Hi,
You start by laying out a center line. Perpendicular to that (I mean _exact_ 90* angles) Strike another center line. I see that your panels are an odd number in one direction, so parallel to the other center line, snap a line one-half the width of a panel off center. Run all of the field panels oriented to these lines. Then, snap out lines for the crown along the walls. It looks like you have a border strip- this usually goes on dead last, after the plain fill area and the crown is in.
Did you buy the pre-formed crown corners or will you cope them? I coped the corners on the large tin cornice I installed way back when, that was very time-consuming.
The plain fill area can go in willy-nilly if it's edges will be covered by trim strips. Wear leather gloves, it _will_ cut you to ribbons without.
Casey

Thanks -

Unfortunately, the place I got these from didn't have pre-formed corners, so I'll be making them myself.

So, are you then recommending that I start laying panels off those perpendicular lines (ie, starting in the center) or should I snap out the entire thing and start in a corner of the field?

MPEDrummer

Layout is the same as a tile floor, using the same methods.
Watch out for even sides on the 'leave' (you want the same size on each side of the perimeter).
Use 3-4-5 rule to make sure the lines are truly perpendicular, and watch for out of square rooms.

Thanks for the advice, guys - so far so good! We got the panels, filler, and molding up this weekend, tonight is the cornice.

The brad nailer worked very well. Once I got the depth adjustment right, I had only 3 or 4 that pulled through - I think they were shooting into the seams between the OSB, though. With the overlaps of the panels, where there were 4 panels overlapping, there were 8 layers of the tin (safety edges folded over) - this caused a new issue at first - ricochet! I had one or two hit the screws holding up the OSB - ricochet + sparks.

After determining that the room was a completely irregular trapezoid, we did the layout with two lines - centered on the light, which was more or less centered in the room, and parallel to the fireplace, which is the closest straight line to the panels. So far it looks great! Hopefully the cornice won't expose the illusion.

Thanks
MPEDrummer

I just installed a similiar ceiling that I purchased from American Tin Ceilings and my house is old and a little un-square. I snapped chalklines, but still went off a little towards the end. Make sure you use a carpenters square to check your layout lines. Also use the square when installing the tiles next to each other, because it is very easy to go off the line as your progress. I had about 10 lights that needed to be cut out so once I went off a little I was stuck leaving it that way. It isn't noticeable to visitors, but to me it is. My wife loves it so that's what is important. I still have to install some transition pieces and the crown moldings, but I will be using painted wood install of tin.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Ta-da!

Turned out very well, thanks for the tips.

We wound up starting in the center, at the light, because we decided that screwing that up would be the most obvious flaw.

Coping the cornice was definitely the hardest part...

MPEDrummer