Ceiling Tile Tool?

mdshunk

Does anyone make a tool for putting back a "tight" ceiling tile that won't fall back in on its own, no matter how hard you try? Ideally, you'd pop up a loose one next to it, press down the tight one, and let the loose one flop back down. It seems like some ceilings you'd chase tiles halfway across the room before you found a loose one. Seems like there ought to be a tool to yank the tile down from below.

JPF

Like a shoe horn for ceiling tile eh??!!! Havn't ever seen anything myself....i would probably just try to shave a bit off the tight edges.....

dkillianjr

I have often wondered the same thing. I usually do the tile chase myself What I have done in the past is used a small screw and threaded it into the tile and pulled down on that, now granted that only works on tile patterens that will hide the screw hole. But usually what I do is use my pointer finger and thumb and twist the track as I pop the tile up and down and usually they fit. I am curious too though if anyone has or made a tool for this purpose.



Dave

Tom R

Just hold one corner of the offending tile high and put a weight on it and let it back down. Scrap of 2 X 4, - - half a brick, - - whatever's layin' around . . .

tmscoop

PLEASE TELL ME SOMEONE IS GOING TO REMOVE THE 2X OR BRICK .WE DONT NEED ANYTHING AOVE OUR HEADS THAT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE CEILING...I DONT WANT TO BE THE NEXT CONTRACTOR ,HOMEOWNER BUILDINGINSPECTOR POPPING A TILE TO TAKE A PEEK AND HAVE A BRICK LAND ON ME!!!!!

dkillianjr

I have done the same thing in that circumstance, works like a charm. Then I tell the customer I have hidden bricks in the ceiling and to pay me to remove any tiles they need removed, and nobody gets hurt!


Dave

Dustball

Isn't there some kind of giant disc you'd be able to attach to a shop vac hose and turn it into a big suction cup?

Tom R

If you can manage to drop a brick onto your fool head off a horizontal flat tile, - - it might just do you some good . . .

Hardly Working

Try using a coat hanger wire bent into a "J" shape. *Poke a hole in the tile with the straight end then feed the hook from the top side through the hole. Tug on the wire with your pliers with luck it should fall into place. Be carefull not to pull it through and make another hole. You can try to pull the hook out or just push the hook up inside. I'd rather have the hook fall on me than the brick. Found a lot of stuff in a lid before but not a brick.

*Not recomended for smooth tile lids.

Hardly Working

Try using a coat hanger wire bent into a "J" shape. *Poke a hole in the tile with the straight end then feed the hook from the top side through the hole. Tug on the wire with your pliers with luck it should fall into place. Be carefull not to pull it through and make another hole. You can try to pull the hook out or just push the hook up inside. I'd rather have the hook fall on me than the brick. Found a lot of stuff in a lid before but not a brick.

*Not recomended for smooth tile lids.

Jason Whipple

Just trim the tile. By trying to force it in, you may end up breaking it. Sounds like the grid is out of square.

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Tom R

Exactly, - - if the grid is done right, - - the tiles drop right in.

Grid systems should be laid out like anything else in carpentry, - - from the center out.

theworx

Where's the laughing smiley Tom?? I know you and would never believe that could possibly be your serious solution!! Couple of years ago I had a 12" x 12" j-box cover slide off a tile and nail me right on the eyebrow (5 stitches). Directly above was the open j-box (totally unacceptable). My guess, the electrician had trouble seating the tile, so used the weight of the cover to drop the tile in...

Usually the ceiling is not square, but thats not the only problem. Hang wire is not tightly looped to the grid, flourecent fixtures cause a problem too (tend to twist the grid a bit and push the loop of the wire over a bit), etc... Whatever the reason, it's a pain in the ass and can get time consuming!!

mdshunk

It's not so much the grid that causes the issues. It's things like the loops from the heavy 12ga. support wires they use on the commercial ceilings, bracket ends from t-bar electrical box supports, grid clips from troffers in the next grid cell, cross tee ends that protrude weird into the corners, etc. Mostly intrusive hardware, but sometimes a grid out of square. You're right that the tiles should just fall down in, but I'm not the guy that installed the stuff, and I'm forced to work in an imperfect world.

randomkiller

So the answers are as follows:
1) Try brick, block, etc as counter weight
2) Trim tile
3) Resquare track system
4) Let the ceiling guy come back and put it in

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Tom R

Well, - - the brick was kind of a joking exaggeration, - - but anyway, - - I don't normally have too much of a problem with the tiles not wanting to go down, - - I can usually just push them up a few times at most and they fall right in.

If, - - as MD says, - - the job was done (and not so well) by others, - - you can always just lightly 'rack' the grid a little to make it drop in place. Gotta go real easy on that, though, - - so the whole ceiling don't earn it's name . . .

cityboy2977

i was going to suggest a shop vac. but if the grid is out of whack just trim the troublesome tile.