USG Donn Suspended Ceiling Grid

USG Donn Suspended Ceiling Grid

Rondo is now the Australian supplier of Donn Ceiling grid. This article reviews the exposed grid system from USG and highlights the features that make it a great choice.

The system comes in 3.6m mainbars, 1200 T bars and 600 T bars. Wall angles are available in standard L, extra wide L, metal and aluminium shadow line profiles. Products comes boxed in cardboard boxes to prevent damage to the grid. 

Main bar

The main bar is constructed from galvanized steel to prevent rusting, with its visible face sprayed white to match the majority of ceiling tiles on the market. This grid system also comes in black, which I will cover in a future review. The T-bar punch holes are set at 100mm centres, alternating from left to right to create double punch holes. Whilst this doesn’t sound like a big deal, it makes construction easier. This is due to most ceiling layouts being either 1200mm x 600mm or 600mm x 600mm. This is turn reduces effort when counting spacing clipping in 1200 and 600 bars.  In addition, the punch holes along the top of the main bar spine are great for fish hook style hanging, as using lower holes can cause problems fitting thicker tiles.

Main bars connect adequately once connected, provided the bars are parallel when connection occurs. USG Donn Main bar can be disengaged without tools too, which is a bonus.

T Bars (cross bars)

Pictured below is the QRC clip that is present on both 1200 and 600 bars. The quick release clip (QRC) allows these bars to be quickly disengaged without tools, unlike other grid systems. As a result, the T-bar remains undamaged and can be reused. However, it’s important to note that the material used for the QRC clip has recently changed from spring steel to either galvanized or another, weaker steel. Although the engagement remains strong, it no longer produces the distinctive loud click that once indicated a bar was securely engaged. Therefore, extra care must be taken during construction to ensure all bars are properly engaged. While other grids have similar characteristics, I miss the crisp engagement sound of the old model.

T bars feature a raised up lip that sits over the top of the main bar on engage. This prevents twisting and helps the bars to sit flat providing what I feel is a way cleaner look. You can see this in the intersection picture below.

Cross Section details

Usg clips in from the left hand side of the punch mark, with the spring tap to the outside.

Once clipped together the result is a strong stable join, that sits flat

The result is cleaner looking joins as pictured below. In the picture, the main bar has been pulled slightly sideways to demonstrate the effect of the lipped T-bars. Whilst several grid manufacturers still use butt style joins all round, I definitely feel these look better.

In conclusion, USG Donn Suspended Ceiling Grid provides a high quality, cost effective solution for anyone looking for an exposed grid system.

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Rondo supplies Donn in Australia; you can visit their website at

DONN® Exposed Grid Ceiling System | Rondo Australia

You can also visit USG website at

https://www.usgboral.com/en_au/products