Cut Wood Molding For A Ceiling

Installing crown molding on a ceiling can give a room an elegant, finished look.

Installing crown molding around the ceiling of a room in your house will look distinctive and attractive. Crown molding can be tricky to cut at first, but once you understand the process, it becomes a piece of cake. Crown molding is a type of molding that rests against the ceiling and wall at a 45 degree angle to give the illusion of a much thicker piece of molding. The secret of cutting crown molding to the proper angles lies in how you hold the molding in your miter box saw.

Instructions

1. Before you get started with the full lengths of material, it's a good idea to use a piece of scrap material to help you understand how you'll eventually be making your cuts. Set your miter box saw to cut at a 45 degree angle, then set your molding in the material so that the foot of the molding that will go against the ceiling is lying on the base of the miter box saw, and so the foot of the molding meant to go on the wall is lying on the back of the miter box saw. Essentially you are positioning the material upside down from how it will eventually be installed. Hold the material at this 45 degree angle and make your cut.

2. Make a cut of the crown molding scrap with the opposite 45 degree angle. Now hold these pieces up against the wall, in the corner of the room, and see if the two cuts are aligning properly.

3. Once you've got the positioning of the molding in the saw figured out, it's time to work on your actual crown molding pieces. Measure the distance you want to cover with a particular piece of crown molding and then mark the molding accordingly with a pencil. Make your cuts accordingly.

4. Because many, if not most walls are not in perfect square, you may need to use a coping saw to cut away some of the backing material from the molding. The essential trick to keep in mind when cutting away excess material is not to disturb the exposed face of the crown molding. You can cut away as much excess material as need be so long as the two faces of the crown molding form a tight seal at the point where they contact one another.

Tags: crown molding, degree angle, against ceiling, crown molding, Crown molding, excess material