Renovate Grid Ceilings Easily And Quickly

Renovation of grid ceilings without paint, dirt and a lot of time: thanks to a glass fiber fleece, the smoking area of the "Pasha" restaurant in Griesheim looks neat again

Author: Petra Neumann-Prystaj / Photos: Caparol

From South American cocktails to regional cooked cheese schnitzel: The landlord of the Griesheim restaurant "Pasha" has served a wide variety of tastes. A sliding glass door separates the non-smoking area from the smoking room, and there the tar contained in the tobacco left its mark. The once white, but dusty acoustic panels of the grid ceiling had taken on a dirty yellow color. The landlord wanted to change that, but did not accept a loss of earnings. He remembers well that he had to close his restaurant for days because of the last renovation 13 years ago. This time it should go much faster.

Renovate grid ceilings in a short time

In fact, the grid ceilings of the two “Pasha” rooms could be given a new look in about a day and a half and almost without a hitch by just two craftsmen. This was possible because the nicotine-colored ceiling tiles were neither replaced nor painted with white paint. They stayed in place, but now disappear behind a white pigmented fiberglass fleece. Before assembly, the soiled trunking system of the grid ceiling was cleaned with industrial grease remover.

Renovate grid ceilings - very easy

The non-flammable renovation fleece weighs only 300 grams per square meter. The laying time for one of the pre-assembled square panels - each is 62.5 by 62.5 cm in size and a little thicker than a millimeter - is about 1.5 minutes. The lightweights are simply clamped between the grid rail and the old ceiling tile, not glued, are flexible during assembly, but remain dimensionally stable afterwards. Slight sagging down to three millimeters is optically inconspicuous. All openings required for ventilation or lamps are cut into the fleece with a cutter knife, and the corners are treated accordingly.

Lime smoothing technology with a metallic sheen

But the renovation of the grid ceilings should not remain in the "Pasha": the walls in the smoking area also had to be revised. Instead of the previous wiping technique, which was retained in the non-smoking area, a new mineral limescale smoothing technique with a metallic sheen was used, matching the upholstery in the golden brown color Amber 10 MET. Every wall upgraded with it is unique. To achieve the effect of a metallic, iridescent fair-faced concrete surface, two layers of lime filler were applied, the first over the entire surface, the second with the cut-out of partial surfaces. Then the gray surface was provided with a transparent primer and after drying it was coated with the sponge board once with a glossy emulsion paint with a metallic look in the color Amber 10 MET. Due to the thin application, the gray of the surface now shimmers out. When exposed to sunlight, the wall shines differently than with lamp light, and this effect contributes to the stimulating, lively atmosphere of the room.

Inexpensive renovation of grid ceilings

The "Pasha" host calls the result of the inexpensive renovation of the grid ceilings "cute". Replacing the yellowed ceiling tiles would have cost him a lot more. In addition to the expenses for new plates, there would have been disposal costs for the old ones, which - depending on the date of manufacture - have to be treated in part as hazardous waste.

The innkeeper would never have dreamed that the visual refreshment of his restaurant would be so uncomplicated. "Clean, fast, looks neat - I'm satisfied," he says of the new renovation system. Even the smokers among the regular customers noticed the new brightness in the "Pasha" pleasantly.

Learning on the object

The sales team of the specialist dealer Späth Knoll from Darmstadt used the renovation of grid ceilings in the "Pasha" as a workshop. Caparol sales representative Claus Fehr explained the procedure to the team at Späth Knoll. Then the employees were allowed to lend a hand. Thanks to the simple processability of the renovation system, the result of the workshop is impressive.

Products used in "Pasha":

• Renovation fleece "CapaCoustic RasterFiXX"
• Creative technique "Calcino Romantico Metallucente"

Further information on the products: www.caparol.de