Crown Molding...DIY or hire?

[CJMcd]

I am considering installing crown molding in our condo. I have a total of 140 LF with quite a few corners (13 inside, 9 ouside). I am fairly with "normal" home improvement projects, but have never attempted crown molding. I have gotten a few off hand costs for installation (I would like to purchase, paint and finish my own materials), but the information I've gotten for labor costs has varied from $5.00/LF to $16.00/LF...Any ideas?

[Rich]

I would do it myself if I were you. $5/lf is pretty steep. If you're painting it - I would definately do it myself. You can cover quite a few issues with painted trim. Stain grade is much more difficult.
To get the angles/bevels you can use our crown molding (http://www.construction-resource.com/crown-molding.php) calculator.

[grumpydasmurf]

What I've found about people who DIY crown modling is they usually make alot of scrap before they get the hang of it :)

[Rich]

True.. but it's great experience when friends ask for help :))

[mfinley919]

A couple of things you can do to really help yourself, is to cope the corners. Coping will make putting up the crown easier, it will be a bit more time consuming to do the actual copes, but you make up for it in the installation of the crown and it is not really that hard, especially if you are doing it in MDF.

I always love that first piece of molding that goes up when I am coping, because there are no copes or cuts, it just butts on both ends to the wall, ummm.... heaven...

Of course I hate the last piece because it is coped on both ends.

The second thing you can do to get a perfect job and have absolutely no waste is to always do a test piece before you cope the actual finish molding. I use a piece about 2 feet long and do a test cope on it and get it perfect, then I repeat it on the actual piece that is going up.

Once you go cope you never go back baby. Just think about those beautiful nice butt ends on each piece of molding... it goes up pretty quick that way.

Also coping makes for tighter joints, which make for less caulking and look better. Coped joints are supposed to remain more stable and not open up like mitered joints.

Another easy method I employ is I go around the room with a stud finder and mark all the wall studs in pencil. 2nd thing is to go around the room and make little registration marks where the bottom of the molding rests on the wall. Then when you are putting up the molding all you do is line up on those registration marks for a perfect job.

Use a nail gun, about 1000% easier to do crown with a nail gun as opposed to a hamer and nail, every time you try to set those pesky nails you will be moving the molding, with a nail gun the molding stays in place and the nail gun magically puts a nail in place without effecting your molding registration.

The worst of any crown molding job is usually out of your control - it is the shape of the walls and ceiling, how square or out of square they are. However, once again if you are coping, the mitering hunt and peck issues are not involved.

Get a cope saw and a half round file. After you cope, use the file to make a razor sharp edge for a perfect cope.

Good luck.

[Tom R]

mfinley919,

Lots of good advice there on crown molding. The only thing I do differently is I cope all the pieces, including my first. I put up a temporary 2'er, representing my 'last' piece, then I cope my first piece to it and install it, then remove my 'temp', go around the room coping one end of each piece, the 'butt' end of the last piece slides under the coped end of my first piece. Coping two ends of one piece? I'm scared of that!

[Rich]

Try double ended scribes when doing $40 trim :) that scares me. I have heard of that method Tom but never used it. I've done both mitered and coped... mitered works out good on some smaller jobs. But if it's over 8' lengths I always cope it.

[Tom R]

Try it next time. It really is simple, and less chance for error on that last piece.

[nick62]

I have tried coping on the crown I'm doing. It's almost 8" and quite detailed. I could not do it.

[Rich]

When I cope trim I use a 5" grinder with 60 grit wheel, a dremel, sandpaper, a router in a table, and a small file. Never used a coping saw for much. I start with the router to take out the brunt of the wood, taper it back with the grinder as much as I can, touch it with the dremel for what it can get, fine tune with the file.
The worst crown to install is when it has a high spring angle (60 is very difficult). You end up taking so much more wood out with a much steeper angle. The edge gets sooo thin that it can chip out.

[nick62]

Rich I will try your method again, but this molding is pretty detailed and I was not doing to well with it.

[Rich]

Do you have a picture of it?

[colonial carpentry]

I know this post comes a little late for this project ,but i can sure help you out with this one rich,forget about the router ,grinder and the file.I cope all of my crown moulding with the Jig saw,I also cope all four pieces.I have done crown moulding up to 11 1/4" with very great ease and perfection.The jig saw must be used in conjuction with a 2x6 block that is cut to match the angle of your cope.tough to explain but i will in further detail if anyone is interested.

[Rich]

If I hadn't been brought up doing logwork and stuff I would probably do it that way too colonial. I've gotten so used to doing things with a grinder that it's actually pretty easy. A lot easier for me than a coping saw, jig saw, or other method... at least so far :)
For others that's probably the way to go... but for me just my personal preference to get really dusty with a grinder.

[Tom R]

I've always just used a coping saw no problem. I usually make the 'copes' before I even get to the job. The customers usually don't notice, but when I'm done they tell me I'm the 'fastest' they've seen. No sense arguing. :D

[Rich]

LOL - that's pretty good.

[colonial carpentry]

Here is a very good way to get perfect crown moulding coped corners.First -off with nick cutting 8'' crown ,you have to cut the trimwhile it is lying down on the back face.When you determine the spring angle,miter,and bevel,cut a piece of 2x8 to match the cut on the crown.I cope all four pieces in a room,and i only cope the right side of the piece.After you have the angle on the crown,measure and mark the length but dont cut yet.Clamp the block of 2x8 on to the crown so that it creates an even plane to rest the table of the jig saw on,ya still with me,now start coping with your jig saw you will get a perfect crisp line with plenty of the stock cleared from the back of the crown.If the coping works out, cut to length.I add an 1/8 of an inch to all my measurements and spring fit all coped corners.Fit the corners by rolling the crown till it is tight ,top and bottom.If the crown is being stained i glue the coped edge just to seal off any moisture intake>Good luck and write back when you become hooked on cutting crown this way!

[Tom R]

Colonial, sounds interesting, but I'm not getting the 'picture'. Maybe my mind is 'blocked'. Can you try explaining again, or maybe provide a 'mid-cut' picture.

[colonial carpentry]

WOW had to work hard enough to get this pic up here! I hope someone can benefit from it!

[colonial carpentry]

Obviously clamp everything down so there are no gaps in between the boards .

[Rich]

That's a pretty good way to do it.. do you use an upcut blade in the jigsaw?

[Tom R]

Colonial,

Thanks for taking the time. Pretty ingenious method, I'm sure plenty will benefit from it. Although I actually 'enjoy' hand coping crown, I will definitely give this method a shot.

Seems more geared toward 'speed' than 'precision', do you do it on 'stain-grade' jobs?

[colonial carpentry]

Actually Rich,I use a bi-metal blade made by bosch not for any other reason than that it seems to last longer than other blades that i have tried. Tom-Furthermore i actualy use this method to achieve a higher degree of accuracy in the cope.The reason that alot of crown will not fit is because the carpenter cannot clear enough stock on the back face using a hand saw to get the cope up tight to the other piece.I use this method on any species of hardwood or softwood ,stained or painted.the only other thing that i forgot to mention is the very bottom tip of the crown i cut back on the miter saw before i start to cope(90 deg. corners straight back,22.5 deg icut it on a 45deg) If you have cut crown before you should know what i am talking about.its hard to put into words.