How Much Does a Coffered Ceiling Cost?
Last Updated: January 21, 2022
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What is a Coffered Ceiling? #
Coffer means "box" in French. A coffered ceiling is, essentially, several recessed boxes in the ceiling to give detail and texture to a, normally, ordinary ceiling. The coffers, themselves, are usually squares, rectangles, or octagons decorated with ornate trim and detail. They not only look elegant, but also serve a purpose. They actually are faux acoustical ceiling tiles that absorb sound and insulate the room. They are typically made from wood such as poplar, ash or cherry, but cheaper materials such as drywall, plywood or fiberboard.
There are so many options available for coffered ceiling designs it would be impossible to list them all. You can vary the depth of the coffer, the sheen of the finished product, the trims surrounding the coffer, the beams supporting the coffer; the list goes on and on. If you can dream it, you can find someone to design and build it.
Coffered Ceiling Prices #
A typical labor cost for coffered ceilings will be about $10 to $15 per square foot of coffered ceiling. Materials cost will be about the same, between $8 to $17 per square foot. Where your costs fall on that spectrum depends on if you go with a hardwood such as mahogany or cherry or the cheaper road of plywood and drywall.
There are many different costs for the various types and styles of coffered ceilings. Expensive woods such as maple, cherry, or mahogany are on the more expensive side. Using drywall or plywood will help keep costs down. A coffered ceiling is very labor intensive; even more so if the room you are constructing it in has hard-to-reach areas.
Additional Costs #
There are many other details you can use to supplement your coffered ceiling. Chandeliers or ceiling fans will add elegance to any room. Sometimes, a soffit around the perimeter of a coffered ceiling (with lighting reflecting up at the ceiling) looks graceful. Tin panels installed in the coffers can help reflect light, not to mention, give an added artistic appearance. Additions such as these may cost as little as $100, or as much as $3,000 to $4,000, on top of the total price tag.
