You can install your own crown molding for a professional finish to cabinets.
You and a friend just finished hanging the wall cabinets in your new kitchen, but now you're on your own. It's up to you to finish the trim and add the crown molding at the top of the cabinets. This technique works well with crown molding up to about 4 inches wide and will leave your cabinets with clean and professional-looking .
Instructions
Figure and Install Cabinet Crown Molding
1. Measure accurately. The corners of the cabinets and the seams where cabinets are joined together make for accurate measuring points.
It is important to understand the concept of the "" and the "short point" when you figure a cut. When the molding is cut on an angle, one edge of the piece will be longer than the other. The tip of this edge of the board is the long point. The tip of the shorter edge is the short point. For an outside corner, the long point will be at the top of the piece, which should be flat on the table of the saw when you cut. If the cabinets form an inside angle, the long point will be at the bottom of the piece, which should be flat against the fence (the vertical portion) of your saw.
A measurement from an inside corner to an outside corner is called a "long to short" measurement. If the edge of the cabinet forms a 90-degree angle, set the saw at 45 degrees. If the cabinet frames join at a 45-degree angle, set the saw at 22.5 degrees.
2. Hold the crown molding against the fence of the saw. There are two flat places on the back of the molding. One should be flat against the fence of the saw, and the other should be flat on the table. Make a pencil mark along the edge of the molding on the saw table to index the angle.
3. Cut precisely. Cutting is performed with the crown molding upside-down, with the edge that will be installed at the bottom against the fence of the saw. Use a sharp blade and apply smooth and steady pressure to avoid splintering. Some saws have a jig available to hold the molding at the proper angle; if so, use this jig. If you don't have a jig, you will have to perform the task yourself.
4. Install 1-by-2 backing at the top edge of the cabinet boxes to provide nailing for the molding. 1-by-2, which actually measures 3/4 inch by 1-1/2 inches, is available in a few varieties at most lumber yards, or you can mill your own from scrap material. Poplar or pine wood are among cost-effective options.
5. Fasten the crown to the backing with trim nails.
6. Use a marker to color the cut edges so that an edge of the raw wood doesn't show when you join two cut pieces together.
7. Glue all joints with wood glue and wipe off any excess glue before it dries. Carefully apply small amounts of color putty to the nail holes and wipe any excess.
Tags: crown molding, against fence, long point, should flat, angle degrees, Cabinet Crown, Cabinet Crown Molding