Crown Moulding Cope Or Miter Joints?

m1911

[quote=loneframer;636307]SPEAK FOR YOURSELF FOOL!

loneframer

[quote=m1911;636323]I'll bet Boy George could still kick your ass.

m1911

did you mean kick or lick?

loneframer

Yeah, both, not in any particular order.

Coastal Carp

When I learned trim work from My Father, there was never another way to go other than coping. I have found over the years, in "trac" developements, you see mitre cuts everywhere because they want quanity rather then quality . In "custom" work, you see coped joints; takes a little more time but the look is cleaner all the way around... Always cope crown, base......

willworkforbeer

All right then you bunch of muther copers, how do you keep your outside miters from separating huh? Cope those too?

KentWhitten

You don't have any troubles making friends do you?

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

willworkforbeer

Funny that you should mention that, haha

basswood

Here are a few tips for keeping outside miters together.

1) Glue, pin and CLAMP them together (I use Collins clamps)

2) Crown at outside corners should be secured more heavily for 2-3' on each side of the joint and fastened more lightly at the coped ends or ideally the other end of a piece of crown with an outside corner is a butt cut behind a cope. The cope allows the "floating end" of the piece behind it to move.

3) Install outside corners tight to the corner in the dry season, but if it is the humid season or the moisture content of the crown is above 10%, leave a 1/16" gap between the crown and the wall, so when the crown shrinks it can move in toward the corner without "bottoming out" and forcing the miter open. MDF is more stable than wood across the width of the molding but moves more along the long axis... so long runs of MDF crown are helped by running these outside corners slightly long too. The small gaps between the outside corner crown and the wall are caulked with a flexible caulk.

Leaving small gaps behind crown is also a good idea when the crown is installed across the grain of wood columns, posts or newels. In the column photo here I do the same thing with the base and basecap, but hide the gap on the back side of the column.

I do all these things automatically, and hardly give it a thought... this stuff doesn't add anytime to the job.

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