After a record breaking 2020, Easy Ceiling predicts 2021 to be the year that stretch ceilings take-off in the UK.
The idea of stretch ceilings has been around since Egyptian times and they are hugely popular in European countries such as France and Germany. Usage in the UK has been steadily climbing but there are several factors which might soon accelerate stretch ceilings into mass adoption.
Increased focus on home improvements
Increased time spent at home due to the two lockdowns in 2020 has led to increased popularity for making home improvements. Looking upwards might not traditionally be the first thought of home improvers but a new stretch ceiling can have a rapid and dramatic effect on a room. They can be easily installed under an existing ceiling in under a day with minimum disruption and come in a variety of colours and effects, multi-level, shaped, mirrored, printed with your favourite image, you can even use fibre optic lighting to create a twinkling night sky effect, in multiple colours! It is no surprise that since May 2020, Easy Ceiling has seen a 50% increase in enquiries.
Plaster shortages
The plaster shortage in the summer of 2020 encouraged builders to explore alternative ceiling materials. When you look at the advantages of stretch ceilings; rapid and hassle-free installation, long-lasting and offering lengthy product guarantees you can see why many want to give them a try.
Sustainability
The most compelling argument for stretch ceilings versus other ceiling materials should be the single fact that they are 100% recyclable. None of the other commonly used materials can lay claim to being even 10% recyclable let alone 100% recyclable. Stretch ceilings are also more energy efficient. Because they are fitted below original ceilings, they create an air layer like the effect of double glazing, minimising energy loss. Stretch ceilings also reduce the air in the room to be heated and even better, you can put additional insulation into the air layer.
Due to these sustainable attributes, Easy Ceiling is working with the University of Brighton’s award-winning Green Growth Platform to help spread the word about stretch ceilings. Green Growth Platform’s Commercialisation Manager Lorraine Bell was so impressed that she installed a stretch ceiling in her conservatory:
“Stretch ceilings are 100% recyclable, they create less waste, and you can put insulation above them to conserve energy. They also look cool. Why wouldn’t you want one?”
The University of Brighton’s Thermo-efficiency academic experts used Lorraine’s and another project as the data sources to publish a paper on the energy efficiency of stretch ceilings. The study concluded that stretch ceilings “grant excellent results in most scenarios, reducing the energy needs of the building, improving the indoor comfort conditions, and achieving up to 5 years payback time even in the absence of incentives. Additionally, in each scenario, the Easy Ceiling stretch ceiling solution outperformed traditional solutions in terms of energy performance and can achieve better financial returns thanks to the lower costs.”
If you would like to find out more the range of stretch ceilings, Easy Ceiling offers, please get in touch.