Can someone offer advice regarding choice of crown mouldning

What I want to do is install crown moulding on the lower level
of a two story house. Rooms are fairly small.... two are 12 x 15
one is 10 x 12. There is an entry hallway leading from front'
door to kitchen. Ceilings are 8'

I think 4 1/8 inch would work in the larger rooms. But a smaller
size is needed for the hallway which is about 36" wide x 12 ' long.

Would 3 5/8 " work in the hall or would a smaller size be appropriate.???

What options are available ??? a look at the focal point products
does not show any moulding that comes in varying sizes.... are
there other suppliers with matching designs ???

Are there any web sources or books which might show recommended
sizes for different applications or is this an 'eyeball' type of choice.

Thanks in advace for your suggestions !!

Peter

Can someone offer advice regarding choice of crown mouldning

What I want to do is install crown moulding on the lower level
of a two story house. Rooms are fairly small.... two are 12 x 15
one is 10 x 12. There is an entry hallway leading from front'
door to kitchen. Ceilings are 8'

I think 4 1/8 inch would work in the larger rooms. But a smaller
size is needed for the hallway which is about 36" wide x 12 ' long.

Would 3 5/8 " work in the hall or would a smaller size be
appropriate.???

What options are available ??? a look at the focal point products
does not show any moulding that comes in varying sizes.... are
there other suppliers with matching designs ???

Are there any web sources or books which might show recommended
sizes for different applications or is this an 'eyeball' type of
choice.

Look at the local lumber yards for samples. The big box places are OK
for this, but give the local guys a shot too.

Buy some two-foot pieces to use for samples. Stick them up on the wall
with masking tape, then step back and imagine the sample around the
whole room.

If you're going to paint it anyway, consider the composite stuff. It's
very uniform and paints well. Get the pre-primed stuff. Paint it before
you put it up--your back will thank you.

Going from a room to a hall with different sizes can be an issue.
Consider corner blocks. They allow you to butt two sizes to a corner
without it being so noticeable.

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX USA

Steve, your company name sounds familiar.... are you running a forum on your
web site regarding crown moulding. If so it was very helpful... I spent some
time going through the entries. Nice job ...very thoughtful of you !!

always willing to give the local guys a shot, they're more fun to shoot the breeze
with....

Composite sounds good... I'll definitely paint before installing. Home Depot has 'quick
clips' used for installing the moulding, mounting the clips would be a little work, but
minimizes the chance of chipping the paint job.

Thanks again for your input....

Peter





On Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:21:21 +0000 (UTC), "SteveBell" wrote:


Can someone offer advice regarding choice of crown mouldning

What I want to do is install crown moulding on the lower level
of a two story house. Rooms are fairly small.... two are 12 x 15
one is 10 x 12. There is an entry hallway leading from front'
door to kitchen. Ceilings are 8'

I think 4 1/8 inch would work in the larger rooms. But a smaller
size is needed for the hallway which is about 36" wide x 12 ' long.

Would 3 5/8 " work in the hall or would a smaller size be
appropriate.???

What options are available ??? a look at the focal point products
does not show any moulding that comes in varying sizes.... are
there other suppliers with matching designs ???

Are there any web sources or books which might show recommended
sizes for different applications or is this an 'eyeball' type of
choice.

Look at the local lumber yards for samples. The big box places are OK
for this, but give the local guys a shot too.

Buy some two-foot pieces to use for samples. Stick them up on the wall
with masking tape, then step back and imagine the sample around the
whole room.

If you're going to paint it anyway, consider the composite stuff. It's
very uniform and paints well. Get the pre-primed stuff. Paint it before
you put it up--your back will thank you.

Going from a room to a hall with different sizes can be an issue.
Consider corner blocks. They allow you to butt two sizes to a corner
without it being so noticeable.

Steve, your company name sounds familiar.... are you running a forum
on your web site regarding crown moulding. If so it was very
helpful... I spent some time going through the entries. Nice job
...very thoughtful of you !!

always willing to give the local guys a shot, they're more fun to
shoot the breeze with....

Composite sounds good... I'll definitely paint before installing.
Home Depot has 'quick clips' used for installing the moulding,
mounting the clips would be a little work, but minimizes the chance
of chipping the paint job.

Thanks for the kind words, but that's not me.

I've never used those clips, though I've seen them online. They require
that you buy the same brand of molding. I just nail the crown in place,
fill the nail holes with putty, and touch up the paint.

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX USA

wrote

Composite sounds good... I'll definitely paint before installing. Home
Depot has 'quick clips' used for installing the moulding, mounting the
clips would be a little work, but minimizes the chance of chipping
the paint job.

Hi Peter! Steve gave good advice here. Personally I've never worked with
the composite stuff but have had to use the corner overlay pieces to
minimize a size change when a hallway sprang off a livingroom and had no
lintel that dropped down to hide the edges. I found that one piece easier
to paint after putting it up except I pre-painted the top where it would
mesh at the ceiling. The reason for that was a fairly extensive putty job
was needed at the sides so it wasnt faster to pre-paint that one piece.

On the clips, I have seen them. I suspect they would take longer to put up
than just doing a little putty and touch up where the nails were used.
(Steve seems to imply agreement there).

Be sure to use the right tools for this one or you will dent the wood. You
need a largish 'brad nailer' over the nails. There's probably a better name
for those but it's the only one I know. It fits just barely over the nail
head and you hammer the end of it instead of directly on the nail. (at
least, once you get the nail mostly in and it's close to the wood).

Give the walls a fresh coat of paint before you start. Much easier then.

(Smile) Brings back fond childhood memories there. Mom on a ladder with my
older sister (tall lady, ended up a hair under 6ft) helping hold, would
rouch nail the prepainted molding up after my older brother cut it on the
old mitre box so the corners would fit. I'd follow along on a second ladder
with the brad nailer and putty. Next, same thing but no ladder, would be
the faux chair rail (pre-painted) then last the faux boxes under it (not
pre-painted). Last you either fill in the box with a contrasting color, or
paint all below the chair rail to match the chair rail. Sometimes, a square
of wallpaper where the box will go (pre-paint box parts if so and cover
edges with it).

Wall above chair rail, normally pre-painted white but sometimes we used
wallpaper.

(Mom and us 3 kids flipped houses for a living back in the late 60's through
early 80's though it didnt have a name then).

Be sure to use the right tools for this one or you will dent the
wood. You need a largish 'brad nailer' over the nails. There's
probably a better name for those but it's the only one I know. It
fits just barely over the nail head and you hammer the end of it
instead of directly on the nail. (at least, once you get the nail
mostly in and it's close to the wood).

That's called a nail set. They come in different sizes for different
nails.

Even better, use a pneumatic nailer.

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX USA

"SteveBell" wrote

Be sure to use the right tools for this one or you will dent the
wood. You need a largish 'brad nailer' over the nails. There's
probably a better name for those but it's the only one I know. It
fits just barely over the nail head and you hammer the end of it

That's called a nail set. They come in different sizes for different
nails.

Thanks Steve! I knew there was a more common name. I have several sizes of
these. Never needed a pneumatic nailer (handy but mostly I do smaller jobs
now) but I've seen them in action and they make quick work of a job if you
have alot of nails to put in.

Another suggestion:
Get some of these:
http://toolmonger.com/2008/02/20/han...-without-help/
They hold the molding up while you do your nailing. You don't have to
buy them online. I got mine at Rockler, but I think I've seen them at
Lowe's or Home Depot.

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX USA