Framing Recessed Ceilings

MAY JLC 1997 I build out on the West Coast, and most of the custom homes I frame contain one or more coffered ceilings. By “coffered” ceiling, I mean any angled ceiling recess — a design detail that’s often called a “tray” ceiling in other parts of the country. By contrast, the traditional coffered ceiling — a gridwork of beams in the ceiling — is usually referred to out West as a “box-beamed” ceiling or a “library” ceiling. With a soffit around the perimeter of the room and a crown molding around the top of the recess, this detail looks like a million bucks. But it’s not expensive to build, as