Crown Molding Question.....

[asphaltgambler]

So novice carpenter / paint / drywall guy here. I am changing colors in 1 of our bathrooms both walls & ceiling. I'm installing crown molding. Do you all paint walls / ceiling - then cut / fit trim and paint before final install?

OR cut/ fit install crown molding, then paint all?. BTW, wall, ceiling, trim different colors.

Thanks!

[A930Rocket]

Install the crown.

Caulk and putty the crown.

Paint the ceiling.

Paint the walls.

Paint the crown.

Cut in the wall and ceilings.

[wdfifteen]

You want to install the crown and caulk the shadow lines before you paint anything. Prime it all, paint the ceiling, then the wall, then the trim.

[dad911]

I throw a coat of paint on the trim first, hate painting up in the air, and trim usually needs 2 coats.

Trim, caulk & fill holes, then paint from the top down.

[john70t]

I cut my butt joints square which was a mistake. They moved with the wall and the crack appeared between later.
Should have glued at a 45deg.

I did leave them straight, even though the wall was wavy. That was good.

For larger gaps I used sandable spackle and pressed it in.
Only a small amount of caulk to finish the small cracks.

Not sure how to do it right. That was my experience.

[look 171]

What, no stain grade crown?

What some of these guys say is the way to go. I too have my guys prime and paint, cut and install, fill and caulk and paint. Paint wall, then crown, and touch up on wall and ceiling. Much easier to cut in walls then on bottom of crown.

[DanielDudley]

I like to paint the ceiling first. I like to prime the walls before trim goes up. I have pre painted crown before installing, and yes, it is easier later when you paint the room, even though you will be painting it again.

A lot of this stuff won't matter to a professional painter, but if you are doing everything yourself, you can stack the deck in your favor. When you caulk and paint the trim, it makes sense to paint over the caulk onto the wall, and come back and cut the wall into the trim. You aren't taking time to cut both in, and you will have a better chance of getting a clean corner.

[Crowbob]

I have a question.

Minding my own business one day I stumbled across the remodeling of a 100 year-old theatre with apartments above wherein they were disposing of a couple hundred feet of floor, window and door trim made of very dark-stained oak. So, of course, I negotiated a good price and bought the lot of it and installed in my home.

The base molding does not conform to my curvy walls which are painted drywall. There are some significant gaps. I don't want to paint the woodwork so how do I fill these gaps which are up to an eighth of an inch wide?

The pic is an example where the floor molding and walls are pretty tight against each other and is not representative of the worst parts.

[javadog]

Skimcoat the walls with drywall mud, as needed, to fill the gaps and make the walls flat, then repaint the walls.

[dad911]

Nice trim crowbob. I'd caulk it in, wiping caulk off trim. We use the disposable wipes lately. More expansive than a rag, but big timesaver. You may be lucky enough to find caulk close to paint color. Make sure it's paintable caulk.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by javadog

Skimcoat the walls with drywall mud

I worked with "EasySand 45" before for skim coating.
(less than 45min dry time though. It first has to absorb all water, and then gives about 15min work time by adding a few drops more water)
(There is also slower EasySand 90 if you have a lot to do and wont return for a while)

Use a 12in trowel and 14in square trough.
Stir/mix with 4in spackle blade. Go slowly at first so the powder doesn't fly everywhere.
Make a very soupy batter first and then add a little more with a solo cup scoop.
Scrap sides on angle and keep all the mix together and wet.

Always stay below surface and feather edges.
Use wet mixture to finish coat.
Use a couple sweeps. Don't overwork the surface because air bubbles and ripples will happen.

[asphaltgambler]

Thanks all - my wife and I have this running discussion. I tend to go to repair / paint ceiling first the install crown molding, then putty / paint it, then walls

[dad911]

lol. no need to fix under the trim.

I don't like taping inside corners, so when I built my woodshop, i didn't tape where the ceiling meets the wall ....hung crown instead.

[Crowbob]

This is a closer look at an area where I lucked out and the joints are pretty good. Working with reclaimed materials presents a few challenges, obviously. This base molding is three separate pieces. The large shaped piece against the wall, a base piece about 1"X2" on the floor and a third between the two of carved quarter round. Interesting times with a saw.

[john70t]

Well done sir.

[Crowbob]

Thanks. It was a fun project. The woodwork came out of the famous State Theater downtown Traverse City, MI. Now the home of Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. About 1/2 of what I bought went to waste as it was cracked, had ancient nail holes or was partially painted. Had enough to do about half the house. New the stuff would have cost a fortune.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

This is a closer look at an area where I lucked out and the joints are pretty good. Working with reclaimed materials presents a few challenges, obviously. This base molding is three separate pieces. The large shaped piece against the wall, a base piece about 1"X2" on the floor and a third between the two of carved quarter round. Interesting times with a saw.

I gotta tell ya CB....not only does she keep ya well fed with sammiches....she's got other skilz too....nice work!

You do snap a fine picture though

[Crowbob]

I figure burgers count as sandwiches too, KC!