Crown Moulding Mess!!!!


  #1  
Old 11-15-04, 05:20 PM
frustrated wife
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Crown Moulding Mess!!!!

I need some serious help with a dilemna...My husband installs, refinishes, etc hardwood floors for a living and has won awards for his beautiful craftsmanship. But let me tell you, he stinks at putting on trim and I have the proof in my front room! We bought and installed the crown moulding but some of our walls were too long for the 8' pieces. He made a cut with the two boards (kind of like a 45 degree angle) so that they fit together nice, etc. The problem is that once he nailed them in place the two boards don't fit together well. And this moulding is pretty intricate with alot of design. So we filled nail holes and gaps with putty, sanded it smooth and he promised me it would look good when it was painted. Well, let me tell you, it looks like crap! I have gone over certain areas and smoothed where the edges come together by sanding but even when it's totally smooth you can still see the line where the two boards meet and it's driving me crazy! Not to mention that my husband's ego is a little bruised...Can anyone please give me some advice to fix this disaster?!
 
  #2  
Old 11-15-04, 05:28 PM
Sawdustguy
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Well, knocking someone for their efforts isn't a polite thing to do, nor is it respectful, but this is a DIY site so I won't get into that. Kinda like saying, "Honey, the food you cooked for us tastes like garbage"

The point is, the crown doesn't look nice, well you have a few options. You can:

Take it all down and buy decorative inside and outside corner blocks so you don't have to cut miters in the corners.

You can call a professional to do it right

Or, last but not least,

If you think you can do better.........DIY.

Hope this helps.
 

Last edited by Sawdustguy; 11-15-04 at 08:27 PM.
  #3  
Old 11-17-04, 07:29 AM
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Installing crown molding is an artform all by itself and no matter how good someone is at woodwork, they'll almost certainly blow it when they first try crown.

Your post seems to focus on the 'scarf joints' your husband made and they can be pretty tricky. The first solution is to get the longest pieces of crown you can find and only use a scarf joint when absolutely necessary. I buy 16' lengths of crown and go wall-to-wall as much as possible. For pieces over 5' - 6' long, I either have a helper hold them or I put up some temporary brackets to hold them while I'm nailing off. When I must use a scarf joint, I do them at a stud and use glue and cross nailing to hold them in place. If you don't, normal expansion and contraction will open the joint.

There's a book available at Home Depot or at www.compoundmiter.com that gives some excellent tips on doing a good crown installation. My suggestion would be to get the book and study it then re-do your crown. Think of the money you've already spent as tuition.

The upside to doing that is that - if your hubby masters crown molding work -he'll add to his skillset.

Good Luck
 
 

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