YOUR HOME 5 tips for ceiling roses
A quick and easy way to give a room more character is to fit a decorative ceiling rose, particularly if it has coving or cornicing, as the two look lovely together, says DECORATIVE ceiling roses come in lots of different designs, so look for one that matches the period of your home and the style of the light fitting.
You probably don’t want an intricate Victorian-style ceiling rose with a contemporary ceiling light, for example. Also, consider the proportions of the room – a big room with a high ceiling will suit a large ceiling rose, but a smaller room with a lower ceiling may not – and the style of the coving or cornicing.
Plain coving goes best with a simple ceiling rose, such as one CEILING roses are also available in different materials. The easiest to fit is an expanded polystyrene ceiling rose because it will be really lightweight – all you need is suitable adhesive. However, polystyrene ceiling roses come in a fairly limited range of designs and aren’t for everyone.
IF THE shower’s leaking or the loo’s blocked and you can’t see what’s causing it, an inspection camera could be a lifesaver, especially if it means not having to get in a pro. The Stanley STHTO-77363 Inspection Camera (£89.99, Screwfix) is a great buy because it’s affordable, but much better than many cheaper models. The dust and water-resistant (IP67) camera is tiny (8mm), so it can fit through small spaces without you having to rip out everything, and has a 90cm wand that flexes to get into nooks and crannies. The camera has an LED light to illuminate what you’re seeing, and the high-res screen that attaches to it is excellent – it’s fully adjustable and enables you to rotate the picture, for example. Useful attachments for the camera end are included, such as a magnet and hooks. plaster, they’re heavy.
They’re so heavy, in fact, that it pays to get a professional to put them up, because they could do a lot of damage – and even injure someone – if they weren’t fitted properly and fell down as a result. PERHAPS the best choice for DIYers is a polyurethane or hard resin ceiling rose, because it will be sturdy, but relatively lightweight and so straightforward to fit.
It can be glued with suitable adhesive, but gluing and screwing is a much better option. Screwing the ceiling rose into the joists above (the screws can be countersunk and filled over for a neat finish), gives the most secure fixing and allows the adhesive to set properly. FITTING a decorative ceiling rose often involves moving the electrical ceiling rose – if you’re not confident about doing this, get a qualified electrician to do it.
While it’s sometimes possible to fit the decorative ceiling rose over the electrical ceiling rose (by removing the white cover), this isn’t a good idea because you won’t be able to get to the wires easily if something goes wrong with the light.
An electrician may be able to fit a junction box above the ceiling light (in the loft, for example) so you don’t need the electrical ceiling rose, but, again, it’s less accessible if there’s a problem.
Some decorative ceiling roses have a flat bit in the middle – without this, the electrical ceiling rose won’t sit flat or look good. If you want to leave the electrical ceiling rose in place, choose a decorative ceiling rose with a hole in the middle – it should simply slot over the electrical one.