Installing a radiant stretch ceiling, part three

Tensioning the fabric

The fabric is brought up to temperature then tensioned into the profiles, starting from the corners. It is the one stage where the fitter's experience shows immediately: a badly tensioned fabric reveals its defects under raking light, and there is no discreet way to recover.

The cut-outs

Downlights, ventilation grilles and hatches are cut after tensioning, from the marks taken before closing up. That is why the survey in the first phase matters so much: a position noted approximately gives a cut-out out of place.

The junction with the wall

The perimeter finish conceals the profile and absorbs the wall's out of plumb. On an older wall it is often that detail which decides the final impression, more than the fabric itself.

Commissioning

The thermostat is paired, the first warm-up is watched, and the surface temperature is verified. It is also the moment when the client is told what to expect: a radiant system is not set like a convector.

The two previous phases are on part one and part two, and setting the thermostat on the calibration page.

What to explain to the client on commissioning day

That the sensation arrives before the thermometer moves, because radiation reaches the skin before the air. That the setpoint can therefore be lower than with a convector. And that the ceiling will never be hot to the touch: it works at a temperature close to that of skin, and that is deliberate.