable ceiling height; or practical purposes such as acoustic damping or providing a space for

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...

or piping. An inverse of this would be a raised floor. A concave or barrel-shaped ceiling is curved or rounded upward, usually for visual or acoustical value, while a coffered ceiling is divided into a grid of recessed square or octagonal panels, also called a "lacunar ceiling". A cove ceiling uses a curved plaster transition between wall and ceiling; it is named for cove molding, a molding with a concave curve. A stretched ceiling (or stretch ceiling) uses a number of individual panels using material such as PVC fixed to a perimeter rail.

Elements

Ceilings have frequently been decorated with

painting, mosaic

tiles Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

and other surface treatments. While hard to execute (at least in place) a decorated ceiling has the advantage that it is largely protected from damage by fingers and dust. In the past, however, this was more than compensated for by the damage from smoke from candles or a fireplace. Many historic buildings have celebrated ceilings. Perhaps the most famous is the Sistine Chapel ceiling by

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

. Ceiling height may have psychological impacts.

Fire-resistance rated ceilings

The most common ceiling that contributes to fire-resistance ratings in commercial and residential construction is the

. In the case of a dropped ceiling, the rating is achieved by the entire

system A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

, which is both the structure above, from which the ceilings is suspended, which could be a concrete floor or a timber floor, as well as the suspension mechanism and, finally the lowest membrane or dropped ceiling. Between the structure that the dropped ceiling is suspended from and the dropped membrane, such as a T-bar ceiling or a layer of drywall, there is often some room for mechanical and electrical piping, wiring and ducting to run. An independent ceiling, however, can be constructed such that it has a stand-alone fire-resistance rating. Such systems must be tested without the benefit of being suspended from a slab above in order to prove that the resulting system is capable of holding itself up. This type of ceiling would be installed to protect items above from fire. Image:Durasteel_4h_ceiling_1.jpg, An unrestrained non-loadbearing ceiling undergoing a 4-hour fire test. Deflection is measured off the I-beam. Image:Durasteel_4h_ceiling_2.jpg, Durasteel ceiling after successful fire test, being raised from the furnace and readied for an optional 45PSI (3.1 bar) hose-stream test.

Gallery

Image:Ste Chapelle Basse s.jpg, Ceiling from the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris Image:Notre-Dame de Nazareth - Toulouse - JEP 2013 03.JPG, Detail of the ceiling from Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth de Toulouse ( Toulouse, France) Image:Oreste Sercelli - Matriz do Espírito Santo esboço do tecto da Capella Mor (Zimborio), Acervo do Museu Paulista da USP (cropped).jpg, Watercolor illustration of a ceiling, by Oreste Sercelli Budynok-vchenyh 05.jpg, Neo-Baroque ceiling in the House of scientists, in Lviv ( Ukraine) Image:Interieur begane grond, linker voorkamer, stucplafond met stucornament - Baarn - 20338549 - RCE.jpg, Detail of a

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ceiling from Baarn (the Netherlands) Image:Trier.ceiling.jpg, Demonstrative reconstruction of a Roman suspended ceiling in an Imperial palace of circa AD 306 at Trier (Italy) Lightmatter Sistine Chapel ceiling.jpg, Part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City in Rome, showing the ceiling in relation to the other frescoes Vatican museum (15205535352).jpg, Corner of the ceiling from the Hall of the Papyri, in the Vatican Museums (Vatican City) Villa Schutzenberger, ceiling.jpg, Ceiling of the Villa Schutzenberger from

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

(France), decorated with

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

ornaments D.A. Sturdza House, Bucharest (Romania) 7.jpg, Corner a ceiling with

stuccos Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

in the D.A. Sturdza House, from Bucharest (Romania) Image:Palatul Bragadiru - detaliu.jpg, Neoclassical ceiling from the Bragadiru Palace, in Bucharest Image:Plafond du grand salon Comte Velbruck - Société littéraire Liège.jpg, Painted ceiling in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

(Belgium) File:Suspended-ceiling-0a.jpg,

Dropped ceiling A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling til ...

File:Torun Kopernika 21 pietro strop (2).jpg, Wooden beam ceiling

References

External links