Paritian

Construction & DIY

Suspended Ceiling Calculator

Panels, grid runners, edge trim and hangers for a suspended ceiling, from the room size and the panel size.

Results

Panels to buy 62
Ceiling area 20.000 m²
Perimeter of the room 18.000 m
Main runner length needed 16.667 m
Cross tee length needed 16.667 m
Edge trim length 18.000 m
Hangers needed 14
Of those, whole ones 48
Of those, cut ones 14

What this tool does

A suspended ceiling is a grid holding panels, and everything you need to buy follows from two areas: the room and one panel. Whole panels are counted separately from cut ones, because the cuts are where the waste comes from — a room that is not a whole number of panels wide will always need more than the bare area suggests.

Formula

panels = ⌈area ÷ panel area × (1 + waste)⌉ · main runners = area ÷ spacing · edge trim = perimeter

Variables

SymbolMeaningUnit
lenRoom lengthm
widRoom widthm
tlPanel lengthm
twPanel widthm
spSpacing between main runnersm
waAllowance for waste%
hsSpacing between hangersm
NPPanels to buy—
ARCeiling aream²
PEPerimeter of the roomm
MRMain runner length neededm
CTCross tee length neededm
EDEdge trim lengthm
NHHangers needed—
WHOf those, whole ones—
CUOf those, cut ones—

Worked example

  • Room length5 m
  • Room width4 m
  • Panel length0.6 m
  • Panel width0.6 m
  • Spacing between main runners1.2 m
  • Allowance for waste10 %
  • Spacing between hangers1.2 m
  • Panels to buy62
  • Ceiling area20.000 m²
  • Perimeter of the room18.000 m
  • Main runner length needed16.667 m
  • Cross tee length needed16.667 m
  • Edge trim length18.000 m
  • Hangers needed14
  • Of those, whole ones48
  • Of those, cut ones14

Limitations

  • The calculation runs at full precision and only the display is rounded. If you copy an intermediate value and retype it, small differences can appear.
  • The result is an estimate based only on the values you type. Real situations often include factors this calculator does not know about.