Crown Molding, Could Use A Little Help...

Originally Posted by freemason21

so try and follow the ceiling but keep the crown straight at the same time? the reason i ask is i've worked for a guy who would take a level and make the crown straight as can be, and then fill in any gaps with calk or cut a piece of trim to use as a shim. basically if there was a large gap that spanned any length, he'd cut a piece to fill it in. i always thought it looked stupid. but then again im not the professional here. i've also worked for someone who would follow the ceiling, so i never really knew. i've never really asked its never been something i've learned in great deal how to do.

Originally Posted by Gus Dering

I personally feel that when you change the height of that last vertacal portion of the profile with a shim or scribing it off, that it is more apt to catch your eye than if you just roll with the ceiling.

You have to think on your feet a little bit here and determine for yourself what is going to look the best.

If the ceiling has a gentile sag in it for several feet and you can cheat it down on the wall a little and roll the spring angle down a little then I feel that would not be near as noticeable as two monster shims applied to the top of the crown.

The hardest thing to overcome is sharp bumps like you will find on a sloppy drywall finishing job. Bumping out or down a 1/4" in 12" is more than the crown can flex and you have to make a call, caulk all by itself or scribe a little here or there and caulk.

That shim on top should be used only in some extreme case where there is no way around it.

Remember that it always looks better from the floor. It never looks perfect from the staging sighting it down the length of the wall.

If it looks good from the floor, it is good.

That is not a license to be a hack either, just a mind trick to get through an ugly situation.

Originally Posted by Meetre

Which do you prefer? I usually decide by looking at it. Which will be less noticeable? go that route.

Originally Posted by Meetre

Great advice from Gus! Just remember, finish work is about "creating the illusion of perfection". It's rarely perfect.

Originally Posted by Leo G

Thanks for that tidbit of information Darcy.

Originally Posted by WarnerConstInc.

Wavy, bumpy wonky ceilings are my specialty.

I have glued outside corners, pined them, thrown one or two nails in and waited untill the next day to move the section of crown up to the wavy, dipped ceiling without pulling that outside corner apart.

With enough practice one will figure out all the little tricks to make an ugly crooked room look good crowned out.

Originally Posted by Gus Dering

Ok here is another little tip or two;

Cut a little block that is the same length as the distance from the ceiling to the bottom of the crown.

Go around the room and stick the block up against the ceiling and strike a little line on the bottom at all the corners and every 4-5 ft or so. Then you'll essentially have a dotted line to use as a gauge where the crown should be.

Originally Posted by Leo G

Thanks for that tidbit of information Darcy.

Originally Posted by freemason21

ok tomorrow im gonna be rippin down what i did and re-doing it. after looking at it for a while today i decided i dont like how it came out. im gonna have pictures and will post tomorrow thanks for all the help guys.

Originally Posted by loneframer

It gets easier with practice.

Originally Posted by Chris G

A dremel tool, (or even a $10 knock off) can be handy for coping. If you're using MDF, it's a bloody riot actually. Also, these might be handy, Never used them, but I cam across them at Lee Valley.

Originally Posted by Meetre

Is it me, or is that a wicked spring angle?

Originally Posted by WarnerConstInc.

I am going to have to say, after playing with the collins clamps a little, I do not like them.

I am going to have to get some of that FasctCap glue!!

Originally Posted by J.C.

The August/September issue of Fine Homebuilding has a nice little article about making a jig to check your cope. Basically a jig you set your coped piece of crown in with a little cut out window to see the back of your cope as it's butting against a scrap piece of crown. That way you can see were you have to take a little more off to get a good fit.
Some other really helpful tools to have if you start doing trim a little more often is a Collins Coping foot for you jig saw and Collins miter clamps. www.collinstool.com Also a few rat tail files can be pretty helpful too.

Originally Posted by WarnerConstInc.

I am going to have to say, after playing with the collins clamps a little, I do not like them.

I am going to have to get some of that FasctCap glue!!

Originally Posted by Leo G

Thanks for that tidbit of information Darcy.