I have been installing pre-painted crown molding (usually white) and finish the unsightly gaps in the ceiling and wall (drywall irregularities) with white caulk. I am now to do a crown job of finished oak and looking for ways to fill the cracks between the molding and ceiling and wall. Any suggestions?
Buz
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Replies
just a couple ideas:
1. long and tedious is to mark, then sand/plane the moulding to meet the wall. Saw an oldtimer doing this once....slow and tedious to say the least.
2. get out the mud and a straightedge, and work the wall out.
3. for the ceiling, consider dropping the crown a bit - like 1-4 to 3-8, to form kinda a shadowbox effect. This is how I did mine, since i have the popcorn in the great room
Install a 3/4x 3" strip of oak and shim to a straight line. Then caulk the ceiling joint. The strip of oak can be square or have a molded edge. The crown is then applied to the oak strip. Usually the strip has a reveal of 3/4" beyond crown. If you are parallel to the joists use plastic toggles and screws to fasten oak strip.You can do the same on the wall, I never have yet, wall joint is not as noticeable as bad ceiling joint
mike
interesting; to make sure I understand. You install the 3/4 x 3 oak on the ceiling? I have added extended molding below on the wall then attached the crown to the verticle molding, however, I haven't thought about installing it on the ceiling. If so, and you caulk, what color? white to blend in with the ceiling?
Buz
You don't necessarily have to caulk anything when using a one or two board mounting approach. You can intentionally leave a reveal on both. Approx. 1/2" on the ones in the pic.
All shimming stock behind the wall board was first painted flat black and held back about 1 1/2" from the lower edge, so you don't see it if you look up while passsing thru a doorway in that room. (We intentionally made the ceiling board wider than the wall board for this one)
If you didn't want the effect of as much wood as we did for this project, you could paint the backing boards to match the wall and ceiling.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
If you are using a natural finish, just poly or lacquer and no color stain, then white lightning brand cedar is a surprisingly good match. Otherwise, we use color caulk that is made for laminate countertops.
I admit to being a carpenter with a caulk gun......
We use the minwax premixed color putty for filling nail holes. If the trim is stained then you should dab a spot of stain in each nail hole before you fill them.
the ceiling's white, right?
why won't a little white caulk work?
Depending how bad the ceiling is .... for big dips ... floating with joint compound can be the way to go.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
I do the same thing Mike does except one difference is I also install the 1x on the walls as well as the ceiling...it makes for a nice extra detail and helps shim everything into place...then caulk the edges of the 1x.
If the walls are relatively plumb and level then caulk only is needed. Before I caulk though, I insert shims into the real bad spots with construction adhesive so that the caulk doesn't eventually separate out of large open areas
BE well
andy
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