Ceilings and built-in work

Everything above the ceiling — water pipes, air-con condensate pipes, wiring, junction boxes, insulation and whatever holds the ceiling up — is work nobody will ever see again once the first board goes up. This page gathers what has real figures or written requirements in Thai standards, for you to use…

• This page contains
• Legal headroom — and the point people misread most often
• Not the same ceiling board throughout the house — and the kitchen ceiling is a legal requirement
• The ceiling frame carries more than the boards — and extra hanging loads are the most common problem
• Ceiling frame and board fixing — three things you can spot without knowing any figures
• Who must finish before the ceiling is closed — and which items have evidence you can ask to see
• Before closing the ceiling — what to go up and see, or have photographed in full
• Water pipes above the ceiling — hanger spacing with real figures in the standards
• Pipes larger than 50 millimetres — the figures this page couldn't give before
• Hangers aren't just “every so many metres” — they must also be at the joints
• Unions and junction boxes — two things the standards forbid burying in the ceiling
• Access hatches — decide once now, or cut the ceiling every time there's a repair
• Signal equipment above the ceiling — things that can't be repaired once covered
• Photos to take before closing the ceiling — ten minutes' work that pays off for twenty years
• Ceiling detail drawings — a document you can ask for and almost nobody does
• Built-ins — what must be prepared in advance, not fixed afterwards
• Timber battens on walls and ceilings — attractive, but the manual forbids hanging any load on them
• Translucent decorative wall panels — décor with a clearly written height limit