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For the past couple of years, I’ve been finishing off rooms in my very basic modular home. The crown molding I’ve bought has been either primed or unprimed finger-joint wood. I’m ready to do another room, and now find that the local stores also carry primed MDF molding. It not only has a much smoother finish than the other types, but is about $.12/lf cheaper than primed FJ. I’ve never used any kind of MDF molding. How good is it? Is it more stable than wood after installation? Does it nail the same; for example, are pilot holes needed? Do inside corners need to be coped or will mitre joints work? As you can see, I’m full of questions, and hope someone out there can give me the “straight skinny.” Thanks.
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I think it's superior to finger jointed moulding. It is smoother, more stable, doesn't have those annoying joints, and makes for a nice paint grade surface. It is heavy, sort of hard, and nail holes can be more of a pain in the backside to fill, but still...no more direction changes at the finger joints either.
Nail guns work well, no need for pilot holes, but perhaps you still hand nail mouldings?
Obviously you need to cope inside miters, it doesn't matter what the stuff is made of.
Have fun,
MD
*John:MDF has become a very popular replacement for finger jointed pine and other paint grade materials.What I don't like about it is the fine dust and it's density. It is pretty hard stuff and depending on your nailer, substrate and other conditions it can leave a bulge that painters hate. What is good is the price. The laquer prime coat seems to be the prefered material. If the nail holes are prepared well I have seen it come out quite nicely. Most recently I saw a painter use laquer then latex enamel. Hand nailing would seem very difficult but I guess pre drilling would work.I guess my biggest complaint would be the fine dust when cutting. It is heavy so handeling can be a little tougher. Moisture is generally not a problem, but keep in mind it has no grain so it will expand the same percentage in all directions unlike real wood which expands least in length. I had some buckle due to extremely high mositure but it dried right back into place. It had expanded a lot in length. If cared for it is stable and can produce good results.I install a lot of MDF invarious forms (basboard, caseing, crown etc.). I guess I had just better get used to it. I'm sure the archives are full of MDF talk. I guess I just miss the smell if pine.I hope this helps.
*Hello John,I just got done installing 120' of 4-1/4" finger jointed crown over a 5-1/4" backer in a spec house for a builder, and in my opinion, I think that any finger jointed moulding is crap. The builder thinks he is saving money buying finger jointed crown; however, we agreed to do the install by the hour, and the bigger crown had a tendancy to be warped and twisted at the finger glue joints. This led to having much more waste than with solid wood moulding and it took more time than usual to do a good installation, so go figure.I also don't think, much of MDF crown. If you were to use a brad nailer to do the install, there would be raised fibers of MDF where the brad enters the moulding. To pre-drill would run the labor up on the install to where it would have been easier to use solid wood.For paint grade crown moulding, I like to use poplar.It is a good stable wood that takes paint really well and is pretty much knot free. The supplier I purchase it from sells it for the same price as finger jointed.Another problem with finger jointed crown is that sometimes even after it has been painted, the finger joints will show.
*Can't beat poplar, as long as it stays dry. I agree with all of MD's points. Depending on room lighting, just about anything that disturbs the run of crown particularly on on the belly, will be noticeable. The raised fibers on MDF can be a problem and if not sanded out will be highlighted when painted. Give me carefully sanded poplar with a good primer and Muralo 'Ultra' or BMoore semi - hard to beat for quality.Jeff
*Just ordered all my mouldings in MDF and was wondering how well it can be coped. Seems like the more intricate profiles would tend to fall apart when coped.
*The only thing I noticed about coping the stuff was if you back cut it alot, to a sharp edge and cut a little long to spring it in, it kinda crushes.
*I find it copes just fine. As far as the bulge that's been mentioned, I slice it away with a sharp chisel, and then all you've got is a hole to fill. Way easier than sanding. Hate finger joints.
*But a more important question - How are the king crab claws in Cheticamp these days?
*Lobster season now, boy. Have to make do with those critters till crab season later in the summer. Cheticamp is good for crab, but we're closer to Louisbourg, and we have a secret place. When did you get down here?
*Last summer. Stayed at Duffus House in Baadeck on Bra d'Oro. CBI is gorgeous, you're lucky to live there. Loved Ingonish, Meat Cove, etc. Tried to find the mines but got lost.Also Grand Manaan, NB, and PEI.Hope we'll get back some day ... but I do remember those claws ...Jeff
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For the past couple of years, I've been finishing off rooms in my very basic modular home. The crown molding I've bought has been either primed or unprimed finger-joint wood. I'm ready to do another room, and now find that the local stores also carry primed MDF molding. It not only has a much smoother finish than the other types, but is about $.12/lf cheaper than primed FJ. I've never used any kind of MDF molding. How good is it? Is it more stable than wood after installation? Does it nail the same; for example, are pilot holes needed? Do inside corners need to be coped or will mitre joints work? As you can see, I'm full of questions, and hope someone out there can give me the "straight skinny." Thanks.