Installing Matting on a Ceiling

I'm new to all of this and trying to get my tiki bar in shape. I've taken over a tornado shelter/closet to make a little "lava lounge" off the main tiki bar and it's only 5x8 yet for the life of me I can't get my woven matting on the ceiling (I'm going the short way). I searched for tips which produced "staple gun" and "glue".....which is fine, but I can't get the stuff to FIT. It's not square like wallpaper. If I trim the sides to make it square, it falls apart. I've tried duct tape on the edges, which helps, but there's got to be a better way. Any tips from you experts??

BTW - I'm LOVING seeing the carvings and tikis.....WOW!

LavaLounger
On the Great Plains of Kansas

You might try nailing some thin wooden furring strips around the edges of the matting where it meets the walls, then trim the excess matting away with a utility knife. Stain the furring strips before you nail them up, then you'll have a nice border around the matting.

I did something similar with the stiff matting that I mounted on the wall behind my bar shelves and it came out looking very nice.

Hot glue cures all...if you're using seagrasss matting like I did, after cutting, carefully (cause it's hot) smear hot glue along the edges, and, voila! It holds! Hot glue was actually our saving grace when trying to cover an acoustical drop ceiling with bamboo blinds. It's also holding up the bamboo trim on the ceiling. And the rope trim on the bar. And, well, you get the idea. Just be careful with the stuff, and try to remember to let it cool when it gets on you, rather than ripping it off right away. After it cools, it leaves your skin intact.
Another option is to employ one of the maxims that kept me & my wahine sane while building the Moai Lounge:
DON'T TRY TO FIX IT, JUST COVER IT WITH BAMBOO!
And always remember, "It's tiki...it's not supposed to be perfect."

Good luck!
Scottiki

Thank you for the tips Scotiki and MrBaliHai. Oh boy, I'm so dumb sometimes!! I was trying to hot glue the matting to the ceiling.....never entered my foggy brain to glue the edges while I was cutting it out on the floor. Now why didn't I think of that! I can't convey the idiotic cartoon picture it was of me with a large piece of matting curling over my head, while balancing on a ladder, the edges of the matting falling apart, and me with my glue gun trying to make it stick to the ceiling, the hot glue dripping down and me jumping around trying to avoid the glue drips.

Furring strips....another good idea. Furring strips might be a good idea as I can probably build the frame on the floor and affix the matting, then just screw it up like a sheet of plywood.

I know it's not supposed to be perfect but it's going to take me awhile to let go of "square","level","even" and "mitered" after building this house for 18 months. Although I must say I don't think our subs gave those terms much thought either.

About the bamboo trim.....I have acumulated some, but not enough to border the whole ceiling, where do I find a bamboo supplier that I can afford. One gardening place here wanted $12 for one 6.5 ft stick of 1 1/5" bamboo. Bamboo is a tough find in Kansas.

If I wanted to post a picture of the mess I'm making, where can I find how to do that?

Thanks guys,
LavaLounger

If I wanted to post a picture of the mess I'm making, where can I find how to do that?

It's here in the FAQ.

Good luck!

Lavalounger,
This may not mean much but I sympathize. I really and truly sympathize. I spent about one hour last night sitting on a stepladdaer looking at my ceiling wondering how the hell I was going to finish it up.

Hang in there, buddy. I'm sending good thoughts your way.

what i did was mount the matting to 1/8" (cut the sheets in half to make them more manageable) plywood with contact cement. this makes it much easier to hang. also once you get it on the ceiling use split bamboo as trim. it helps hold the edges up. it does a good job of hiding the uneven cuts too.

Boy oh boy, do I know what you're going through!! I did matting on my walls and reed fencing on the ceiling. I used contact cement for most of it. It worked very well, but PLEASE buy the water-based stuff, NOT the stuff I used because even though I ran fans and vented everything it nearly killed me. I'm not even joking. I covered all the edges and seams with bamboo, but I'm sure some sort of stained wood would work nicely as well. Even using the cement, I wound up using my staple gun a lot.

Lauhala matting will never be square. I'm sure of it. Just last night I was cutting some to cover a shelf with. I measured the shelf twice, then I laid out the cuts I wanted on the matting with a huge framing square and cut it with a razor knife. I'll be damned if when I went to put it on the shelf it wasn't a completely different shape then the one I measured out. It just wont be square. I would always cut it a bit too large on purpose then cut it down when you're putting it in place.

Hope I've helped and good luck!!

Aw man, thanks guys. Now I don't feel like such a lame-oid mat sticker. I can hang wallpaper like a pro, but this matting is making me crazy! I ended up yanking down some of the pieces I had up because it was never "square". Guess I'm just going to have to try to deal with wicky-wacky-tiki-tacky ceilings! Now I'll have to find a bamboo source in Kansas so I can hide the horrible seams. I had a few decent pieces of bamboo that my kids got me on a trip in Florida and I drilled out the membranes to run my electrical wires around so you couldn't see them. But I only have a couple little pieces left, not enough for the ceiling. ANy of you guys have a bamboo source?? Is it expensive??

I had fishnets draped around the ceiling in my old tiki bar and hung all the stuff I didn't know what to do with up there, leis, hibiscus flowers, used drink umbrellas, plastic crabs, twinkle lights, small annoying children..etc, I'd keep tossing an item up there until it'd "stick" and that's where it remained, so it was very "unplanned"....should have gone with that idea in the new bar. I just wanna FINISH it so I can put all the tools away, clean it up, decorate and get about the serious business of entertaining!

LavaLounger
Kansas-tiki oblivion