How to Put In Crown Molding

By: Charles Wardell, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. 4d, 6d, and 8d finish nails

2. 1/16-inch drill bit

3. Wood putty
for filling nail holes

4. Acrylic or other flexible caulk
to seal gaps between molding and walls and ceiling

5. Carpenter's glue
for adhering outside corners and returns

Close
Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Power miter saw with 10-inch carbide-tipped blade
- Drill/driver,
  for drilling pilot holes for nails
- Tape measure
- Pneumatic finishing nailer with 1½- to 2-inch finish nails,
  to fasten molding to wall
- Framing square,
  for laying out molding on walls and ceilings
- Chalk line,
  for snapping installation lines on the wall
- Coping saw,
  for coping molding at inside corners
- Utility knife,
  for trimming coped joints
- Wood rasp,
  for fine-tuning coped joints
- Electronic stud finder,
  for locating studs and joists
- Hammer
Close
Product Gallery
Product selections for this project
Close

Photos by: David Carmack

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

1. Lay out the molding

•Determine the order in which each piece of molding will go up around the room by drawing a plan view of the room on paper. To avoid having to cope both ends of the last length of molding, install the outside corner last. Otherwise, number each wall counterclockwise, starting with the one opposite the door.

•Hold a scrap piece of molding in place at each inside and outside corner and mark the position of its bottom edge—the edge that will sit on the wall—with a pencil. Stretch a chalk line between the marks at each corner and snap lines along the wall. This is the installation line.

•Locate studs and joists. Mark their locations with a pencil just below the installation line.