Installation of Ceiling Medallions
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Preparation
Some ceiling medallions have holes precasted in them for access to electrical boxes and some do not. To use medallions without precast holes, a 3 1/2" - 4" hole needs to be drilled in the center using either a hole cutting drill bit or an electric saber saw. This can be done at the factory prior to shipping for a small fee. Your fixture will have a cup or canopy which will fit completely over the hole.
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Installing
On ceilings with drywall construction, the medallions can be fastened in place using drywall screws into the ceiling joist above or toggle bolts may be used if joist locations are not convenient. If properly fastened with four screws, the use of adhesive is not necessary. For concrete ceilings, the use of anchors along with construction adhesive is recommended. The best location for drilling the medallions are those areas where the medallion is thick enough to countersink the screw heads and where the face detail is rather plain and easy to patch.
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Pointing and Patching
The mounted medallion will first need to be caulked around its perimeter with a good quality paintable caulk. The screw holes will then need to be filled with a premixed, non- shrinking spackle. The careful use of a damp paintbrush over the surface of the drying spackle will smooth over and hide the patch job. The medallion will be able to be primed and painted after 24 hours drying time.
How to Apply Composition Ornaments?
The hand-carved look of our composition ornaments has been popular in the woodworking industry since the early 1900’s, offering highly detailed designs at a fraction of the cost of hand carved pieces. Generally, our composition ornaments should be applied utilizing some type of adhesive. Decorators Supply follows the time-honored method of steam application but our ornaments can simply be glued onto your woodwork as well. Both methods are described below.
Non Steaming Method
For many projects, our composition ornaments can be simply glued onto your woodwork. In situations where the wood is unfinished, good quality Carpenters glue can be used. For situations where the wood is already finished (or even in cases of unfinished wood), we would recommend a panel or caulking adhesive such as Liquid Nails or DAP Kwik Seal Caulking Adhesive. Being a water based product, Kwik Seal is particularly easy to clean up – excess glue can be peeled away and any remaining residue wiped away with water. If your composition ornaments have sat for a while in the shipping box, you may experience warpage in some of the pieces. In these cases, dry heat will soften the pieces, allowing them to lay flat for gluing.
Dry heat sources include:
- Hair Dryer applied to the bottom side – high setting
- Heat gun applied to the bottom side – low setting
- Oven Heating
o Place items on a non-metal surface (i.e. MDF board)
o Bring oven to 200 degrees for small items (1/2” thickness or less), up to 300 degrees for thicker items
o Heat for approximately 10 minutes
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