Why Americans have almost no suspended ceilings
Stretch ceilings have become so familiar to Russians that one can assume that ceilings are finished in this way everywhere. An increasing number of those who have already started renovating their apartment or are just thinking about this issue are choosing this option. It’s rare that anyone enthusiastically smears paint on the ceiling or puts up wallpaper at the risk of their lives. But not all over the world treat stretched fabrics the same way as we do.
The content of the article
Why do suspended ceilings attract Russians?
This finishing method has a huge number of advantages.
- A ceiling designed in this way has a perfectly smooth surface.
- Install it in just a couple of hours, and after installation there is no dust or dirt, which is especially appreciated by Russian women who are exhausted by post-repair cleaning.
- Such a ceiling fits perfectly into any interior. And even if the interior has no name or is called “just a little refreshment of the room,” such a ceiling is quite suitable.
- Huge selection of shades and textures will allow you to realize the most daring ideas.
- Can be ordered surface with any pattern: cats, nature, cities, geometric shapes, patterns and cartoon characters have long become common decor in Russian apartments. These could be pictures from a company catalog or a drawing from the Internet - as long as the image quality is suitable.Pictures do not fade in the sun, they are not afraid of moisture.
- Such surfaces can be wiped with a damp cloth, but most housewives do not bother with such subtleties.
Important! The canvas does not attract dust and dirt.
In general, it turns out to be a miracle ceiling. The only thing that can cause dissatisfaction is not environmentally friendly coverings. But Russians, not spoiled by natural materials, do not pay much attention to this.
Why is suspended ceiling not popular among Americans?
But in America it's the other way around. Passionate about a healthy lifestyle (while consuming an incredible amount of fast food), Americans are not very willing to install tension coverings in their homes.
What do Americans choose?
Residents of another continent prefer to use ancient methods of finishing ceilings − painting or whitewashing. In the USA Fashionable to use decorative plaster in the manner of a “fur coat”, and wallpaper are still trending.
Rich houses are decorated with more expensive materials.
Important! There was simply no place overseas for a stretch ceiling, which would be more expensive than the usual paint and wallpaper, but much cheaper than natural wood.
Possibility of installation - available!
It is believed that in America there is a law prohibiting the use of stretch film. But a closer study of the regulations refutes this. Sometimes they are still installed.
In the States there are also specialized companies that install such ceilings, but the demand for their products is very limited.
Rejection reason
Two reasons can be considered main.
Price
The cost of such ceilings in the USA is not particularly affordable.
Reference. Plaster for the budget sector in the USA turned out to be a much more acceptable option.
The high price of this ceiling design option is caused by two factors.
- Most of the components for suspended ceilings are delivered to America from other countries. This increases their cost.
- Dear is license for installation of the coating.
The myth of harmfulness
The widespread myth about the harmfulness of such ceilings also stops Americans. Therefore, they are in no hurry to take advantage of them. Although imitations of wooden or stone panels, impregnated with all sorts of harmful chemical elements, are used willingly.
It just somehow didn’t work out in the USA with stretch ceilings…
I don’t like the same thing, the ceiling doesn’t breathe….
Yeah, and the concrete floor, treated with putty, plaster and paint, directly breathes with all the lungs so that all residents can hear)
I liked the article, it was informative and in accessible language.
The author of the article did not study the topic of suspended ceilings and began to write the article. In the USA, these ceilings are not popular because their buildings, both suburban and urban multi-story, usually have non-load-bearing partitions made of plywood, beams, OSB, fiberboard, and other materials that do not have flexural endurance. A stretch ceiling made of PVC film, after cooling, gives a load on the surface to which its baguette is attached, about 70-100 kg per linear meter. In other words, such ceilings can bend American walls.Now look at what partitions are made of in Russia? From reinforced concrete, foam concrete, brick, expanded clay concrete, gypsum tongue-and-groove, etc. Not a single suspended ceiling can bend such partitions. And that is why they are so popular here, but in America they can simply warp the walls.
about nothing
In fact, Americans have one criterion - price. If there is an opportunity to buy or make it cheaper, an American will do so. And the tension force, the load on the frame of the house and other physics are such abstruse things that an ordinary American will never bother with.
Those who think about health will never install suspended ceilings at home, install laminate flooring or install plastic windows - all this is cheaper than natural materials, but is a direct and fast road to cancer - because the apartment does not breathe, plus harmful fumes from plastic. Better longer and more expensive, but more reliable!
Pay attention to the author of the article! This is just hidden advertising. If you are not convinced, look at the composition of the materials used in the manufacture of the tension covering. Basic knowledge of chemistry, which is taught in high school, is enough to categorically refuse the installation.
Are these the US residents who live under bridges or do you mean in tents (trailers)?
Bullshit. Stretch ceilings are not common in the USA because, according to fire codes (analogous to Russian SNIPs), a room in a frame must be completely covered with plasterboard (walls and ceilings). Most of the USA is one- or two-story, that is, it is all frame buildings. Therefore, why also stretch a tension ceiling over a plasterboard ceiling? They just putty and paint the drywall and that’s it.
The myth of harmfulness is not a myth at all. As correctly written in the comment above, suspended ceilings, laminate flooring, plastic windows, and vinyl wallpaper make the apartment a thermos filled with formaldehyde.
I agree that all of the above is far from super environmentally friendly. But specifically with stretch ceilings in the USA, this is far from the main argument for abandoning them. In addition, interior painting is very common there, and this is also far from being super environmentally friendly. An interior made from unlaminated wood can be completely environmentally friendly, but this is virtually impossible in the modern world.
More like an angry comment and not an article. Just to throw mud at the USA