Faux Tin Ceiling Tiles can Look Simply Fabulous and are Much Simpler to Install than Tin Panels

Faux Tin Ceiling Tiles can Look Simply Fabulous and are Much Simpler to Install than Tin Panels

The popularity of tin ceilings in America started in the mid nineteenth century. Wealthy Europeans often adorned their homes with elaborate decorative plaster ceilings, but in America, this was not a practical solution, despite the great beauty of plaster ceilings. So, European plaster ceilings found their middle-class American equivalent in the tin ceiling. Mass production of tin ceiling tiles was very easy at that time.

Tin was easy to stamp with intricate detail, light in weight, and easy to work with - in many ways superior to plaster, making it the material of choice for many Americans. So, in the middle of the nineteenth century, countless ceilings in hotels, businesses and homes were embellished with embossed metal panels.

The early twentieth century saw a decline in interest in tin ceilings, as tastes changed and people turned to other materials. But the surge of interest in renovation architecture in the late twentieth century put tin ceilings back in the limelight, and a number of vendors sprang up producing faux tin and real tin tiles for decorating new buildings and renovating old ones.

The decorative plaster ceilings which were so popular amongst wealthy Europeans, despite their great beauty, had several disadvantages for Americans - due to their weight, they were difficult to ship, and they took a long time to mold. They were also very difficult to apply to unfinished ceilings. It was much cheaper to use tin tiles, with their suitability for fine-detailed work and ease of installation.

Tiin tiles were also moisture and mildew resistant and had good sound-absorbency qualities, and had the potential to last much longer than plaster or drywall could. When it came to installation, the square panels were light and easy to handle, and the tin panels could be nailed into wood.

The vogue for tin ceilings reached its pinnacle in the eighteen nineties, after which much of the tin ornamentation was covered with acoustic drop-ceiling tiles or drywall, as a less ornate effect became fashionable. Fashions swing back and forth, and later in the twentieth century many people looked back to the Victorian era in America with nostalgia. They began stripping away the coverings to restore tin ceilings to their former glory.

A certain amount of repainting, mending or stripping was usually required, but most tin ceilings were found to be remarkably well preserved. They had withstood the passage of time much better than anyone could have expected.

Nowadays, there are online merchants who produce tin tiles in a range of traditional designs, to meet the growing interest in both restoring original tin ceilings, and creating new ones. There is a good supply of custom designs to suit more contemporary architecture, as well as silver, copper and antiqued finishes to feed the nostalgia for the American Victorian era.

Some people like the original metal look of their tin ceilings, while others prefer to paint the tiles to give the appearance of plaster. And quite stunning it looks, too! There are also merchants who supply faux tin drop in tiles, as well as real tin ones. These 24" by 24" tiles have certain advantages over their metal counterparts - they are cheaper and lighter, and can be dropped into a grid system or glued to a flat surface. And, most importantly of all, they look terrific!

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