The process of cutting crown moulding is where you (as the carpenter) is asked to install  pieces of wood (crown moulding in this case) at the intersection of the walls and ceiling. In most cases those walls and ceiling were framed by the worst carpenter in the world and he used the worlds worst framing lumber! It's now your job to cut inside corners and outside corners and maybe some scarf joints as well and make it all look good, Hmmm. . . With what I've stated, there are still obstacles to over come.

• Is there blocking (joists running perpendicular to the moulding) in the ceiling?

• Is there "something" to nail the moulding to.

• Does the ceiling sag or bow?

• Are the corners of the room square?

• Are your moulding's long enough to cover the walls in one piece?

• If not, how will you plan the joint?

• Are there any A/C registers in the ceiling and are they in the path of the crown?

• Are you install stain or paint grade moulding? It does make a difference.

As you can see there are a several things that need to be taking into account before you go about cutting and installing your crown moulding. Addressing the first two concerns.

• Is there blocking (joists running perpendicular to the moulding) in the ceiling?

• Is there "something" to nail the moulding to.

This problem is greatest when the crown runs parallel with the joists in the ceiling. This is because the last joist will in all likely hood not fall where you need it to be. In new construction this is usually taken care of by installing short cripple joist running perpendicular to the main joist and back to the wall plate. Since in all likelihood you're not going to be doing the work in new construction, you will need a way to secure your moulding to the ceiling when you encounter this situation. The problem becomes exaggerated when the ceiling is very wavy and at outside corners. In most cases Power Grab ^TM (a water based instant adhesive) and nails will hold the crown to the ceiling. By not addressing these questions before you being your crown moulding installation, is one way to really get yourself in trouble and produce a mediocre job.

• Does the ceiling sag or bow and by how much?

If the ceiling isn't flat (which it rarely is) it just makes your life a bit harder. When you install crown it wants to stay within a constant plan. If the ceiling is wavy it causes the crown to move up or down making it fall out of this plane. This problem is exaggerated when it's close to either an inside or outside corner. You can pretty much "conceal" the differences in the field, but it is very hard to do so at the corners. In some very server cases the ceiling around the crown moulding will need to be skim coated to lessen the effects of this. This is a skilled process applying joint compound to the area and feathering it out to blend the ceiling and crown. This might better be left to a professional.

• Are the corners of the room square?

How square your corners are will be a function of how easy it's going to be to match inside and outside corners. You can check your corners by using a framing square or bevel square. Once you know how good or bad they are, you'll be able to make test pieces to determine what the correct angels will be for your corners.

• Are your moulding's long enough to cover the walls in one piece?

Nowadays you are able to still get moulding lengths of up to 16ft, but more often then not you will get 8, 10 and 12 ft pieces. If your room is larger then 12ft. you will most likely have to "splice" two piece of crown together. When you do this you will be making what is commonly called a "scarf" joint. The process of making this joint is to first cut opposing 45° cuts on each end of the moulding pieces to join. Apply glue to both and using clamps and small brads to hold them together till the glue dries. Once dried you will have effective made a longer piece of moulding that you will be able to cut in one piece to fit the space required.

• If not, how will you plan the joint?

If you are going to splice the joint on the wall and not glue it up first as described above, you might want to plan before hand where it should go. The best place is of course the least obvious. You don't want it to fall over a door or window if at all possible.

• Is there any A/C registers in the ceiling and are they in the path of the crown?

This question involves making sure whether or not there are any registers located in the ceiling or on the walls. If there are and they do not interfere with the path of the crown they won't be a problem. But if there should be and they do interfere with the path of the crown, it will be necessary for you to have them relocated.

• Are you installing stain or paint grade moulding? It does make a difference.

This might seem like a no brainier, but it's a really good question. You have a much greater range of options when you install paint grade moulding's as opposed to stained grade moulding's. The most obvious of which is that you have the ability to fit your pieces using whatever methods may be appropriate at that time. When dealing with stained grade moldings you have to follow a bit different protocol . To even take this one step further, if your moldings are pre-finished, it's totally different ball game.

To block or not to block that is the question?

It goes without saying that if you have a place to nail your crown into you're most likely going to do a better job of installing it. Whether or not you install blocking in the ceiling is really a function of the type of crown you're going to install and how bad the walls and ceilings are. If you're going to install a paint grade crown the need for blocking really becomes less than if you're going to install a stained grade crown. Since the installation of stain grade crown is more demanding the need to secure the molding better is of great importance. No matter what methods you employ to coax your moulding into position it will do you no good if you can't keep in that position. If you chose not to install blocking or cannot install blocking then the use of a product like Power Grab ^TM (a water based instant adhesive) will help hold the crown to the ceiling in only a few seconds after applying it . If you use a produce like Liquid Nails™ it will only prevent movement after it dries meaning the moulding needs to be secure until it does.

Tools and Equipment: Page 2 . . .

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