The essence of hidden ceiling lighting is that the light sources( usually LED strips) are hidden in the cornice. All that is visible to the person is a muffled light on the contour of the room. This light is enough not only to illuminate the room, but also to create an interior with a "twist".
Most often this option of hidden lighting is installed in the living room and bedroom, less often in the kitchen. This is due to the fact that the ceiling cornices are made of plasterboard, the service life of which is significantly reduced when exposed to moisture.
As you understand in the bathroom and the kitchen, humidity with a little bit of temperature, so cardboard cornices are rarely used here. In this case it is better to install spotlights in the ceiling!
Now we will look at the types of hidden lighting of the ceiling, as well as how to make such lighting with your own hands.
As we have said, the first thing to do is to install a cornice that will hide the LED strip. To date, it is customary to make designs for their drywall and polyurethane. Both options look quite attractive, the only difference is in the cost and strength properties. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each of the cornices.
Gypsum board construction
A gypsum plasterboard for concealed ceiling lighting is a design made of profiles( UD and CD) and gypsum, into which the fixtures are mounted.
Advantages of construction:
- high strength;
- can be installed as a tape or spotlights;
- attractive appearance;
- niche under the ceiling is heat-resistant;
- heavy luminaires can be attached to profiles.
Disadvantages:
- high installation cost;
- long installation time( at least one day);
- need to use specialist services.
Based on this, it should be concluded that in the presence of time and a sufficient amount of money, to make a hidden illumination of the ceiling behind the cornice of plasterboard will be more correct decision!
Polyurethane construction
Curtain poles made of polyurethane are more popular when installing electrical wiring in a house or apartment. This demand is justified by the clear advantages of this type of niche.
Advantages:
- low price( cost of a strip in the size of 2 meters within 1500 rubles);
- simplicity of installation work( you can easily make a design with your own hands);
- small time-consuming costs( hidden lighting of the ceiling can be done in a few hours).
Disadvantages:
- low strength( it is impossible to fasten large bulbs);
- less resistance to high temperatures.
The result is that if you decide to connect the LED strip, the second option is more reasonable, because it requires less time and money!
Mounting the lighting
With the advantages and disadvantages of each type of cornice, we figured out, now consider the methods of self-installing a hidden ceiling light.
Gypsum niche
First you need to prepare the following materials and tools:
- drill;
- electric cutter;
- screwdriver;
- hacksaw;
- building measuring tape;
- marker;
- scissors for metal;
- self-tapping screws;
- dowels with screws for profile fastening;
- drywall;
- profile( UD, CD);
- LED strip light.
So, first you need to create a niche drawing for installing hidden ceiling lighting. It can be closed and open type( the example is shown in the picture).
The device of a cornice from gypsum cardboard
Further according to the project the walls are marked under the fastening of profiles. To do this, use a marker and a construction tape measure.
After this, using a screwdriver, the UD profile is attached to the wall with dowels. Already these profiles can attach the CD profile( every 50 cm).
When the frame from the profiles is completely ready, it is possible to install gypsum boards.
Finished gypsum board box( example 1) 
Finished gypsum board box( example 2) We draw your attention to the fact that the fastening of the sheets must take place in the joint. All the seams must be sealed with a special filler, and when it dries, progruntuyte finished cornice and go to the installation of fixtures.
The method of fastening drywall sheets to profiles
It is best to install a hidden ceiling light with an LED strip, it simply fits inside the cornice together with the power supply.
Polyurethane recess
It will take much less time to install the polyurethane curtain rod.
Variety of polyurethane curtain rods
First you need to prepare the following materials and tools for installing hidden lighting:
- building level;
- measuring tape;
- marker;
- finished cornices;
- adhesive( liquid nails or acrylic putty);
- nylon yokes.
First the walls are ready for work: they are cleaned of wallpaper, shpaklyutsya, paint off or new wallpaper. Further it is necessary to mark the walls for erection of the cornice. To do this, it is recommended to draw a line parallel to the ceiling, 5-10 cm from the top, along the entire perimeter of the room.
We draw your attention to the fact that if the walls and ceiling in the room are uneven, then it is better to use not the building level, but the distance from the ceiling, it should be the same everywhere!
After this, you can proceed to install the eaves for hidden lighting. It is best to use liquid nails. To the joints of neighboring cornices more securely fastened, use nagelnoe connection conventional matches( in the butt-end there are small holes in which the connecting match is installed).Such nagels must be installed in the corner joints of the products. When the niche is ready( the glue will solidify), an LED strip is laid inside, which can be additionally secured with nylon yokes.
Another important nuance - the power supplies from the lamps must be taken out of the niche. This is due to the main disadvantage of polyurethane - the inability to withstand high temperatures. During operation, the power supply unit is heated.
Also I would like to mention that a polyurethane curtain rod is often used for installation of concealed illumination of a tension ceiling.
Tips for installing
We recommend that you familiarize yourself with some useful tips that will help make the hidden lighting of the ceiling more correct, and most importantly safe:
- Method of connecting wires when installing luminaires - wagon terminals. No twists should not be.
- Avoid jointing aluminum and copper strands.
- If the ceiling lighting scheme is difficult, then to create it, select a separate group of wires from the main shield.
- All wires inside the recess( if spotlights are to be installed), protect the corrugated pipe with a self-extinguishing material.
- When connecting the light switch to a break, a phase conductor must go, not a zero.
- For mounting the backlight, use LED strips, having one meter of length, no more than 60 LEDs. Products with 120 light bulbs will be too bright and will not create a cozy atmosphere in the room.
- Use luminaires of the same brand and power. If the scheme includes different products in the same line, the concealed ceiling lighting can have different brightness and intensity at remote points, which will spoil the appearance of the room.
- Do not install an LED strip in the recess longer than 5 meters in series. This will lead to the fact that in the place of its passage a burnt trail will remain. A long tape should only be connected in parallel.
- Polyurethane curtain rod must have a large area for bonding to the wall. Otherwise, it quickly disappears.
- When docking gipsokartonnyh sheets, glue them in addition with a paper tape.
That's all I wanted to tell you about installing the hidden ceiling lighting with your own hands! If you have any questions on this topic, be sure to ask them to our experts in the category of "Q & A"!
Also read:
- Floor lighting in apartment
- How to make lighting in apartment
- How to make an antenna for TV
