Ebony Tongue and Groove and Beams on a Naples Lanai
What an Ebony Ceiling Does to a Covered Lanai
A covered lanai is already the shaded part of the elevation. It sits under a deep overhang with bright pool deck and open sky on three sides of it, and the standard response is to finish the ceiling light, on the theory that a pale surface fights the shadow. This Naples home went the other direction.
The planks and the beams above this lanai were both finished in Ebony. Against a white ceiling the beams would have been the feature and the planks the background behind them. In Ebony the whole plane reads as a single dark surface, and the lanai stops feeling like covered space left over under the roofline and starts feeling like a room with a ceiling.
The effect is strongest from inside the house looking out. A dark ceiling frames the view through the sliders instead of competing with it for attention.
Planks and Beams Ordered in One Finish
Matching a plank run to a beam run is where color coordination usually slips, because the two are separate product lines that end up sitting inches apart on the same ceiling and getting compared under the same light all day. Here the tongue and groove planks and the beams were produced in the same select cypress texture and finished in the same Ebony color.
Grain character carries from the plank field straight into the beam faces. There is no point on the ceiling where one product visibly ends and another begins, which is the entire reason to specify both from one manufacturer rather than assembling the ceiling from two sources.
Select cypress is a refined grain rather than a heavy hand worked texture. On a dark finish that restraint matters, since deep texture and a near black color together can read as too much for a residential ceiling.
A Dark Finish in Year Round Humidity
A lanai ceiling in Naples sits in outdoor air every day of the year. Humidity, salt carried inland off the Gulf, and the swing between a July afternoon and a January morning all work on whatever is mounted up there.
These planks and beams are high-density polyurethane, closed cell and solid through the section. The material does not take on moisture, and it resists warping, splitting, cracking, and rot. Insects have nothing in it to eat.
Dimensional stability shows up more on a dark ceiling than a light one. Every reveal line between planks is a shadow line, and a shadow line that opens or closes with the seasons is visible from the far side of the pool deck. Planks that hold their dimensions keep those lines straight.
Specify a Lanai Ceiling in Ebony
Ebony is the newest addition to the color range, alongside Golden Oaks, Driftwood, Shaker Beige, Walnut, Pecan, Coffee Bean, Farmhouse Gray, and Weathered Gray, with custom color matching available for projects that need a specific finish. Select cypress is one of four standard textures.
Browse the full plank range on our tongue and groove ceiling planks page and beam profiles on our beams page, or send your lanai dimensions to our office and we will put together a take off covering planks and beams in one order.
