Patio Ceiling Tongue & Groove Tips

Estimate Amount

• Estimating the amount of material you need is a key step in the process. Purchasing too many tongue and groove boards will waste money. If you come up short, you'll be making extra trips to the home improvement store. To estimate accurately, you need to know the width of the boards you're going to buy for the project. The boards for tongue and groove ceilings come in various widths. Measure the long way on the patio in inches to help with the estimation. Divide that distance by the width of one board in the new ceiling. For example, if you're using tongue and groove material that is 6 inches wide, you would divide the total by six to estimate how many boards you need. Add an extra 10 percent to the amount you calculate to account for mistakes or cut boards.

Lay Out Design

• A dry run of the ceiling layout gives you a better idea of how the installation should go. If your boards are longer than the depth of the patio, you'll also need to account for cutting the boards down to size. You want a gap of 1/4 inch at either end of each board to allow for expansion so figure this into your measurements when cutting the boards.

Prepping Boards

• Once you have an idea of the ceiling layout and have the boards cut to size, prep the pieces based on how you plan to finish them. Paint is a common option for patio ceilings. Prime and paint all of the boards at once so they are ready to go when you want to install them. Staining is another option for the finished boards. Handling all of the staining work at once means you need to get the materials out only once to tackle the entire job. Staining the boards once they are on the ceiling is more difficult because you are underneath and reaching up.

Installation Tips

• The boards should be nailed to the ceiling in 12- to 16-inch distances. When installing the next board, you may need help getting the tongue to fit into the groove. Instead of simply pounding on the board with a mallet, use a scrap piece of the wood. Place this scrap piece over the tongue of the board and hit it so the actual board being installed is not damaged.