Crown Molding Corner Gaps - How to Fix?

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biddlecom

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Hello Everyone,

I put some crown molding up and did a very bad job. I have some major gaps in a couple of the corners. What would be the best way to fill this in and make it look half way decent? Is there some kind of moldable putty or something like that? Also is there a good way to fill in the nail holes? I put caulking in them but there is still a divot. Any suggestions to get them a bit more flat?

Thank you foe the help!

I just want to know how to fill it in. Im not going to tear it down and redo it.

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Crown can be a bear to cut correctly. You have to hold it in the saw at exactly the same position as it will go on the wall, only upside down while making the cut. It helps when you are cutting it to put a stop block to keep all the cuts consistent. A compound miter can do it with the crown laying down flat on the bed of the saw, but you have to know the right angles to set. My saw has a detent for "standard crown" whatever that is.

On the narrower ones you could try ALEX caulking. Water Putty might work on the bigger ones. You could try water putty on all of it, or where you have indentations just do another dab of caulking.

A great solution to eliminate most of your compound cuts is to use crown corner blocks on the inside corners.

Water Putty
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Durham-s-16-fl-oz-Light-Yellow-Patching-and-Spackling-Compound/3143341

Corner Blocks
https://www.lowes.com/pd/EverTrue-4-125-in-x-4-125-in-White-Hardwood-Inside-Corner-Crown-Moulding-Block/3383426
 
Stuff tissue paper in the crack for backing and fill it with drywall filler, use the corner of the knife to get the corner shape.
Use a sanding sponge for sanding.
No it is no it perfect.
 
The key is to get the crown oriented correctly in the saw and mounting it to the wall at the same orientation. If the orientation changes from piece to piece you get the wide gaps he has. Coping won't help a bad compound miter.

An inside corner cut on a miter even if perfect when done will open and close with the seasons. When you cope the corner the first piece runs straight into the corner no miter. Then you miter the second piece to get the edge and then back cut the edge with the coping saw. Far less likely to see a gap and the cope will pull up tight even if the two corners are not 90 degrees.

I agree coping won’t fix a compound miter it is to replace the miter.

In his case the best he can do now to make it look right is add in the corner blocks they have them for outside corners as well in some fancy shapes also. I would hand cut them in place.
 
Bud,
You still do a compound miter on one of the cuts when coping, at least I do. Square cut one into the corner then miter the other with an inside corner, and cope to match the profile.
 
An inside corner cut on a miter even if perfect when done will open and close with the seasons. When you cope the corner the first piece runs straight into the corner no miter. Then you miter the second piece to get the edge and then back cut the edge with the coping saw. Far less likely to see a gap and the cope will pull up tight even if the two corners are not 90 degrees.

I agree coping won’t fix a compound miter it is to replace the miter.

In his case the best he can do now to make it look right is add in the corner blocks they have them for outside corners as well in some fancy shapes also. I would hand cut them in place.

Bud: We see the pros coping the base molding all the time but I don't think I have seen one do it with a crown.

Any of us that do this once in a while develop little tricks to get there.
I would like to hear from the pro that does it every day with his tricks.
 
I installed a really complicated crown in my daughter's bedroom and I couldn't get it to look right by coping. The key was making sure you cut everything at the same relative angle on the base and backstop of the miter saw and installed it on the wall at the same place. A slight change in the angle in the miter saw (not the 45-degree cut) will throw off the cut as shown in his bottom picture. Been there, done that.
 
I installed a really complicated crown in my daughter's bedroom and I couldn't get it to look right by coping. The key was making sure you cut everything at the same relative angle on the base and backstop of the miter saw and installed it on the wall at the same place. A slight change in the angle in the miter saw (not the 45-degree cut) will throw off the cut as shown in his bottom picture. Been there, done that.

Anybody can do it perfect. It takes skill to fix the screw ups.
 
Some of the tricks I have used and cheats for beginners

I have screwed a piece of plywood to the table of the saw, just far enough from the fence to replicate where the crown with be on the ceiling.
Make the plywood wide enough so it does not get cut in half when cutting molding.
Cut the two samples for all the different angles you might need for the room.

Using the samples check each corner for corrections needed, sometimes the angle may be right but will a build up of drywall fill will screw things up. A little sanding o the back that fits to the wall maybe needed.

Measuring inside corner to inside corner can be tricky. measure from wall to center both ways and add the two.

Cut a couple 2x4s to length to hold the piece up while you check both corners will fit the matching samples before you nail it up.

Yes I make a lot of samples and it can be wasteful and the pros may laugh at me. But the finish is always acceptable.
 
An inside corner cut on a miter even if perfect when done will open and close with the seasons. When you cope the corner the first piece runs straight into the corner no miter. Then you miter the second piece to get the edge and then back cut the edge with the coping saw. Far less likely to see a gap and the cope will pull up tight even if the two corners are not 90 degrees.

I agree coping won’t fix a compound miter it is to replace the miter.

In his case the best he can do now to make it look right is add in the corner blocks they have them for outside corners as well in some fancy shapes also. I would hand cut them in place.

This one is for you:thbup:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKVx7-DO69M[/ame]
 
I cant help with what to do with the crown moulding, but, for the nail holes, i now use joint compound to fill them. I use my finger dipped in the compound and dab it in the nail hole, and overfill it so there is a lump of joint compound on the face of the moulding. The next day i use a sanding sponge to lightly sand it and it is perfectly flat. I prefer to use quickset powdered joint compound (45 or 90), but have also used pre-mixed.

The reason you still show divots is that caulk shrinks as it dries. So does joint compound and that is why i overfill. The difference is that you can sand joint compound but not caulk.
 
I suck at cutting crown, mainly because of lack of practice so I broke down and bought a couple of simple tools to make it easy for even a first timer, and now can get it right the first time.
http://www.cpooutlets.com/bench-dog...svTmRM3BZ6cePzsVlb2iH5UwadamcP8GOBBoCYJLw_wcB
There's pictures on the back of the jig showing what position to set the angle of the saw for inside and outside corners.
The other tool I use tells you in an instant exactly what the angle is.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Starrett-Hardened-Plastic-Miter-Saw-ProSite-Protractor-505P-7/15107619
 
Joe,
Does the Starrett Miter Protractor tell you the compound angle to cut crown with the wood laying flat on a compound miter saw bed? The description is pretty weak on the Walmart website.
 
I suck at cutting crown, mainly because of lack of practice so I broke down and bought a couple of simple tools to make it easy for even a first timer, and now can get it right the first time.
http://www.cpooutlets.com/bench-dog...svTmRM3BZ6cePzsVlb2iH5UwadamcP8GOBBoCYJLw_wcB
There's pictures on the back of the jig showing what position to set the angle of the saw for inside and outside corners.
The other tool I use tells you in an instant exactly what the angle is.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Starrett-Hardened-Plastic-Miter-Saw-ProSite-Protractor-505P-7/15107619

That’s a great jig. The way the guy in Neal’s vid holds them to cut them looks sketchy to me. I have always made a jig like the one you bought to hold them square.
 
Joe,
Does the Starrett Miter Protractor tell you the compound angle to cut crown with the wood laying flat on a compound miter saw bed? The description is pretty weak on the Walmart website.

No reason to cut a compound miter if you stand the crown up in the jig. Just measure the corner take half the angle set your saw and use the jig.
 
Joe,
I like the jig and may get one for my next crown project. My miter saw is about 15 years old and Bosch has since changed the design and you can no longer find the crown jigs made to fit it. The one you linked doesn't attach to the saw and is universal.

I'd love a tool that told you want angles to set to utilize the compound feature. The directions give you an angle for "standard" crown, whatever the heck that is. You'd think you could say set the compound at XX degrees for 4" crown, XY degrees for 4.5" crown, YY degrees for 6" crown, etc. A table would be great. The jig is nice because you set it and all your cuts are consistent.
 

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