How to Install Easy Crown Molding

By: Jennifer Stimpson, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. Plaster-coated Foam Molding
Get 10 percent more than you think you'll need, to accommodate offcut.

2. Joint Compound
Lightweight, easy-sanding premixed compound is best. A 1-gallon container will cover about 60 feet of molding.

3. 8d Finishing Nails
To support long runs of larger molding profiles as the compound dries.

4. 150-grit Sandpaper

5. Painter's Tape

6. Primer and Paint

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Miter box with hand saw
- 6-inch and 1½-inch putty knives
- rasp or sanding block
- hammer
- sponge
- angled sash paintbrush
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Product Gallery
Product selections for this project
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Photo: Kolin Smith

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12

11: Mask and Paint

3 hours per day
About $120 for a 10-by-10-foot room

Difficulty: Easy The materials are lightweight and the installation method very forgiving.

Crown molding makes it to the top of most remodeling lists because it adds charm and value to a home, not because people enjoy spending a Saturday trying to get the corners just right. Luckily, there's a simple way to beat miter-saw frustration. Trimroc molding from Canamould Extrusions is a lightweight polystyrene foam coated in hard plaster. It cuts smoothly with a handsaw, and, as This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers shows here, it goes up in a flash with joint compound. No coping, no tricky angles, and ragged joints disappear with a dab of mud. So in just a weekend, you can upgrade a plain room to an elegant space—and still leave plenty of time for the rest of your list.

Call Canamould Extrusions at 866-874-6762 for stock and custom orders and receive discount shipping to the United States