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Our free guide will teach you what you need to know about installing crown moulding. It’s a great way to dress up a room!
Installing crown moulding will add a classy touch to kitchen cabinets or turn an ordinary room into an exceptional one. Get the details below on how to put up crown moulding in your home.
Add character and elegance to any room by installing crown moulding. This attractive trim can adorn the top of cabinets or cover the transition between walls and ceilings in almost any room. Besides being a decorative addition, crown moulding can also be used to conceal cracks, hide wires that have been added for lighting or electronics, or create a space to hide ambient lighting.
Before installing crown moulding, carefully measure and mark your wall positions using a ruler and pencil to ensure precise placement
Here are some tools and supplies you will need to have for your project.
Tape measure and pencil
Ladder or work platform
Miter saw
Level
Hammer and finishing nails or pneumatic finish nailer
Adhesive and caulk gun
Sufficient crown moulding to complete the job
Sandpaper
Safety gear (gloves, safety glasses, N95 mask, etc.)
Did you know? Wood trim is called moulding because most decorative work like crown moulding and other trim was originally made of moulded plaster. It was either created in place or made in a shop and then attached to the walls.
Once you have your crown moulding and the above tools, you’re ready to start the installation. You may want to put a coat of paint (or a natural finish) on the moulding before hanging it. Then you can add the final coat after it’s installed, and you have sealed the edges and filled the nail holes. If you have purchased pre-painted moulding, this won’t be necessary.
- Cut your first piece of moulding: Measure from an inside corner to the next corner. (Always measure along the wall, not the ceiling.) If your piece of moulding is not long enough to reach to the opposite corner, cut the end at a 45° angle for a less visible joint.
- Miter the corners of the moulding at 45° (for a 90° corner).
- Apply a bead of adhesive near the edges of the crown moulding. We suggest using LePage 2in1 Seal & Bond Interior Adhesive.
- Attach the moulding: Hold it up to the ceiling, check for level and that the length is correct, then attach it using a nail gun or a hammer and nails.
- Wipe away any excess adhesive with a cloth.
- Continue the above process, working around the room in one direction.
- When the installation is complete, use a quality sealant along the edges of the moulding and in the corners. Also, fill the nail holes with putty.
- Apply a final coat of paint (or varnish) and allow it to dry.
During the installing crown moulding process, carefully align each piece with your marked guidelines while checking for level positioning
Installing crown moulding on cabinets is a very similar process, especially if they go all the way to the ceiling. In other installations, the cabinets don’t go all the way to the ceiling, so keeping the moulding level is even more important.
In such a case, you may want to put masking tape on the cabinets where the bottom edge of the moulding will be. Use a level to make sure the masking tape is straight and level.
Now you can install the moulding as described above, except you will only use nails at the bottom edge of the crown moulding.
Properly installed crown moulding should not need much in the way of maintenance or repairs, but occasionally, you may need to repair a crack, dent, or gap between the moulding and the ceiling. Here’s how to handle these repairs.
- If a gap or crack develops between the moulding and the ceiling or wall due to shrinkage or structure settlement, it can be easily filled with a quality sealant such as LePage 2in1 Seal & Bond Interior Adhesive. It’s paintable after just 40 minutes, so you can take care of repairs quickly.
- LePage 2in1 Interior is also the sealant of choice If you find a gap between pieces of crown moulding, such as at an outside corner. 2in1 functions as both a flexible sealant and a powerful adhesive, so it will seal the gap and prevent it from opening up again.
- Fill nail holes, dents, and any other surface imperfections with LePage Tinted Wood Filler. This is a synthetic latex paste that goes on smooth and easy, but it dries to a hard, durable finish. It can also be tinted or painted.