Does anyone have any advice on crown moulding? I would like to do my own, and am interested in finding out if a 7 1/2 sliding compound miter saw is best, and how does one learn to use it if you have zero experience? My house is older and so of course the walls aren’t even close to straight so what are the watch outs for this kind of project?
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Having an older house – for sure your corners will not be square! Each corner has to be modified to match whatever it is. The easiest way is to use just about any compound saw and then undercut (cope) the back side of the joint. Install a piece completely across the wall and flat to the adjoining walls. Install the undercut molding on the adjoining wall and with a little trimming with a sharp blade it will match up extremely well. Do a search on the internet for “coping crown molding” or similar and you should find some videos illustrating how to do it. There is also an attachment one can purchase for a jig saw to remove the backside of the molding.
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I’ve installed it as Ray suggested, by scribing and coping the joints. I just read an article about using drywall joint compound not only on the miters, but at joints and along the entire length along the top and bottom edges (buttered on back of the molding) and the results were pretty top notch. Think I’ll be trying that next time.