This plastic-based architectural trim has many advantages over wood. It's more flexible, it's cheaper, tends not to split when nailed or screwed, won't expand or contract from humidity, and best of all it's more affordable. The downside is that it can't be finished with a wood stain or Danish oil to show off the beauty of natural wood grain. But it can be painted.
The most difficult part of the installation process with wood moulding was cutting the corner miters correctly and accurately resulting in expensive waste and frustration. This issue has been eliminated because the inside and outside corners are made and sold as independent units. They may be one-piece or right and left-hand pieces.
Tools and Material List
Corners and lengths of crown moulding. It's always a good idea on any home improvement project to buy extra material to allow for waste, except for the corners in this case.
- A stepladder.
- A caulking gun and paintable silicone latex caulk.
- The adhesive recommended by the manufacturer.
- Nails or screws as recommended by the manufacturer.
- Tape measure.
- A saw. A miter saw or table saw is recommended for accuracy.
- An electronic stud finder. These are becoming more economical all the time; no tool box should be without one.
Crown Moulding Installation Procedure
First, pick a corner to start at. The corners should be as level as possible. In some cases it may be necessary to chip off some ceiling texture. Apply a bead of adhesive to the top and bottom of the corner piece where it touches the drywall, and nail or screw it to the wall.
On inside corners it's no problem to find a stud; on outside corners the stud will start a little over 1/2 inch from the corner depending on how much thickness the corner bead and drywall compound contribute. Go ahead and attach all the corner units in the same manner.
Now fill in the runs between the corners with the lengths of moulding, making sure all field joints center on a stud. Apply adhesive as before. When starting from a corner, just butt it up flush. In the field, many sources recommend using butt joints, reasoning that the joints will be caulked and painted anyway so visuals won't matter.
This is wrong thinking. The proper method is to make a scarf joint (45 degree angle). This way, no offset due to drywall surface irregularities will be evident. Use the stud finder to locate studs and nail through the center of the stud whenever possible. With a scarf joint, the nail or screw will go through both pieces.
Finish up the job by caulking all joints and nail/screw holes and paint.
Kelly Smith - Kelly has over 30 years experience as a journeyman carpenter and 20 as a freelance writer and photographer.
Join the Conversation