Ceiling End Strip: finishing the perimeter of a panelled ceiling

Fitting a panelled ceiling throws up two separate problems and people tend to budget for only the first. One is the joint between two panels in the field of the ceiling. The other is the perimeter, where the panels run out at the wall, and that is what the Ceiling End Strip is for.

Why the perimeter is the harder edge

Walls are not square to each other and ceilings are not flat, so the gap left round the edge of a panelled ceiling varies as you go along it. An end profile hides that variation. Without one you are looking at a cut panel edge against plaster, in the brightest light in the room, along the longest line in the room. It is the detail that decides whether the ceiling looks fitted or improvised.

The dimensions, and what a room needs

• Each strip is listed as 2.2 x 290 x 1.3cm.
• 290cm is the length to plan around.
• A pack contains ten strips.
• The material is given as PVC.

The order of 2.2cm and 1.3cm is not spelled out, so neither is the visible face width. If that figure is going to be seen against a cornice or a wall panel, ask the shop which way round it reads before ordering. Ten strips at 290cm comes to roughly twenty-nine metres of perimeter, enough to go round several rooms, though the real number depends on how much you lose to corner cuts.

Measure each of the four walls rather than two and doubling them, add them up, and then allow for the fact that every corner costs you part of a strip. A mitred corner is only as good as the offcut you had left when you reached it, so order with a margin instead of to the exact metre. Where the ceiling continues into an alcove or round a chimney breast, count those edges too: they are short runs, and short runs waste the most material.

Three colours, three panel codes

The finishes follow the ceiling panel numbering rather than a colour chart of their own. Finish A is white for panels 120A, finish B is light grey for panels 120B and finish C is cream for panels 120C. Write the panel code down when you order the boards and use the same letter for the trim. In a mixed job the strips are worth labelling as they come out of the box, because light grey and white are very hard to tell apart in a cold room with the lights off.

What is not published

The listing describes easy installation but gives no fixing detail, no cutting guidance and no statement of the panel thickness the channel will take. Nor is there any performance figure for this part. Get those answers from the shop before the panels are up rather than after.

The matching parts

Joints in the body of the ceiling take the Ceiling Connect Strip, which shares these dimensions and the same three finishes. The bracket for PVC wall panels is the fixing in this part of the range, but it is listed for wall panels 05, 07, 11, 81 and 82 rather than the 120 ceiling boards, so check with the shop before relying on it overhead. The whole set sits in Trims & Fittings, and the boards are in Ceiling Panels. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store, £50 beyond.

Add up your four walls, add a margin for the corners, and order the Ceiling End Strip in the finish that matches your panel letter.