Installing Crown Molding With Few Headaches

One of the most important architectural accents for detailing an interior space is known as cornice, or more often, crown molding. It does a great job of smoothing the transition from the ceiling to the wall, and also does much to define the overall style of a particular room.

However, crown molding has a notorious reputation for being difficult to install. Nonetheless, if you'll follow these simple instructions, you can enhance the look of your room with relatively few headaches. Always remember, though: Keep safety first.

1. Plan well. This is neglected by many, but this is probably the most important thing to keep in mind if you want to avoid headaches.

Planning means that if you intend to use a few types of molding, choose the size and style first. Also, scale your casings as well as other moldings properly before you get into the real work.

Once you've decided on the pattern and the size that you'll be using for your crown molding, figure out how much crown molding you need to buy. Remember to allow enough for cutting waste. To do this, measure the room's perimeter and add 10 percent for waste.

2. Order materials. You'll need to order the molding, fasteners, adhesive, caulk, and any tools that you plan to use.

3. Assemble your materials. You need to double-check to make sure you have everything you need. If you're missing anything, why not get it now, before you start?

3. Take care of pre-finishing. Especially in cases where your finish is significantly more than involved than just one coat of white paint, you'll want to pre-finish the crown molding before you install it. Then do some touch-up after it's installed.

4. Lay it out. This means to draw a around your room, which shows the crown molding's bottom edge. The distance between the line and the ceiling should be the height of your molding.

Then make another line on your ceiling to mark where the projection for the molding will be. Finally, mark your wall studs as well as the ceiling joists.

5. Now start the installation. Find the corner which is probably least prominent in your room. You'll start here, since you won't always get a great match on your pattern with your last piece.

Remember that wood moldings are usually lapped at a straight joint and coped at an inside corner. Never lap or cope polyurethane moldings.

When you're cutting the crown molding, remember that it's upside-down on your miter box or saw. Also, to make sure your inside corner is tight, cut the crown molding a bit long and then spring it into its place.

6. Finish up your project. You should let the adhesive dry for a full 24 hours. Then look for holes that your fasteners made, and fill in all of these with caulk, at the bottom and top. Then either paint it or touch it up. Now you're ready to show off your new room!