another question for you crown moulding pros

[kzinNOSPAM99]

Hello,

I have another question for you crown moulding experts out there.

Let's say you're trimming a set of wall cabinets that doesn't span the entire length of the wall. So you have say a 12 inch piece coming away from the wall to the face of the cabinet, one the spans the length of the cabinets, and then one that returns from the face of the cabinet at the other end back to the wall.

To me common sense says that you'd like your final piece to be a butt against the wall since it's simple to trim that. But how to finesse that miter when you can't fit it in place because the piece is too long? What I've done so far is to sort of try and finesse the miter while letting the crown sort of dangle away from the ceiling and that usually buys me a 1/16 inch or so. These next pieces are too short for that to work.

The only solution to that problem I can see is putting the two small pieces up first and trying to finesse the miters at both ends of the long piece. Given even a moderate run that's gonna be a nightmare, so that can't be right.

Is there a solution to this other than tolerating a tiny gap between the end of the crown and the wall?

thanks ml

[kzinNOSPAM99]

key is to get the angle on the chop saw adjusted using small scrap pieces. when that is set right cut the miter on the actual piece, cut to length plus a hair and back cut the butt a bit.

i guess you may have to trim the top if a wavy ceiling causes the miter to be out but that will show up with the scrap pieces.

ml

[Mike]

Start from one end and work your way around the cabinet. Cut one end square, hold it on the cabinet with the square cut against the wall, mark the bottom of the crown where it turns across the front of the cabinet. When you put the crown on your saw you will be looking at the mark. Cut the 45 and nail it on. Next, cut an outside 45 that will run into the piece you just installed and leave the piece long enough to hang past the cabinet. Hold it up to the piece you already have installed, mark where it turns and cut that piece. Do not install this piece yet.

Take your last piece and cut the end (that fits to the wall) square, hold it up to the cabinet just as you did with the first piece and mark where it turns. Cut the 45 on that end. Check the two pieces (that you haven't nailed yet) by holding them against the cabinet to be sure they fit. Everything should fit tight so just nail away.

Mike O.

[kzinNOSPAM99]

Hi Mike,

thanks for the info but this assumes things are nice and level and square. I'm finding, perhaps due to the cabinets, perhaps due to the saw, maybe due to the ceiling some, that just slapping 45s on the pieces doesn't mate them up nicely at the corners. I have to play with them a bit. Hence the trouble w/the last piece. I'm probably just being too anal about the whole thing. This last piece is in a place where you'd really have to strain to see the gap against the wall anyway.

I suspect it's a lot easier to write about perfect trim work than it is to actually perform it. These books I read set the bar awfully high.

Finding a much worse problem anyway. The folks that sold me these cabinets and trim didn't mention that adding crown moulding forces the doors down an inch or so. Into things like range hoods and hanging convection ovens.

Well.. mistakes (regardless of whose they are) force you to learn. I'm learning... boy am I learning. :D

ml

[Mike]

Cabinet sales people are notorious for these "little" problems. Mainly because most have never built or installed a cabinet in their lives. We had the same problem one time in a re-mod where the customer had bought a high dollar line of cabinet from a box store. They bought 5" crown to go on top but if we had lowered the cabinets (to accommodate the crown) the appliance garage and fridge wouldn't fit and the hood was too close to the cook top to be legal. With an eight week lead time on the cabinets they couldn't wait. We told them they could have crown or a fridge.:) We ended up putting the cabinets to the ceiling and trimming with a cove mold. The box store ate the crown.

Would cove mold work for you?

True but correcting your own mistakes is a little less frustrating than correcting those made by a salesperson.

Mike O.

[kzinNOSPAM99]

I made the crown work. I had to shove the doors all the way up into it, so it essentially looks like cove moulding now, and I had to trim door corners a bit where they were digging into it, but it's all up and works. Looks pretty good too. I may have to sand the doors above the convection oven a bit as they rub the oven top just a tad but these won't be opened much anyway.

Pilaster moulding intended for underneath the cabinets is out though as the doors now hang below the cabinet bottoms. Maybe eventually I'll look into adding the pilaster using spacers to bring it below the doors. We'll see.

Fairly pissed at the borg i got these cabinets from though. You would think that they would know what moulding goes with what. Or at least put something in the software they use that flags it. But then again, they want to sell the stuff and have you sign a bunch of forms that this is all custom stuff (even stock pieces of moulding) so it can't be returned.

Fine, they got my money this time. They won't get it next time.

ml

[Mike]

The sales people have no idea how creative you might need to be to make some of the stuff work. Sometimes with crown going to the ceiling you can hold the upper cabinets down an inch or so to allow for the crown. Of course if you have a floor to ceiling pantry or oven cabinet or even an appliance garage your pretty much out of luck.

Mike O.