Ask the Builder: Crown Molding Installation

Crown Molding/Crown Moulding: Nothing puts the finishing touch on a room like crown molding. Our eyes are drawn to the sculpted lines that create an elegant look in even the most modest room. Now you can learn the tricks of installing crown molding. Master carpenter and nationally syndicated columnist Tim Carter shows you the ins and outs of completing a project that would make a pro jealous. This DVD includes step-by-step detailed instructions, tool lists, the option of choosing multiple camera angles and a special feature called Tim's Tips that will give you tricks of the trade from an expert with over 30 years of experience on the job site. This action-packed DVD is totally interactive and covers the following topics:

• Required Tools and Safety
• Positioning and Cutting Crown Molding in a power miter saw
• Inside Corners
• Outside Corners
• Ending Crown Molding on a Wall
• Crown Molding On Top of Cabinets
• Crown in 45 and 60 Degree Bay Windows
• Crown Molding in Stairwells
• Cathedral and Vaulted Ceilings
• Fancy Crown Molding Corners and Installtion Tips for Rounded Corners
• SECRET Nailing Tips!
• No Tedious Coping Required!

Available at Amazon.com.

Crown Molding Templates

The crown molding templates are absolutely necessary to cut and install your crown molding. The crown molding templates can be used for both horizontal ceilings and cathedral/vaulted ceilings. The templates allow you to easily and effortlessly match the correct positioning of your crown molding on your saw as well as in which direction to adjust your miter and/or blade tilt. Without using these templates a novice do-it-yourself person will always make incorrect cuts and waste a lot of time trying to remember how to set-up the cut each time.

Available at Amazon.com.

Ultimate Guide to Crown Molding: Plan, Design, Install

The Ultimate Guide to Crown Molding shows readers how they can add distinction to their homes by installing crown molding. Through over 350 photographs, author Neal Barrett takes readers through the process of selecting crown molding designs for their homes, choosing the right materials, and mastering the techniques of cutting and installing the trim work. But the heart of the book are the 30 crown molding projects. Each contains detailed step-by-step photographs and clear concise text that show how each unique design is created. This approach gives even the novice do-it-yourselfer the confidence to tackle the projects. More experienced homeowners and professional trim carpenters can use author's designs in their own projects.

Available at Amazon.com.

Trim Complete

Trim Complete covers those important finishing touches that give a house a one-of-a-kind personality: trim and modling. An expert carpenter, Greg Kossow presents a vibrantly visual guide that details every possible project, from the most basic baseboards, to the most complicated casings. He tackles real-world situations with authoritative advice, never failing to address how to solve problems when things do go wrong. The book's ingenious design makes it a snap to find the relevant information for each project and Kossow includes a crystal-clear table of contents. Plus, unlike most other books that only deal with basic carptnetry, Trim Complete includes hard-to-find advice on complex crown molding and making custom modling.

Available at Amazon.com.

DIY Choices Add Elegance to a Home

New furniture and a fresh coat of paint are great places to start when updating your home, but what can you do to go above and beyond to really make your house stand out? Often what makes a home interesting and noteworthy are the little details. The latest trend in decorating rooms today is to add architectural details that give a new dimension to a room.

As more and more condos, apartments, town homes and single-family homes with standardized floor plans are built in mass, less and less differentiation between units is occurring in the building phase, leading homeowners to seek interior design expertise or to initiate do-it-yourself (DIY) remodeling projects that will give their rooms new architectural dimensions.

Crown moulding, probably the most popular architectural addition to rooms today, does for a room what accessories do for an outfit – it adds style, personality and detail. From the kitchen to the dining room to the bathroom, any room can be dressed up with the simplest addition of customized moulding.

“Crown moulding adds a certain class to a room – an architectural elegance,” says Chele Benjamin, owner of Chele Benjamin Interior Design in Chicago. “There’s just a certain added dimension to a room with crown moulding that homeowners want.”

One way to integrate moulding into a room is to drop the moulding from the ceiling and add lighting behind it. Benjamin says this option adds flavor to both the ceiling and the walls. Or another idea is to utilize extra wall space by creating two rows of moulding and varying your color palette above and below each row for a crisp look.

And who says installing moulding can’t be a simple DIY project for any homeowner? To make crown moulding installation easier and less time-intensive, Focal Point Architectural Products developed the new Quick Clips moulding installation system that allows amateur DIYers and professionals alike to install designer-quality moulding with only amateur-grade tools, less caulking and no priming. With Quick Clips, installers no longer have to patch holes, find studs or miter corners, which means a “weekend project” will no longer require a weekend’s worth of time.

Focal Point offers two sizes of mouldings for the Quick Clips system: 4 1/8 inches and 5 7/8 inches. Eight decorative patterns are available, allowing homeowners to choose a design that captures the unique style of the room.

“The 4 1/8-inch profiles are most suitable for 7- to 8-foot ceilings or in smaller spaces, like powder rooms or small parlors,” says Cristina Kreis, owner of Architectural Impressions in Chicago. “The 5 7/8-inch profiles work better in larger spaces with 8- to 9-foot ceilings.”

“With Focal Point’s comprehensive offering of decorative accents and moulding treatments, and now the Quick Clips system, adding value to any room in the home can be achieved stylishly and in significantly less time,” says Sherrie Towne, marketing specialist for Focal Point.


For more information on how Focal Point can help you add value and unique style to your home with the easy-to-install Quick Clips moulding installation system, visit www.focalpointproducts.com, or call (800) 662-5550.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

How To Cut Crown Molding

Tim Carter, of AsktheBuilder.com, demonstrates how to position crown molding in a miter saw for perfect cuts every time.

Molding and Trim: The Crowning Glory of Any Room

If you’re like most homeowners you probably don’t think much about trim and crown molding. But walk into a room with crown molding and you will immediately feel you are somewhere special. Trim and crown molding really complete a room that may otherwise seem dull and lackluster.

Baseboards and doorway trim are essential to give a room a finished look. And upscale touches like crown molding can add to the elegance of almost any room. In fact, trim and crown molding is so important that finish carpenters – craftsmen who specialize in making and/or installing room trim – can command high prices for their work.

“The good news is that thanks to some innovative new products, and readily available advice and education, you can fire your finish carpenter,” says trim expert Mike Denny of So-Simple Crown Molding. “It’s easier and more affordable than ever for do-it-yourselfers to install trim, even crown molding.”

Here are facts you should know about trimming a room:

* Trim types include baseboards, molding around doors and windows, ceiling trims and crown moldings. They can all be as elaborate or simple as your taste dictates. Most home builders install basic base moldings and door and window trim.

* Baseboards or floor trim is both decorative and functional. Installed where the bottom of the wall meets the floor, base moldings anchor a room visually and also protect walls from damage by feet, vacuum cleaners, brooms, mops or other cleaning tools.

* The wider the trim, the greater its visual impact on a room. If you are trimming a grand, open space, wide, highly detailed moldings can add depth and interest to the room. Keep scale in mind when choosing the size and complexity of trim.

* Crown moldings have long been considered the hallmarks of upscale homes. Historically, builders have marketed these moldings as expensive upgrades and finish carpenters have charged handsomely to install these trims in existing homes.

“Until recently, most homeowners would have hesitated to tackle installation of crown molding on their own,” Denny says. “Thanks to the growth of the do-it-yourself market, manufacturers, such as SoSimpleCrown, have created beautiful and affordable crown molding that makes it easy for virtually anyone to trim a room themselves.”

Crown molding has entered the realm of the do-it-yourselfers thanks to pre-cut corners. “Traditional wood crown molding has a reputation as a difficult home improvement project for the do-it-yourselfer,” Denny says. “Most people are intimidated by the angled cuts required and the tools such as the, nail gun, needed to install traditional crown molding.”

Enter products like So-Simple Crown Molding, a light weight, easy to handle foam crown molding product that looks exactly like real wood crown molding. Much less expensive than wood crown, this innovative molding eliminates two of the biggest challenges of crown molding installation – corner cuts and nailing. With a simple online ordering process, homeowners specify the number of corners in their room and the company pre-cuts the moldings for the proper fit. Precut corners and the molding’s light weight means one person can easily install the molding.

Additionally, this product installs with caulk. No nails are required. For more information about crown molding visit, www.SoSimpleCrown.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Cutting Small Trim Molding

Bob Schmidt shows you how to cut small and delicate trim molding with a power mitre box to prevent it from damage during the cut. (more)