Scavenger Chic

Reclaimed Fencing on the Ceiling

• By Joan
• August 7, 2019
• 7 Comments

Back in May I showed you how to salvage some old fence boards…how to treat them, sand them, white wash them, debug them…basically get some grungy boards ready for your next project.

At the time I told you that when (and if) I ever finished my project I would be back to show you where I used all those boards and how it turned out.

I am pleased  and a little relieved to say we’ve finally finished the project.  The we I’m speaking of is my middle son, Kevin, and I.  We’ve  been working in my grandbaby, Felix’s room…his ceiling to be exact.

Kevin bought this house back in December and has slowly been working on a few projects to make the house work for his family.  The house is a mid-eighties modern style house.  The ceilings are soaring but unfortunately open to the rest of the house and the sound travels, not particularly good for a baby’s room. Those are windows at the top of the house which not only let in a lot of light  (good) but also a lot of heat (bad).

Kevin’s solution was to enclose this area of the ceiling just in the baby’s room cutting down on the sound but also less space to cool and heat.

When I joined the project he had already attached the  joists and framing for his new ceiling.

I had a source for some plywood sheeting, son #1’s backyard.  When son #1  did an extreme makeover on his house a couple years ago, the plywood in his attic was ripped out and had been sitting under a tarp in his backyard ever since.  He was happy to finally get it out of his backyard (his wife was ecstatic). His neighbors were probably a little happy too.

The old attic plywood was not quite enough to cover the entire space but it was a good start.  The plywood is screwed to the joists from the top.

This is where the fencing comes in.  Cut the fencing to length and use a nail gun to secure to the studs.  The beams up there weren’t totally straight so each piece had to be cut individually.  There wasn’t much difference, just enough so you couldn’t just cut a stack of lumber and expect it to fit.  This is where I came in, I was the measurer and cutter.

So excited to get one section up but we were getting a little ahead of ourselves.

Before continuing we had to install a new ceiling fan and insulation.

The insulation was installed with a pneumatic staple gun.  You could use a manual staple gun but when you’re working this high up and only have 2 hands, the pneumatic is definitely the way to go.

 To install the insulation in the ceiling where we had already nailed on the fence boards he’ll have to unscrew the plywood sheeting from the top and just lay the insulation down.

It was itchy and hot, apparently heat rises  :), but eventually all the insulation was eventually stapled in place.  I recommend long sleeves and gloves.

We hit another snag when we ran out of wood from the first batch of salvaged fence boards.  I had originally salvaged about 45 boards but I needed 60.

Finally able to get back to my brother’s backyard for another batch of wood. 

After one more round of sanding, debugging and white washing, and of course cutting and nailing, the ceiling was finally finished.

Hey, it only took about 4 months and I even  have a few more pieces of fencing leftover for another project.

Stay inspired.

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