Plywood ceiling in Alfresco

[tigersnakekoi]

Hi All,

I want to put up a plywood ceiling in the alfresco and then stain or polish.

My question is, what is the best method to fix the ply and then hide the fixings?

Secondly I want to leave a 10ml shadow between each board and paint the 10ml black. What is used in this 10ml gap. If i dont add anything there I'll just have empty space.

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers

[gpsmith]

Is there already a ceiling such as plaster? or are the rafters exposed?
It would be necessary to find the ceiling joists and make sure that you are able to lay the sheets length ways at 90 degrees to the joists and that they overlap the joists if there is no ceiling there already.
I would stain and seal the plywood sheets before fixing them to the ceiling - and go back and fill the nail/screw holes later.
If I understand you correctly about the black shadow line - I think that I would paint the black onto the existing ceiling? first rather than try to paint the shadow line after fixing the sheets.
I hope that this helps but I may have misunderstood the problem.
Regards,

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I think the first thing I'd do would be to remove any existing ceiling, then batten it out so that the edges of each sheet finish on a batten. Thus the batten is also acting as a backer for the gap (filling the hole) as well as providing for a secure mounting point.

Depending on the size/weight of the sheets - I imagine you're only talking on something like a 500mm sq size or smaller, and not full 2400x1200 sheets? - you may be able to get away with simply gluing each sheet to the battens or, if you have access from above, you could fix appropriate screws down through the battens and into the ply.

Because the battens will only run one way I'd cut more ply (or offcuts of the battens) to go in like noggins between the battens, to both fix neighbouring sheets to and also act as a backer for the cross-batten gap.

Does that make sense to you?

[artme]

I would seal the hidden side of the ply sheeting as a protection against moisture, which could cause more than enough problems down the track. I would also fix sarking before fixing the ply. This acts as an insulater and a moisture barrier.