Thumb and Hammer Blog

For anyone else, it would be a Saturday project. But for me….well, I managed to drag a Saturday or weekend project out over several days, and I am still not done! Things are looking up, though (no pun intended). I just have a couple more pieces to go, along with the clear panels for the lights. It should take me less than an hour to wrap everything up. And the good news is that I stand to get a fair amount of money back from Home Depot, with the final cost of the ceiling sitting at under $300.

Finally….light!

Thursday, I didn’t get very much accomplished. It seemed like I worked fifteen minutes on, one hour off for most of the day. But at least at the end of the day, we finally had some overhead lighting back in the family room.

Framework for lights and suspended ceiling.

The framework is a simple rectangle of 2×4′s. The fluorescent fixtures are screwed 2×4′s fastened on top of the framework. The structure is more than strong enough to support the suspended ceiling and the lights.

My wife, who is a voracious reader, was thrilled by the brightness of the new lights, though I warned her that once the ceiling was installed, the room would be somewhat darker.

Nearing completion

The ceiling itself was not terribly difficult to install, though the main tees were a bit of a pain. I juggled the hanger wire and just over 13 feet of main tee, while balancing on a ladder. Somehow, I managed to get the two main tees in place and supported. When I did the ceiling in the basement at our previous house, the wire I used was much thinner and was therefore a lot easier to work with. The heavier gauge wire I used this time around was more difficult to readjust to get the ceiling grid level.

Suspended ceiling almost complete.

The ceiling consists of three rows of panels, with only the middle row being full size. Each of the two sides needed to be trimmed. Normally, trimming the tiles is pretty easy, but the tiles I used this time are beveled so the grid is recessed. Therefore, there was little room for error.

Just a couple more pieces and the light panels

Basically, I need one more panel. Saturday, I’ll be making a few phone calls to find someone who sells single panels so I will be able to return a full case of tiles to Home Depot

Why was I off in my estimate for materials

When I counted the number of panels needed, I forgot to subtract the four would be replaced by the clear light panels. I also overcompensated for the small pieces that would be needed at the ends. And I allowed for a certain margin of error, but, miracle of miracles, I did not make any mistakes in trimming the panels.

Home Depot should be interesting….

I have never had any problems returning leftover materials to Home Depot. However, when I return the case of ceiling panels, I fully expect to encounter some resistance. You see, the case is open, and one of the panels is damaged. I figure that their policy is to only sell by the case, then their return policy must be the same. To me, it seems that if one panel is damaged in the case, it would be a lot easier to only replace the one panel.

It also seems crazy to me that in following Home Depot’s policy, I would have to spend a hundred dollars for the one additional panel needed to finish this project, and be stuck with 15 leftovers.

The policy makes sense, though, considering that they must have been losing thousands of dollars in damages to open stock panels every month. However, from a consumer’s point of view, it just seems unfair.

The big question is, will they accept my return of a case of ceiling panels with one damaged panel? Stay tuned!