INSIDE OUT: STANDING SEAM PANELS FIND A NEW USE
AS CEILING MATERIAL

PERTH AMBOY, NJ, MARCH 15, 2007—Architects are learning that standing seam roofing panels can be a practical and aesthetic solution inside a building now that they are being used as ceiling material.

Unlike wood ceilings, the standing seam is much less expensive to install and adds light and dimension to the room.  Panels can range in width from 16 to 20 inches (406 to 508 mm). When mechanically seamed into place, the panels’ seams create vertical lines that give an illusion of much greater height and length than wood or gypsum. It also gives an architect the ability to choose from 26 standard ceiling colors or even a custom color if the client is willing to pay a premium.

There are economic advantages to using standing seam, as well, notes Kevin Corcoran, vice president of business development at Englert, emphasizing it’s less expensive than a wood ceiling and takes about a day to install. “You can do any ceiling just by adding layers to the scaffolding,” he explains.

The installation process for a peak ceiling is identical to an exterior roof—except it is installed upside down. There is an inverted ridge cap where the standing seam comes together at the ceiling peak. And the “crown molding” is made of panel either cut flush to the gypsum wall panel or folded like a breadbox around it.