Working with Crown Molding

If you’re looking to dress up an ordinary room, think about installing crown molding (also spelled moulding). Very few additions make a visual impact like crown molding, which gives a subtle yet elegant design element to any space. And with the proper tools and set up, installation can be easy.

While wood is a common choice for crown molding, urethane is also a popular material. For a recent project we installed Fypon urethane crown molding, which is lightweight, flexible and looks like solid wood. It also comes pre-primed, simplifying the painting process.  

Set-Up for the Project

As with any project, the ease of completing a crown molding job is determined by the set-up of the tools. First, installing crown molding is a two-person job. It helps to have extra hands when placing the molding precisely on the wall. Second, you want to set up your tools and materials in the general area where the molding is being installed. In this project, we were initially faced with setting up shop in a garage, which meant going up and down stairs for each cut and adjustment. We could see that this was going to be time consuming and labor-intensive, especially working with 12-foot lengths, so we moved our work site to the upstairs living area.  

We put down a plastic tarp and brought in the miter saw. Working with urethane molding is less messy than wood, so clean-up was simple. We saved several hours by working in the general area of the installation, as we could quickly make cuts and adjustments as needed.  

Other tools you need for installing crown molding include: a pneumatic nailer; corrosion-resistant finishing nails; utility knife; tape measure; caulk gun with high-quality adhesive; pencil and wet rags.  

Prepare the Miter Saw

Cutting crown molding is all about measurements and angles. Most cuts are made at 45-degree angles, but sometimes you will need to adjust the angle for corners that are not exactly 90 degrees. Once you determine the angles of your room, you can set up the miter saw to properly cut the molding.  

Measure the Lengths

To get measurements for the crown molding, measure each wall length at ceiling height from corner to corner. The length will be the long points for the molding when cutting inside corners at a 45-degree angle. If you have an outside corner, the measurement from the wall to the corner will be the short point for the molding on the angle.  

Having a pencil and paper handy is another good way to keep track of the cuts you will need to make.  

Mark the cutline.  

Measure and prepare the cut.