Today I would like to show you my lanai upgrade. I love sitting on my back porch or lanai as it is called in Florida. It is my favorite way to relax in the evening and the nights are just lovely here.
A few months ago, I noticed the seam tape (used to conceal the joining of drywall boards) was coming loose and starting to buckle.
Sidenote: The blue on the ceiling in the picture below is a reflection of the pool and not paint.
I knew that the problem wasn’t a structural one, so it wasn’t an urgent matter. But after a while, that little tape issue started to mock me! I no longer loved sitting out there in the evenings…sad!
After researching various options and looking at a TON of pictures on Pinterest, I decided to install a grid ceiling to support and hide the imperfections happening before my eyes.
Below is my rough sketch of how I envisioned my lanai ceiling.
I knew that I wanted to paint the ceiling an aqua-blue color so I went with Sherwin-Williams “Tame Teal.”
In the south, porch ceilings are painted blue for a reason. This blue is called “haint” blue. Haint blue is any shade of blue really and is used to ward off evil spirits. Cool!
Did you know that lumber made out of plastic was a thing? WHAT?! Game changer!!! This is PERFECT for outdoor applications.
I bought ten 1×4 12-foot long pieces of PVC (plastic) lumber and painted them my ceiling color – Tame Teal.
I had to paint them inside because the Florida humidity would not allow the paint to dry.
While the paint was drying, I used my favorite stud finder to find the roof trusses on the ceiling.
With the help of my husband, we were able to snap a chalk line across the ceiling where the trusses are.
After our lines were drawn, we held up one of the 12-foot boards and marked where the chalk lines were (I was not able to lift the long boards by myself due to the length).
We then pre drilled the holes for the screws to fit. Pre drilling keeps the boards from splitting.
Here are the first few boards we put up.
After the two vertical boards were installed, I was able to finish the rest of the ceiling myself.
Notice the difference in color from the two pictures. It is the same color at different times of the day. 😉
