I'm going to put crown moulding in the bathroom I'm remodeling. While I was sanding the moulding I realized I didn't know which way was up. I've been told that for years but never believed it.
With some styles such as dental moulding it is somewhat clear which way it should be oriented but with other styles I haven't got a clue. Is there a rule of thumb to tell which side should be up or is it primarily what the individual prefers?
Thanks, R.C.
Most crown molding is composed of a small cove (scotia) on the bottom and a larger cyma, or ogee (shallow S curve) curve at the top.
The traditional way (dare I say "correct"?) is for the large cove to be down...
if you look at the angles on the back side, you'll see that one way will place the molding more on the wall than the other way. The orientation that places the molding lower on the wall is the correct way.
"Finish Carpentry: The Best of Fine Homebuilding" is just one of many books that will help get you up to speed on crown installation.
Dave
If the crown has a cove detail it normally goes down. It's always been my belief that crown was originally designed this way so that if you needed to mold down the side of a cabinet you could just cope a piece of cove mold into the cove detail on the crown.
Mike O.
I thank all of you for your replies.
Based on the answers from this small population it appears that the following methods are used:
Therefore, it would seem that whatever orientation the individual prefers would not cause the end of the woodworking world as we know it. It will have to agree with at least one of the above answers.
R.C.
:) True, you'll find it in both orientations...but, the following url has some nice pictures of typical profiles for your consideration...
As someone's tagline reads: "go not to usenet for the answer, for they will say both yes and no."
Hmmmm, I don't know, but I'm not sure!
When have you seen a properly installed crown moulding installed with the long side on the ceiling instead of the wall?
Dave
"That's the nice thing about standards -- there are so many to choose from." -- source unknown
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