Installing Crown Molding

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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Hey Pilots!

Without a bunch of fancy equipment, is there a trick to cutting inside corners on crown molding?

I have 4 walls in my living room that meet at a 90 degree angle and 3 that meet at a 45 degree angle (All inside corners)

I am thinking of just getting a cheapo plastic mitre jig+saw from Lowes for $15 Is that the best route to go?

I do have a circular saw with a base that can be angled but I suspect I need to get a much more significant setup to use that saw.

I saw a guy on youtube using the cheapo jig and it looks like that and a bit of wood filler may do the job but maybe one of you knows an old trick your grand pappy taught you to cut perfect corners every time? :dunno:
 
Find a neighbor that does construction, spend $15 on beer, and have him do the cuts.
 
With enough filler you can cover up purd near anything. Caulk works well for that.

But, I doubt that a $15 miter jig is going to be anything but a waste of $15. Crown molding is yea olde paine in yea olde asse with anything less than a good quality compound miter saw. And then you have the problem that your 90 degree corners between the walls isn't really 90 degrees...
 
Unless you have a really small amount of molding to do, I'd recommend against trying to do it with a hand saw and mitre box. You can spend probably $150 and get a mitre saw that will do a MUCH better job. Filled seams kind of take the gloss off the project.
 
Go with the plastic mitre box and then use 15 Watt incandescent bulbs in all fixtures. Keep the blinds closed too.
 
Bryan, you can do it just fine with a $15 mitre box.........if you know how to do it. You can also screw up many dollars worth of moulding with a high dollar saw if you don't. I have installed miles of the stuff and it's second nature to me, I still cut a piece backwards occasionally. Buy an extra piece of moulding, cut 4" pieces and practice to cuts till it makes sense. If you have questions feel free to shoot me a PM.
 
mikeinbama said:
Bryan, you can do it just fine with a $15 mitre box.........if you know how to do it. You can also screw up many dollars worth of moulding with a high dollar saw if you don't. I have installed miles of the stuff and it's second nature to me, I still cut a piece backwards occasionally. Buy an extra piece of moulding, cut 4" pieces and practice to cuts till it makes sense. If you have questions feel free to shoot me a PM.
Click to expand...

I bet you would love to visit Denton Texas
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Hey Pilots!

Without a bunch of fancy equipment, is there a trick to cutting inside corners on crown molding?

I have 4 walls in my living room that meet at a 90 degree angle and 3 that meet at a 45 degree angle (All inside corners)

I am thinking of just getting a cheapo plastic mitre jig+saw from Lowes for $15 Is that the best route to go?

I do have a circular saw with a base that can be angled but I suspect I need to get a much more significant setup to use that saw.

I saw a guy on youtube using the cheapo jig and it looks like that and a bit of wood filler may do the job but maybe one of you knows an old trick your grand pappy taught you to cut perfect corners every time? :dunno:
Click to expand...

I did crown molding in a living room using the kit you describe. It was the plastic foam molding that looks very expensive and fancy, so I was able to use a hand saw and a miter. I cut the corner first so I could "shave" the angle, since my walls weren't exactly 90 degrees to each other. After I got the corner done, I cut the molding to length. I used liquid nails to glue it in place. I painted it before gluing in place.

If you are working with fine wood, I would recommend getting a good miter saw.
 
Youtube has some nice videos for it.
 
If you don't want to buy a slide/compound miter saw, check with tool rental places, particularly the big box hardware places like lowes and Home Depot. If this is a one time thing it might make sense. The flip side is I bought a 10" saw a few years back for about 200.00. I've used it about 5-10 times so it has already paid for itself in rental fees and I still have the saw.
 
Depending on the crown? Corner blocks will allow you to avoid any miters. In the end it'll probably look better than a rookie job with a cheap miter guide. Better yet, hire it done and you won't have to buy the material three times because you cut it wrong. I've been in the millwork business all my life and I hate crown molding!
 
I did it with a low end mitre box and saw. It came out OK in the one bedroom I did it.
 
RJM62 said:
Yep. And if you're really careful, you might not even need the caulk.


Rich
Click to expand...

Did four rooms with the coping saw. Results were much better than using any kind of miter box or saw I tried before.

Cheers
 
X3 Skier said:
Did four rooms with the coping saw. Results were much better than using any kind of miter box or saw I tried before.

Cheers
Click to expand...

That video is for flat mounted baseboards.....

Crown is a whole bigger can of worms..
 
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N801BH said:
That video is for flat mounter baseboards.....

Crown is a whole bigger can of worms..
Click to expand...

Agree but I built up some fairly simple crowns with individual pieces of baseboard, cove and quarter round moulding rather than a complicated single piece moulding. Easier process for me since I have the time.

Cheers
 
a friend lent me a really nice saw that is mounted to a table and cuts angles and has all kinds of fancy crap along with it so hopefully this will go smoothly. Realistically I should be in the hospital in about 45 minutes
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
a friend lent me a really nice saw that is mounted to a table and cuts angles and has all kinds of fancy crap along with it so hopefully this will go smoothly. Realistically I should be in the hospital in about 45 minutes
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Not the hospital, well, only the ER. BTDT, got the scars. They just stitch it up and send you home.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
a friend lent me a really nice saw that is mounted to a table and cuts angles and has all kinds of fancy crap along with it so hopefully this will go smoothly. Realistically I should be in the hospital in about 45 minutes
Click to expand...

:lol:

Stay away from any alcohol and perhaps things will be okay.
 
N801BH said:
That video is for flat mounted baseboards.....

Crown is a whole bigger can of worms..
Click to expand...

Nah, I've coped 80% of all the trim I've ever hung, I never traced a thing. Just cut at a 45 and follow the ridgeline.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
a friend lent me a really nice saw that is mounted to a table and cuts angles and has all kinds of fancy crap along with it so hopefully this will go smoothly. Realistically I should be in the hospital in about 45 minutes
Click to expand...

Hopefully it's a compound miter saw. You've got 9 other fingers, no worries.
 
JB1842 said:
Find a neighbor that does construction, spend $15 on beer, and have him do the cuts.
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Bryan, hire my Dad for an afternoon.... He'd finish carpentry as a hobby sideline to flying when he was with Braniff.
 
I will probably have to hire him after I'm done to fix whatever I messed up. That's my modus operandi usually. I did go ahead and spend the money on a lot nicer jig for cutting various angles with this particular saw that should at least allow me a bit of alcohol while I work on this
 
Then you know where to find us.
 
1. Will never do crown molding again.
It is on my list with removing wallpaper and re-piping the kitchen sink.

2. The hand saw jig was better than the fancy one.

I borrowed the fancy saw, bought the nice jig but it was clunky and I kept cutting the angles incorrectly. The spring angle would be right but the other angle would be off.

I wasted a lot of molding.
I got pizzed and put an ad on craigslist (sorry Mike, I try to avoid mixing friends / work. Too hard to complain and fire friends)

Anyway someone was going to come out and fix it but it was going to take 2 days and I got impatient.

I went and bought the hand jig (mitre box) and started cutting and got a chunk done but then realized I made a cut backwards AFTER I nailed / liquid nailed it up.

I got a hammer and smashed some things.

Went back through my craigslist responses and found another but they are all "Well um, let me think about it, blah blah"

I sat down patiently this evening after the kids were asleep and thought through all of the angles and marked them 10 times before making any cuts and finally got it.

3rd time is the charm. The room is half done and I can wrap it up in about an hour.

Lessons learned:
1. The more expensive tool is not always the best tool.
2. I really can do stuff if I put a lot of thought into it
3. Regardless of #2, I should always just hire a guy.


At any rate, it is looking pretty good. Especially for a first time crack at it.


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Looks great!

When you used the saw, did you cut against the fence (miter angle only), or flat (upside down+backwards with miter + bevel angle)?

Those flat miter+bevel cuts always used to drive me nuts. One trick I learned is to pre-make and glue two small corners - one inside and one outside, using about 18 inches of crown on each side. And then mark the corners individually as A,B,C and D AND mark the top and bottom side as well.

Before each cut I will put the corner pieces against the wall and transfer the appropriate A/B/C or D, as well as top/bottom marks, AND a final mark to know which is the keep and which is the discard parts. And then I use a cheat sheet to see how I should set up the saw and which way around the crown goes.


No matter how much experience I get, as soon as I stop doing that, within the next 5 pieces I'll know I'll make a cut mistake. So now I just look OCD with my little corners all the time, but oh well :)
 
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deonb said:
Looks great!

When you used the saw, did you cut against the fence (miter angle only), or flat (upside down+backwards with miter + bevel angle)?

Those flat miter+bevel cuts always used to drive me nuts. One trick I learned is to pre-make and glue two small corners - one inside and one outside, using about 18 inches of crown on each side. And then mark the corners individually as A,B,C and D AND mark the top and bottom side as well.

Before each cut I will put the corner pieces against the wall and transfer the appropriate A/B/C or D, as well as top/bottom marks, AND a final mark to know which is the keep and which is the discard parts. And then I use a cheat sheet to see how I should set up the saw and which way around the crown goes.


No matter how much experience I get, as soon as I stop doing that, within the next 5 pieces I'll know I'll make a cut mistake. So now I just look OCD with my little corners all the time, but oh well :)
Click to expand...

I did finally make a handful of "example cuts" from some scrap and lined then up with what I was about to cut each time.
 
For next time, a Dremel with a rough sanding drum works great, a lot easier than a coping saw, to remove material for inside corners. Just scribe the profile and sand to the line.
 
It's looking really, really good. But I'm still trying to avoid him while he's working on it. When steam starts coming out his ears, I've learned it's best to just lay low.

But thanks for your hard work, B. It really does look great.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I did finally make a handful of "example cuts" from some scrap and lined then up with what I was about to cut each time.
Click to expand...

I think someone suggested that in about post #5, cant remember who it was though......... I think the same guy suggested the cheap box thing too......not sure though. Seriously, it looks good and you are right, you just have to think about the cuts. It is weird to cut it upside down and backwards, but that's how you do it. (not sure I would use liquid nails on trim???) Good job nonetheless!!!
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
a friend lent me a really nice saw that is mounted to a table and cuts angles and has all kinds of fancy crap along with it so hopefully this will go smoothly. Realistically I should be in the hospital in about 45 minutes
Click to expand...


Ok, I laughed out loud at that one. :D
 
Dad would have been just has happy to have one of your fancy homemade brews and then show you how to do it.

None the less, glad you figured it out and made some progress.... Looks like you'll one day have the home of you and E's dreams... and hopefully long before the 3-months before you need to sell it mark
 
AggieMike88 said:
Dad would have been just has happy to have one of your fancy homemade brews and then show you how to do it.

None the less, glad you figured it out and made some progress.... Looks like you'll one day have the home of you and E's dreams... and hopefully long before the 3-months before you need to sell it mark
Click to expand...


Oh I could sell it... It just eats money.
I sometimes miss apartment life.
 
nice work.

I've installed lots of crown, it's tricky. Looks like you did well.
 
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