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How To Install Three-Piece Crown Molding: What You Need
Before you go shopping, make a quick sketch of the room and jot down the length of each wall. If possible, buy pieces that are long enough to completely span each wall. This will save you the trouble of “scarfing” pieces together. Inspect each piece before you buy. Look for splits at the ends and deep milling marks that will be hard to sand out. If you plan to use a light-colored stain (or no stain at all) select pieces of similar tone.
Figure A Three-Piece Crown
The built-up crown we chose for this project combines standard crown molding with two pieces of base trim. The result is a large, dramatic crown that’s easier to install and less expensive than single-piece crown molding of similar size.
You could install crown using a miter box, handsaw and hammer. But we strongly recommend using a miter saw and brad nailer. These tools don’t just make the work faster—they provide better results. A miter saw lets you shave paper-thin slices off moldings until the length is perfect. For the advantages of a brad nailer. Brand-name miter saws start at about $125. The other tools and materials you’ll need for this project are inexpensive.
Start With the Long Wall and Work in One Direction
A long piece of molding is clumsy to handle and hard to measure and cut accurately. Installing it first makes it easier because the first piece has square cuts at both ends—no coping.
Work to the Right
With the first piece in place, add the piece to the right next and work around the room in that direction. That way, you’ll make most of your 45-degree cuts with the miter saw set to the left. With the saw set to the left, the motor is out of the way. That makes the molding easier to hold and the cut mark easier to see.
Outside Corners and Spliced Pieces Last
Outside corners are fussy no matter when you tackle them. But in most cases, installing them last lets you avoid ending up with a piece that’s coped on both ends. If you have a wall that’s too long for a single piece of molding, install a scarfed piece last to avoid a double cope.
Figure B Order of Installation
Click image to enlarge.
At inside corners, a coped end fits over a square-cut end. In rectangular rooms, the last piece is often coped on both ends. In odd-shaped rooms like this one, you can usually avoid double-coped pieces. Outside corners are formed by two miter cuts.
Masking Tape Eliminates Fussy Touch-Ups
You’ll need chalk lines to position the rail trim, and marks at studs and ceiling joists so you know where to drive nails. Most carpenters would put these lines and marks right on the walls and ceilings and hide them with paint later. That means a lot of fussy painting along the new trim.
Here’s an easier method: Stick bands of 2-in. wide masking tape to the walls and ceiling. Masking tape can pull off paint, so use an easy-release tape like 3M’s Scotch-Blue Painter’s Tape. If you plan to paint the walls or ceiling, wait a couple of weeks before you apply the tape. (If your walls or ceiling is heavily textured, this method won’t work because the tape won’t stick well.) Snap chalk lines and mark framing locations on the tape. Install the trim over the tape and leave the tape in place to protect the walls and ceiling when you paint or finish the trim. When the finishing is done, cut and remove the exposed tape, leaving the covered tape in place permanently. Use a sharp knife blade and apply just enough pressure to slice through the tape.
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