What are Acoustic Ceilings?
Older house designs often called for very high ceilings, primarily to draw hot air away from the living space. Now, acoustic ceilings continue to be a popular choice in many offices, businesses and schools. Interior designers seeking an affordable method to lower the height of a modern room and also deaden ambient noise developed acoustic ceilings. A gridwork of metal strips is hung from the room’s true ceiling and individual panels of sound-absorbing material are dropped into the sections. Heating and cooling ducts can also be hidden behind acoustic ceilings, along with unsightly wires for overhead lighting and pipes for plumbing fixtures. The use of acoustic ceilings reached its zenith in the 1960s through the early 1980s. In 1978, products containing asbestos were banned for home use by government regulators, and this affected the manufacture and installation of most acoustic ceiling panels in use at the time. Many homeowners hired specially-trained contractors to remove the older a
