crown molding, could use a little help... - Page 4 - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Meetre · 11-03-2009, 04:14 PM

Quote:

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.

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

Meetre · 11-03-2009, 04:16 PM

Quote:

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.

Great advice from Gus!

Just remember, finish work is about "creating the illusion of perfection". It's rarely perfect.

**Gus Dering** · 11-03-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meetre

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

Wow, you used a lot less words than me. Nice

jhark123 · 11-03-2009, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meetre

Great advice from Gus!

Just remember, finish work is about "creating the illusion of perfection". It's rarely perfect.

I just want to reiterate that. There are many tricks you will learn along the way that make trim work faster, easier and better looking.

One that I like is that if you are doing stain grade base moulding and the outside corner miters end up too shallow (you cut for a 90 degree corner but you should have cut for a 90.5 degree corner) you can roll the shaft of a round nailset along the point of the miter crushing the wood fibers and bringing the tips together.

WarnerConstInc. · 11-03-2009, 05:44 PM

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.

carpentershane · 11-03-2009, 09:20 PM

Quote:

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.

A CA glue like FastCap's 2P-10 can expedite this process! Use the glue and activator and some 23 gauge pins and in a couple of minutes you are ready to go.

**loneframer** · 11-03-2009, 09:37 PM

Quote:

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.

I do the same thing on the fence of the miter box, only I score it with a knife. When you bed the crown against the fence, set it at that line for proper miter. The knife score will stay sharper then a pencil mark for extended crown sessions.

I don't use crown stops, the fence scribe works great.

J.C. · 11-03-2009, 09:54 PM

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.

WarnerConstInc. · 11-03-2009, 09:57 PM

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!!

CharlesD · 11-03-2009, 10:01 PM

Quote:

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.

You'll get it Free. I never found any crown to be easy going but once you get going on it it gets easier.
Always work one direction is my nickels worth of advice. Don't nail it tight until you get all the joints lined up and matched. I think someone already mentioned doing that.
If the crown is stained, stain your raw cuts. It makes them look better if you are off a small fraction that isn't enough to redo it.

**loneframer** · 11-03-2009, 10:12 PM

It gets easier with practice.

Meetre · 11-03-2009, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loneframer

It gets easier with practice.

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

stp57 · 11-03-2009, 10:20 PM

I am not a fan of Ryobi tools but someone recommended me to this product & it actually works. I have never used the laser, but I use the airgrip base with the arm & it holds up one end of 16' crown molding perfectly. I let it run for hours & I haven't had to change the batteries yet.
Steve
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/...001-large.jpeg
http://products.howstuffworks.com/ry...001-review.htm
http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodwork...s-laser-level/

Quote:

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.

**loneframer** · 11-03-2009, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meetre

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

It's not you. That was the biggest PITA crown I ever installed. The spring angle made me think I was installing it upside down, until I tried one upside down and it looked like dookey.

carpentershane · 11-03-2009, 10:24 PM

Quote:

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!!

If you use that activator you have to be quick, it sets in 3-4 seconds and is fully cured in 30 seconds or so. I have had to recut pieces because I bobbled the mitre as it set...

skyhook · 11-03-2009, 10:38 PM

Quote:

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.

excellent.

J.C. · 11-04-2009, 06:59 PM

For anyone that for whatever reason actually wants to cut crown laying flat, here's a handy link I've had stashed away. http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/ar...odworking&ID=2

tomstruble · 11-04-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

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!!

me either i was thinking a spreader bar would help hold things tighter

WarnerConstInc. · 11-04-2009, 08:03 PM

Where's the damn pictures all ready!!

**loneframer** · 11-04-2009, 08:51 PM

Here's some