Posted: 8/1/2010 9:42:35 AM EDT
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How to handle preparing for uneven ceilings? I've crowned a few small rooms with little problems, but now I'm starting to do my kitchen and I'm having issues. I've measured 4 inches down from the ceiling, mark it, then run a laser level 10 feet across the room, and made another mark. This second mark is 3.5 inches from the ceiling. My question is do I line the bottom of the crown on the lower part and caulk the gap that will be there on the higher side, or use the high side and scribe the crown down on the lower parts? Regardless of what I do, how do I make sure the bottom of the adjacent wall's crown is even with this wall. Thanks, |
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Most ceilings have variation in them. Even new construction. Variance in wood, drywall compound, etc.
The most important part to get right is the corners so that the copes sit perfect. Use the lines and laser as a reference only. Leave the ends loose so you can adjust in the corners when the next piece goes up and work from the middle out. Unless you have window or door casing and cabinets underneath it it will be hard to notice that the crown is not perfectly straight. Another method would be scribing. You can use a belt sander to scribe the high spots of the ceiling into the crown. I'm not a big fan of using caulk for anything more than making a smooth paint transition. I hate filling large gaps with caulk because it looks awful. I would just try to work the crown. Install a backer if you'd like so that you have something you can really suck the crown into. Sometimes nails alone are not enough to work crown with. I've used small head trim screws in some instances and just fill them with bondo and sand them after. |
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Quoted: Run the crown with the ceiling. Just measure down 4 inches in the corners and a few spots along the wall. You'll never see the difference. This is one case for not leveling something. Caulk whatever you need after that Yeah, the only things that really matter are that your corners/miters are good and that the top and bottom of the crown sit flush against ceiling and wall. A good caulk & paint job on top of that and you'll be GTG. |
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Quoted: Thanks for the replies. The most important part to get right is the corners so that the copes sit perfect. Use the lines and laser as a reference only. Leave the ends loose so you can adjust in the corners when the next piece goes up and work from the middle out. Unless you have window or door casing and cabinets underneath it it will be hard to notice that the crown is not perfectly straight. Above: do you mean nail the center of the board up first, then work outward towards the corners? So that you are basically nailing the two corner pieces at the same time? With great answers like these, it looks as though I'll have to get my fat butt off the couch. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Thanks for the replies.
The most important part to get right is the corners so that the copes sit perfect. Use the lines and laser as a reference only. Leave the ends loose so you can adjust in the corners when the next piece goes up and work from the middle out. Unless you have window or door casing and cabinets underneath it it will be hard to notice that the crown is not perfectly straight. Above: do you mean nail the center of the board up first, then work outward towards the corners? So that you are basically nailing the two corner pieces at the same time? With great answers like these, it looks as though I'll have to get my fat butt off the couch. I put my first nail in the middle and then work to one side and then the other. You do not want to nail within 2 feet from the corners until you adjust the cope so the two pieces meeting sit right. The upper corner of the room is where 3 pieces of tape covered with compound meet. So they are not a true 90 degree angle. I also cut my pieces a little stong so I start from the middle and "spring" them into place. Not too much just enough so they wouldn't fall down if you let go of them. This helps me get very tight corners. It will require a block and hammer for adjusting them though. Keep a small piece of scrap near your coping area. Make sure your cope fits over the scrap perfect before putting it up. Nothing worse than getting a piece ianled up and finding out your cope is no good. If you have to, keep a file on hand for minor adjustments. |
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I also cut my pieces a little stong so I start from the middle and "spring" them into place. Not too much just enough so they wouldn't fall down if you let go of them. This helps me get very tight corners. It will require a block and hammer for adjusting them though. Ditto, that's the way I was taught to do it. |