On the Porch: Installing a Beadboard Ceiling (VIDEO)

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One of our favorite activities here in our FixitUp home is porch-sitting. I guess, to be technically correct, porch-sitting is inactivity. Either way, we love it.

However, its tough to love when the porch ceiling above you is, well, awful. So for this porch project, we tore down the existing ceiling (and existing trim as part of a complete porch remodel, but that's another story) and we're replacing it with an authentic looking bead-board made not from wood but from PVC. Whether you use wood or another material, installation is essentially the same and here's how we do it.


Photo: Mark Clement

Before You Begin: Tools
Beyond the ladders and basic hand tools, the four tools we rely on most for this is our work bench, miter saw, narrow crown stapler, and table saw.

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Hard to do much to a ceiling if you can reach it. Our solution is simple and safe. We use one step-ladder and one rolling scaffold. Both are excellent and versatile DIY tools. I could go on, but will contain myself here. Bottom line is that they enable us to move across the width of the porch at ceiling level either holding, installing or nailing boards, which is pretty much impossible if have to climb up and down ladders.

Another option is using two step-ladders with a 2x10 running between them. We do not go past the third step with our plank, however, and we make sure the 2-by is pretty level. Also a cautionary DIY note: no step-stools.While convenient and usually within reach, these are for getting corn flakes out of the pantry and hanging pictures, not remodeling. They're too wobbly. Stepladders only, please.


 
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