2 x 2 Ceiling Tiles
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Stratford Ceiling Tiles$4.25 - $11.95 A Ceilume favorite year in and year out, Stratford Ceiling Tiles give you the best combination of beauty, versatility, and value of any drop ceiling tile on the market. |
2 x 2 Ceiling Tiles
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Sustainable 2 x 2 Ceiling Tiles
Made from 40% post consumer recycled content, Ceilume Sustainable 2 x 2 Ceiling Tiles set a new standard for environmental responsibility and resource stewardship.
 Cambridge Ceiling Tiles $11.99 - $16.99 |
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About 2 x 2 Ceiling Tiles
Evolving to Perfection
It is no accident that 2' x 2' ceiling tiles have become the twenty-first century standard for suspended, and glue-up ceiling installations. Rather, they are the culmination of over a hundred and fifty years of manufacturing trial and error, marketplace acceptance and rejection, and evolving building standards. From the crude cast iron ceiling plates of the 1850's to the ultra-light, recycled polymer creations of today, maturing tastes, modern materials, and a design imperative that demands form and flexibility without sacrificing function have driven ceiling tile innovators in their quest for an ever better ceiling solution. The modern 2ft. x 2ft. ceiling tile is the culmination of those efforts.
Why Size Matters
The history of ceiling tiles is a tale of "ideal" sizes that proved to be anything but. In the early days it was thought that bigger was better, so eight foot long glue-up tiles were not uncommon (they also weren't easy to lift). Some of the first suspended ceiling panels were almost as big as a sheet of plywood and just as unwieldy. At the other end of the scale, tiles as small as six inches square were manufactured. It worked for floor tiles, why not for ceilings? Because it required way too much effort, that's why! In between those extremes, there were ceiling products of almost every imaginable size.
Eventually, both for glue-up and for drop ceilings, a 2' x 4' ceiling panel became the most common size. Easier to handle than the
monster tiles, faster to install than the minis, these 2ft. x 4ft. panels got the job done well enough - they just didn't look
very good doing it. It wasn't that they were necessarily ugly, though some certainly were. Many pressed metal panels were actually
quite stylish, as were the "2 up" mineral fiber panels designed to look like two 2' x 2' ceiling tiles. But the basic rectangular
2' x 4' shape was intrinsically unappealing from a stylistic standpoint, and severely limited design flexibility.
A Triumph of Taste, Engineering and Geometry
2' x 2' ceiling tiles had long been on the scene and were clearly preferred for their superior appearance. Yet, the obvious cost
savings of using the larger 2ft. x 4ft. panels (less handling, less labor, fewer installation materials) meant that 2ft. x 2ft.
ceiling tiles were mostly used in high-end projects where the look of the finished job was more important than the price. But as
manufacturing processes became more efficient, installation techniques improved and public tastes matured, that balance began to
shift. The rapidly diminishing cost benefit of the larger ceiling panels was soon overshadowed by the enhanced perceived value
and expanded range of esthetic possibilities that 2' x 2' ceiling tiles placed within reach.
No longer locked in by the rigid confines of the 2ft. x 4ft. rectangular shape, or constrained by a cost advantage that had ceased
to exist, architects, builders and homeowners were finally free to explore the full design potential that modern 2' x 2' ceiling
tiles allowed. Though we may have taken the long way around, we finally landed on the square.
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