Here is a pitched ceiling on a second floor, directly beneath the roof.  Traditionally in Umbria beams were whitewashed along with the walls.  This enabled as much light as possible from the small windows to reflect and lighten the rooms.  The windows were small to keep the rooms warm in winter and cool in summer, as there was no double-glazing in those days and glass could only be made in small pieces.  The beams in this picture haven't been painted for over forty years!

More recently the trend has been to strip off the old paint and reveal the texture and colour of the wood and highlight the contrasting yellows and pinks of the terracotta tiles between.  There is also a trend to expose the stone walls for the same reason, creating an altogether darker and richer feel.  Where terracotta, or more accurately the clay from which is made, was not readily available planks of wood were laid across instead creating a whole ceiling of timber.

Our own preference is for painted beams.  We have seen so many stripped beams in our work that we are quite tired of them.  This ceiling, in our own house, takes in shades of cream and green to great effect, especially when lit by a crystal chandelier.  You can paint the beams in a satin finish which highlights the texture still further.  The large beam in the centre needed iron strips on either side to strengthen it.  We feel this adds to the character and history of the house.

Believe it or not this is the same ceiling being restored!

More common in areas of Umbria where further away from clay and brickworks you will find ceilings made entirely of wood.  They tend not to be so strong but once a layer of lightweight reinforced concrete has been laid above it they are fine.  The light cable is reproduction twisted cord, which we will be covering in a future page about lighting.

These beautifully painted beams, in an elegant apartment in Todi, have been stencilled using an old design copied from a similar apartment.  The owner traced an original and cut a stencil.  It just shows what can be done with a little time and patience.

This type is made by putting steel joists across the room and creating shallow brick arches between them using terracotta tiles.  The tiles are then coated with plaster and painted, usually white.  It is not unknown for someone to come along later and smooth off the whole ceiling with another layer of plaster to create a more modern look!

Often the plaster is removed these days to produce a ceiling with more character.  Once the plaster has been hacked off the whole ceiling is sand-blasted then the steel joists are painted, usually in a dark grey.  In this picture Luciano, one of our builders, is re-pointing between the tiles to consolidate and improve the look of the ceiling.  While the mortar is still a little damp the surplus is brushed off with a wire brush.  Luciano is a master at building arches.  You will see him in action in another page dedicated to arches which will be published later.

Here is another, much rarer, vaulted ceiling with the bricks laid in a herring bone pattern.  This one is in the north of Umbria.

Here is an economical alternative to hacking off all the plaster and repointing.  This is the ceiling in our holiday cottage in Migliano.  It was in excellent condition and we wanted to get it ready for use quickly so we painted the plasterwork in a terracotta colour and the steel beams in matt black.

Traditionally the Italian farmhouses housed all the animals on the ground floor and had the habitation above.  This saved building separate annexes and the heat from the animals helped warm the house in winter (the smell was a side effect you had to put up with!).  The problem with wooden beams is that they can rot in such humid conditions, and steel doesn't fare much better.  So, especially in houses nearer the valley floors, ceilings were built entirely of brick.  These are more tricky to build as the terracotta bricks have to lock against one another to form arches.  The spaces above are then filled with any old bits of brick and stone to form a level floor above.  The problem here is one of weight.  Heavy ceilings like this need good foundations!

Much rarer is this type of ceiling with curved edges all round.   The construction is of cane and wood and we are told that no one knows how to build a ceiling like this anymore.  Indeed a lost craft.  This picture is of the banqueting hall on the second floor of a grand palazzo, sadly showing signs of age but beautifully frescoed.  Naturally very light in weight they were expensive to build and decorate so only the wealthiest could afford them, hence the rarity.

So now we come to the more modern types of construction.  This concrete roof actually sits above the beautiful ceiling in the previous picture!  Good job you can't see it until you climb in the attic!  The beams are of pre-cast reinforced concrete and the infill is extruded terracotta blocks.  It is a lot heavier than the original wooden beams it replaces but will probably last a good few years.