All the downstairs ceilings in the house have a stippled pattern in the finish. The most any of the pattern sticks out from the ceiling is about 1/4″, so it’s not very thick. I want to install crown molding and wanted some feedback on whether to scrape away the stippling or not. I searched Breaktime for “stipple crown” and didn’t get any hits. Googling the same thing resulted in 2 schools of thought: 1) scrape away the stipple under where the crown joins the ceiling, or 2) put the crown up over the stippling and caulk the gap at the ceiling. Obviously, number 2 is faster and less messy. Any advice?
thanks in advance
Replies
1/4" is a bit much for caulking...especially considering the likelyhood that the ceiling probably isn't going to be perfectly flat and cause gapping in areas where crown meets ceiling.
I'd likely scrape it down. Snap lines around perimeter of room distance crown sits off of wall. Then scrape from 1/2" in front of line towards wall.
J. D. REYNOLDS
Home Improvements
Spray with water and scrape it.
I've used a 2" putty knife to scrape the ceiling beside the wall, then finish with a 4" knife run perpindicular to the wall. With basic crown, that leaves a straight line of stipple and about a 3/4" smooth section of ceiling before the start of the crown. Makes for a nice reveal.
Use drop sheets and keep a bucket handy to toss the stipple, as it's messy.