Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum banner

Crown moulding installation

52K views 437 replies 58 participants last post by  cedarboarder 
#1 ·
So I did this kitchen today. The backing was already installed so it was just cutting and installing the two piece crown. It was pre finished cabinet crown.

It took me 6 hours working almost entirely solo. Is that a long time compared to what it should take? I don't do cabinet crown a lot so I'm sure I'm slower at it than some guys.

Also, what's the best way to scribe the crown when it's two different profiles? I would cut a beveled miter on the piece to removed as much as I could and then just held it up and drew the profile of the wall crown on it. It took anywhere from I'd say 10 to 20 times of cutting/scribing to get it to fit.

Ceiling Wall Line Plaster Room

Property Room Furniture Countertop Cabinetry
Property Countertop Room Cabinetry Furniture
 
See less See more
3
#4 ·
Your install looks great. I run into the crown situation you had frequently so I came up with a quick solution because I'm not fond of pendants.

My trick involves getting a template of the existing crown traced onto a peice of paper, cutting that out, then projecting ( using a flashlight) that profile onto the scribe piece. I figured this out a few years back and have done it that way ever since.

To get the template you can either use a scrap peice of crown or slip paper behind a butt to wall that exists since you are overlapping.... Maybe sometime ill write this whole thing up with photos so it makes sense.

Here I had a traditional preprime I needed to meet with a shaker cherry that was already up. I had to do this 8 times on this particular job.
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Yeah. The profile on the cabinet crown was awful. I'm not very practiced yet with scribing. I can cope similar pieces together pretty well. I think I was taking at least 20 minutes per inside corner. Realizing it was going to be 6:00 or 7:00 when I was done, I caulked it when I got down to 1/32 gap.

I wish we got to do it more cause it was fun. I just felt like I was slow. So did my Dad. Lol. He called at 5:15 and said "I assume you're at home?" Nope... Still here for a couple hours.

I think we need to bid more for cabinet crown. Especially when their is room crown to deal with.
 
#10 ·
It's pre finished cabinet crown and painted room crown. Both white but different shades. Client is painting on this job.

What is the general way people handle the differing profiles? I ended up reading some last night and saw the idea of crown blocks. Most everybody says use the same crown in the room and in the cabinets. I guess if it's custom cabinets that works as you can finish the crown to match the cabinets and paint it for the room. But this is pre finished cabinet crown that's of course very pricey compared to PFJ pine crown and backer.
 
#11 · (Edited)
You did fine and will get faster with practice.

Did you look for a crown on the cabinets that would match the crown on the room? or quote replacing the crown throughout the room?

You could also replace the two internal crown runs on the walls with the crown on the cabinet and get rid of 4 of the difficult copes. You can argue the aesthetic case either way.

But again, you'll get faster as you develop your personal bag of tricks.
 
#13 ·
You did fine, and will get faster with practice. If it was really 10 or 20 cuts and scribes per cut, then you should be able to cut that down quite a bit, scribing very carefully with a compass rather than free-hand drawing.



What tools are you using to cope? Grinders, sanders, files, etc., can make it go much faster. Back cut really hard with a grinder or sander, then do the adjustments to the cope more easily.



Did you look for a crown on the cabinets that would match the crown on the room? or quote replacing the crown throughout the room? Even in a budget situation you should quote the option if you can.



You could also replace the two internal crown runs on the walls with the crown on the cabinet and get rid of 4 of the difficult copes. You can argue the aesthetic case either way.



But again, you'll get faster as you develop your personal bag of tricks.

It really was at least 10 per piece I'm sure. Usually when it's the same profile I'm one to two tries per piece.

I have the fast cap scribe which I don't think would have worked well for that profiled of a piece. Also didn't have a pencil that worked in it with me. I should get a compass.

I was using a jigsaw without a coping foot (don't own one yet) and the RAS.

The crown was $120 per 8' piece. That's a massive cost difference to PFJ pine crown from HD. This was a job we were reusing trim in cause of budget concerns.

I don't know if we are able to get the crown in the same profile as the 3 1/2" crown that was in the room. I would guess not though.

The only wall run inside the cabinets was above the sink. We didn't run crown above the range because we tiled to the ceiling. I called a buddy who is a designer at a high end kitchen company here. He said they try to never run the cabinet crown on the wall. And I agree, I didn't like that idea for aesthetics. He said either wall crown, or a valence between cabinets with the cabinet crown going across. Often times with a cabinet finish soffit with 4" cans over the sink.

So I had 4 on this job, 2 at the sink, and the 2 at the ends of the cabinets. I imagine I spent at least 30 mins per piece with those 4 pieces.

I've done very little pre finished crown work and even less joining to other profiles. I know I'll get better. I was just a bit frustrated at the end of the day cause I felt like it took too long and the results weren't as good as I would have liked.
 
#16 ·
The RAS is awesome. I used it on speed 5 out of 6 yesterday. You grind away a lot of material and then slow down and fine tune.

Did you use the jig with the coping foot? I read an article that I think was by Gary Katz talking about not being impressed with it at first. He said he called David and told him and David asked if he was using the jig like he said. Gary said he wasn't. Then he started using it and like the foot much better.
 
#15 ·
I keep a coping foot on one jigsaw all the time.

You need to make a jig to hold the crown steady, in position when you use it. David Collins recommends this right on his website.

For raw wood i have to trace the edge of the profile so i can see the profile line.

Coping foot, rat tail file and a piece of sand paper.

The festool ras115 is super easy to control. Variable speed, 4 1/2" disc.

I dont use it for coping mouldings (jig saw, file, sandpaper), but do use it to fit everything else.

Probably my favorite Festool sander.
 
#17 ·
Only have one jigsaw. Dewalt 18v. I would like to get the carvex soon and have a coping foot for it. What blades work well with the carvex for coping?

How do you cope different crown to each other? Or do you just make all the crown yourself? :)

I'm sure having the right tools for the job will help. Not that the RAS doesn't work for coping but I really think a coping foot will be nice.
 
#25 ·
I have started using the coping foot and a grinder on occasion. I am nowhere good enough to do the higher cost trim with either one yet though, so I still use the good old fashioned coping saw, files and sandpaper route when I am doing any of the expensive stuff.
 
#30 ·
To me, I think that way he did it would attract more of my attention. I'm not saying what he did was wrong in any way.

I just mean, if I was there for dinner, I'd probably look at that corner most of the night thinking about different ways of handling that situation. I'm weird like that.lol
 
#44 ·
Thanks Travis, when it first arrived they did not sell it separately.

I'll get the Collins Coping foot for the cordless.

I hated the coping foot until I made the box to hold the crown in place. Use T-track to make an adjustable box. Difference is day and night.

I use one of the long Carvex blades with the foot.

RAS, great sander, the unsung hero of the lineup.

Tom
 
#62 ·
Travis,
Adjustable coping box. The bench hook on the bottom slips over my saw wings. The toggles then clamp it down. Crown gets cut in the box. Base,chair, etc get clamped and cut flat. The quick and dirty ones others mentioned are also very effective.

I use an older Bosch jigsaw dedicated to the coping foot and a 244 blade. When not in use it lives in a Systainer with my other jigsaw a selection of blades and the files I use most frequently to tune copes.
 

Attachments

#63 ·
Travis,

Adjustable coping box. The bench hook on the bottom slips over my saw wings. The toggles then clamp it down. Crown gets cut in the box. Base,chair, etc get clamped and cut flat. The quick and dirty ones others mentioned are also very effective.



I use an older Bosch jigsaw dedicated to the coping foot and a 244 blade. When not in use it lives in a Systainer with my other jigsaw a selection of blades and the files I use most frequently to tune copes.

Looks nice. You and Darcy have both mentioned using files for tuning the copes. The only file I have is for metal. Where should I find a file for wood? I'm googling rat tail file (the kind Darcy mentioned) and getting almost nothing. I guess I was thinking it would show up with results from good sites to buy from or with hits from forums or something.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top