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Has anyone ever painted a suspended ceiling black for your HT?

#1
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1/13/04 at 5:32pm
  • Joined: September 2003
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I am going to be using a suspended ceiling for my soon to be completed HT. I want to go with black but found out today that to order the grids black, it will cost an arm and leg because you can only buy it by the case and not the each. They also said that the panels are not available in black unless I am buying thousands of them!! ( Home Depot ). Has anyone had any experience with this?
Thank you for your feed back.

Curt
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#2
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1/13/04 at 6:35pm
  • Joined: January 2004
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I am a painting contractor, yes you can paint the metal grids. Hire a painting contractor to spray a primer first, using a commercial sprayer. Then have him spray black flat paint 2 coats over that. good luck john avanti
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#3
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1/13/04 at 9:04pm
  • Joined: November 2003
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Curt Home Depot and Lowes told me the same thing. Its totally not true. I have a armstrong drop ceiling with the grids and they cost the same as the white ones at Home Depot. Here is what I did. Go to the Armstrong web site and get there customer service number, ask them for a distributer in your area and call them directly. If you have any problems feel free to email me for some more info.

By all means you do not have to go through the trouble of painting grids and tiles.

If you want take a look at my ceiling tiles, the are Armstrong factory black

MY THEATER

Jared
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#4
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1/14/04 at 12:35am
  • Joined: February 2001
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Yes, my ceiling was painted black.
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#5
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1/14/04 at 5:01am
  • Joined: August 2003
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When you call the distributor, I think that 1728ABL is the 2'x2' armstrong tile and 1728BL is the 2'x4'. I have no experience with black traditional suspended grids - I used black Ceiling Max for my theater. I wanted to save the couple of inches in ceiling height.
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#6
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1/14/04 at 7:47pm
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Thank you very much Jared for your reply. I do not want to paint. I wiil take your advice and look into that.

John what is Black ceiling max??? Never heard of it.

Thanks
Curt
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#7
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1/15/04 at 6:56am
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Check out ceilingmax.com, it's pricey but works well, and come in satin black.
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#8
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1/15/04 at 10:52am
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Mine will be painted black (probably). The price difference
was about $350 with painting vs black armstrong tiles.
I would spring for the black tiles, but when the ceiling runs $1000 over budget already, you tend to look for ways to pinch pennies.
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#9
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1/15/04 at 11:29am
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I paid about $40 or so per box of 16 2x2's (64 sq. ft.)which I think was cheaper than most of the Home Depot white tiles. Not to mention paint cost and the time to paint them. Also IMO none of the "paint it yourself" black tiles look as good as the factory ones.
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#10
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1/15/04 at 12:02pm
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Look in the yellow pages under acoustical ceiling contractors and call around. Just about any ceiling contractor who has been in business for a while has a storage building full of leftovers from jobs. You can probably get some real cheap.


Revenge is like serving cold cuts-

Tony Soprano
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#11
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1/15/04 at 3:43pm
  • Joined: July 2002
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Where are you guys buying the tiles at a good price?
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#12
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1/15/04 at 3:51pm
  • Joined: October 2003
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For what it's worth, I'm painting my tile ceiling black. I've done a few samples and they look good.

(And this was my buy of the year for this project: a gallon of Lowe's best paint for $1 from their clearance rack.)
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#13
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1/16/04 at 11:18am
  • Joined: May 2003
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Jack,

Are you just rolling it on or are you using a brush? I assume once you put it up there will have to be some touch up.

JayPo
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#14
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1/19/04 at 7:50pm
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Jared....thank you for the advice. I did call Armstrong and I did find a place locally that sells the black grids and the black panels and they are the same cost as white. I appreciate the info.

Curt
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#15
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1/19/04 at 10:53pm
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Curt
Two more things they make them in 2x4 and 2x2 the 2x2 look much better(in my opinio) I have seen both. Also if and when you get them be sure to check all of the grid work for scratched and scufs I have a pack the was all scuffed up and actually had to paint about 10 white ones black.
And by the way your very much welcome glad I could help.

Jared
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#16
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1/20/04 at 8:25pm
  • Joined: October 2003
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JayPo,
I used a brush for my sample tile, but I'm planning on trying a roller when I do the whole ceiling. However, it wouldn't surprise me if I wind up using a brush - the tile seemed to really suck up the paint.

And yes, there's ALWAYS touch up.
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#17
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1/21/04 at 8:05am
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  • Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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I painted my ceiling tiles a dark grey color and it was a a nasty experience. Those things soak up paint like you wouldn't believe so it ended up being quite expensive as I poured gallon after gallon of paint into them. I also tried painting then while they were in the ceiling but that failed so I had to take them all out and paint on the floor...while that works ok it means when you go to put them back they've now expanded a bit and are a tight fit and you'll end up scratching some quite badly as you fight to get them in place again. The good thing though is that they won't rattle much if at all now that they're heavyier and larger. I stuffed the space between the celing and the above floor with insulation and it works really well for cutting down the noise. So my advice is if at all possible buy black tiles its much less work and not that much more expensive once you factor in paint and time.
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#18
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1/21/04 at 8:54am
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For all you guys that are painting your tiles, be advised that doing so will ruin their acoustical properties (if that's of any concern to you). I went with black grid and tile in my HT and equipment room. Just find a local distributor of either Armstrong or USG (UGS's tiles are _MUCH_ higher quality) and order them in black. It shouldn't cost anymore and in fact, it was $30 a case CHEAPER to go through the distributor than to go through HD and that included the white tiles that I used in another area of the basement.

\"Never underestimate the Powah of the Dahk Syhde...\"

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#19
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1/21/04 at 4:34pm
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Do drop ceilings move/shake/rattle if the subs are competent? Say...if a room was 2500sq/ft and you had 2 bigger SVS subs and run them loud but not reference, would that shake things up?

I'm curious because I'm playing with ideas for a future room and this question came up.
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#20
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1/21/04 at 6:26pm
  • Joined: January 2001
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It depends on the tiles and how they're installed. I went with USG 'Frost' for my Theater. The frost tiles are quite a bit heavier than your standard fibreglass tile The Frost tiles are made of a different compound and feel and look like ashphalt. I have 2 SVS 20-39's which hit pretty hard and I have cranked it up to reference volumes and the tiles do not rattle.

\"Never underestimate the Powah of the Dahk Syhde...\"

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#21
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1/22/04 at 1:41pm
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For those keeping score on the cost of black tiles, just got a call back from our local dealer. For the Armstrong Fine Fisher tiles #1728, $83.16 per box of 16 tiles = 64 sq.ft. 3 week lead time, non-returnable.

Best Regards
Don
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#22
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1/22/04 at 2:51pm
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Do you have a link to these tiles? I am wondering why they want an arm and a leg for them.

\"Never underestimate the Powah of the Dahk Syhde...\"

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#23
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1/22/04 at 3:55pm
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no, don't have a link. I got a call from one of our local dealers. "Arm and a leg" is right... and maybe a spleen also. Guess that is the cost of entry into the wacky world of home theater. Actually, my take on it is because it is considered a "specialty item" that gives them free-reign to put you over a barrel. I'm certainly interested in pursuing other venues for purchasing them. Will try the manufacturer direct tomorrow. Anyone know if this will be a waste of time?

Best Regards
Don
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#24
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1/23/04 at 5:16am
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Try somewhere else, they are either gouging you or made a mistake. 1728BL I think is the code for 2x4's, and 1728ABL is the code for 2x2's.

You didn't make the mistake of mentioning that they were for a home theater did you? That has an amazing way of putting dollar signs in vendors eyes...

I paid just around $40 a box for 2x2 1728ABL here outside of Philadelphia.
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#25
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1/23/04 at 5:21am
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Jonas...
"You didn't make the mistake of mentioning that they were for a home theater did you?"

Nope, they had no idea what they were being used for. They just thought I was coming to them for a rather unusual request. #1728 was the code # given to me for 2x2 panels.

$40 a box, that's a pretty good deal. Did you get them direct
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#26
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1/23/04 at 5:34am
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An FYI for those also checking around for these as well as what they run here in the midwest...

Just got off the phone with Armstong Customer service 800 233 3823, and they indicated they only have black tiles for commercial, not residential. That's fine with me. Got a somewhat "local" shop out of Indianapolis which stocks the 2'x4' tiles for $64.80 a box (96 sq.ft')
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#27
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1/23/04 at 7:26am
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Don,

I got them from these guys:

http://www.spi-co.com/servicecenterdirectory.mv

Good Luck
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#28
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1/23/04 at 7:49am
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Jonas,
Thank you for the link, I will check them out later today.

Best Regards
Don
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#29
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1/23/04 at 2:54pm
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I found the 1728BL 2x2 tiles for $58.68 per box 64 sq ft.
He gave me the price for the grids.
Main T's 4.64 ea
4' T's 1.40 ea
2' T's .71 ea
Wall Angle 2.97 ea

I thought it was a fair price. Worth not having to paint.
I am still going to check out the ceiling max though. There sure seems to be a wide range in prices out there.

Curt
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#30
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1/30/04 at 1:13pm
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I just found USG black 2x2 tiles for $38.40 per box 16 tiles per box. Item is Radar 2210 black. In case anyone likes USG better, that is what I am going to go with.
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