Gypsum board in Alexandria: ceilings, drops and hidden lighting

Gypsum board ceiling types: which ceiling for which room

Choose the ceiling for the room, its height and what it has to hide, not for a photo you liked in someone else’s flat.

A long, rectangular living room is usually split into two zones, over the seating and over the dining table, each with its own drop or tray and light, rather than one ceiling that makes it look longer still.

Modern gypsum board ceilings for 2026: calm is the new look

The current direction in ceilings is calm: fewer levels, cleaner lines and warm, indirect light, instead of stacked layers and heavy ornament.

• A flat ceiling with LED profile lines: one or two lines running with the room or corridor, instead of several levels.
• A slim shadow gap where the ceiling meets the wall instead of a cornice, so the ceiling looks light and separate from the walls.
• Receptions: one calm cove around the room, or a tray over the dining table, with light on the TV wall or the pictures, not rows of downlights across the whole ceiling.
• Bedrooms: indirect light that does not shine into the eyes of someone lying in bed, a simple drop over the bed or at the window to hide the curtain track, and downlights away from where the head rests.
• A simple gypsum board ceiling: flat, with a few downlights on a plan and a cove in the reception only. It is the easiest to build well and has the fewest joints that can crack.
• One light colour temperature throughout each room, a dimmer for the hidden lighting, and a ceiling in a warm, light colour.

Alexandria humidity: green board and galvanised framing

In Alexandria the board and the framing are chosen for humidity: moisture-resistant board in kitchens and bathrooms, and galvanised steel framing everywhere, never timber battens.

• Standard board: for dry rooms such as living rooms, bedrooms and corridors.
• Moisture-resistant (green) board: for bathrooms, kitchens and any ceiling that steam reaches. It resists moisture, not water, so a leak from the flat above or from the roof will ruin it too, and the cause is fixed before the ceiling is closed.
• Ventilation: moisture-resistant board is no substitute for an extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen, because trapped steam condenses on the ceiling and mould appears.
• Fire-rated board: where the specification or Civil Defence requirements call for it, as in some shops, so ask what applies to your premises.
• Framing: galvanised steel channel and hangers, because timber battens move with humidity and the joints crack.
• Near the sea: in seafront flats and enclosed balconies, stainless or treated fixings. Interior gypsum board is not used on a ceiling exposed to rain.

High ceilings in older Alexandria flats: an opportunity

A high ceiling in an older building leaves room for gypsum board that hides the air conditioning and wiring without making the room feel low, provided the concrete slab is checked first.

• Check the slab before hanging anything from it: cracks, exposed rusty steel or flaking concrete are treated first, because the framing hangs from it and the gypsum would hide the problem, not solve it.
• Concealed air conditioning: the unit and its ducts need space above the gypsum, and a high ceiling gives it.
• A partial drop: sometimes a perimeter drop or a drop over part of the room is enough to hide the pipes and ducts, and the rest of the ceiling keeps its height.
• Wiring: a chance to run new cable in fixed conduit above the gypsum instead of old surface wiring, especially in buildings that still have aluminium wiring. Cables are never just laid loose on top of the boards.
• Original cornices: if the room has old cornices worth keeping, consider a ceiling that keeps them rather than covering them.

Plan the lighting, air conditioning and access panels before the ceiling closes

Everything above the gypsum board is decided and tested before the boards go up, because any change after closing means cutting into a painted ceiling.

1. The ceiling plan

   The ceiling levels, the positions of downlights, coves and profile lines, and the AC grilles and speakers, agreed with the electrics and the air conditioning before framing.

2. Lighting

   The position of every point and switch, one light colour per room, and where each driver sits and how it is reached.

3. AC condensate

   An insulated drain laid to a proper fall to a real outlet and tested with water before closing, because the most common stain on a new ceiling comes from an AC drain.

4. Access panels

   At every concealed AC unit, valve, junction box and driver, as flush gypsum panels painted with the ceiling so they read as a fine line rather than a door.

5. Hanging and reinforcement

   Chandeliers, fans and any heavy unit hang from the concrete or from reinforcement built into the framing, and the boards go up only after testing.

Our hidden-lighting page explains the difference between a cove and an LED profile in detail.

Why gypsum cracks at the joints, and how good work prevents it

Cracks at the joints usually come from the framing, the joint treatment or boards fixed to parts that move, not from the gypsum itself.

• Level galvanised framing with suitable spacing between channels, hung from the slab on enough hangers.
• Joints: tape and filler in three coats, then sanding and a primer before paint, not one quick coat of filler over the tape.
• Staggered joints: boards are laid so that four corners never meet at one point, and no joint runs in line with the corner of a door or window, because cracks show there first.
• Movement: a shadow gap or flexible joint where the ceiling meets the wall, and movement joints in long ceilings as the board maker’s instructions specify.
• Screws: evenly spaced and set just below the surface without tearing the board’s paper.
• Timing: boards do not go up while the plaster or floors around them are still wet, and the filler is left to dry between coats.

How to check a gypsum board ceiling at handover

Check the ceiling with raking light before you sign, because its faults do not show under a chandelier in the middle of the room.

1. Raking light

   Hold a lamp close to the ceiling and look along it: raking light shows every joint, every proud screw and every wave. The edges of drops should be straight and parallel to the walls.

2. The cove

   Switch on the hidden lighting and sit in several places: the strip should not show, and the light should run continuously with no dark patches, in one colour.

3. Access panels

   Open and close them, and make sure they really are at the units and valves and sit flush with the ceiling.

4. Air conditioning

   Run the air conditioning for a good while, then check the ceiling under the units, around the grilles and along the drain route.

5. Paint

   One even colour with no patches, and no hairline cracks at the joints or where the ceiling meets the wall.

Our handover checklist covers the rest of the flat.

Itmam and gypsum board in Alexandria

Itmam is a finishing, decoration and supply company from Alexandria: head office in El Ibrahimya, marble and granite showroom in El Deresa, Moharram Bey. We build gypsum board ceilings on galvanised steel framing, with moisture-resistant board in kitchens and bathrooms and joints taped and filled in three coats.

We agree the ceiling plan with the lighting and air conditioning before framing, put an access panel at every concealed unit, and check the ceiling with raking light before priming.

We visit, measure and give you a written, itemised quotation before work starts. On a finishing contract you pay each supplier directly at their price, and the tax invoice is in your name; our management fee for supervision and execution is agreed in writing before we begin, and we add nothing to the price of materials. If you only need the materials, supply-only is available, such as paint and electrical materials.

Itmam was founded in 2016, with 20+ years in the trade. Call or WhatsApp us on +20 106 926 2572, Saturday to Thursday, 09:00 to 18:00.