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

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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
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Product Gallery
Product selections for this project
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Photo: David Carmack

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

8. Cutting and fastening a return

•Continue working around the room, coping inside corners and mitering outside corners.

•If the ceiling height changes and the molding must end in the middle of a wall, cap it with a return. First, make an outside miter cut, as in Step 6, at the point where the ceiling height changes. Then, take a molding scrap at least a foot long and cut an outside miter on its end. To make the wedge-shaped cap, set the saw to 90 degrees and hold the scrap with its back flat on the saw table, cutting the piece so that it comes to a point at the bottom edge. Avoid splitting the small piece by gluing the return in place rather than nailing it.