Restore ceilings

Dirty, discolored or aged ceilings take away from a store’s appearance. But budgets are tight and ceiling replacement can be costly. A cost-effective option is ceiling restoration, a process that recycles existing acoustical ceilings, returning the appearance and performance of the ceiling to as close to “new” as possible. (The process is also applicable to popcorn, textured, plaster and tile surfaces.) It also can be used to change ceiling color.

Labor and overhead cost vary geographically, but the general rule of thumb is that ceiling restoration runs less than half the cost of replacement, according to ProCoat Products, Holbrook, Mass., manufacturers of a premium acoustical coating used for ceiling restoration. And since restoration takes about one-third of the time required for the removal/replacement process, there are indirect cost savings as well. By renovating the old ceiling, solid-waste disposal—and its related cost—is avoided.

In another green plus, acoustical-ceiling restoration contributes to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) credits