I am hoping someone can suggest the best way for me to do crown
molding in my kitchen. I am a foolishly optimistic novice doing a new
cabinet install in my house and currently there are no wall cabinets
(I tore out the old ones, I put in the base cabinets and countertops
successfully). The new wall cabinets are 42" and, with the crown
molding, will run up to the ceiling. The doors are full overhang and
there is not much face frame peeking over the tops of the doors (maybe
1/8"). I was planning to put a backer board on top of the cabinets
around the perimeter where I was going to attach the crown molding,
just to give me something to nail into. I would do this before I
installed the cabinets on the wall, obviously, because there will be
no room to work on top of the cabinets once they are up. I would then
nail the crown into this backer.
Problem: the ceiling is not even.
There is no face frame for the crown to ride up and down to match the
ceiling. Here are some suggestions I have heard to solve this problem.
I would love to hear some feedback on these ideas or any other ideas
people have on how to solve this problem:
1. get an additional narrow molding and scribe to match the ceiling
pros-will match ceiling very well
cons-a lot of extra work, cannot do until the crown is installed,
difficult to attach to the crown once it's scribed
2. hang the cabinets higher and scribe the crown to match
pros-will match ceiling well
cons-if I scribe too much, will ruin the look of the crown, a lot of
effort
3. hang the cabinets low enough so that the crown never actually
touches the ceiling; leave a 'shadow line' above the cabinets that
will vary as the ceiling moves up and down
pros-very easy to do
cons-if the ceiling goes up and down by 1/2" or more, will this look
bad? Will it look bad regardless to have cabinets and crown that is
supposed to go straight to the ceiling but stops just short of it?
4. run quarter-round between the crown molding and the ceiling, on top
of the crown, and vary that up and down to match the ceiling
pros-easier than scribing
cons-cost of quarter-round; will it look good? can it cover a 1/2"
variation in ceiling height?
Thanks to anyone that can offer pointers, advice, information, or
suggestions! I am waiting for your answers before I make my next
move...
On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 15:11:58 -0400, Tom Watson
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Also, you don't say what kind of doors you have on the cabinets.
I'm sorry.. I should have said, "Since you have overlay doors..."
Regards, Tom
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker
Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
http://users.snip.net/~tjwatson
Drop them down about 6-8" and add some low voltage lighting on top. It will
really trick out that kitchen and highlight the cabinets too.
"nemo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am hoping someone can suggest the best way for me to do crown
> molding in my kitchen. I am a foolishly optimistic novice doing a new
> cabinet install in my house and currently there are no wall cabinets
> (I tore out the old ones, I put in the base cabinets and countertops
> successfully). The new wall cabinets are 42" and, with the crown
> molding, will run up to the ceiling. The doors are full overhang and
> there is not much face frame peeking over the tops of the doors (maybe
> 1/8"). I was planning to put a backer board on top of the cabinets
> around the perimeter where I was going to attach the crown molding,
> just to give me something to nail into. I would do this before I
> installed the cabinets on the wall, obviously, because there will be
> no room to work on top of the cabinets once they are up. I would then
> nail the crown into this backer.
>
> Problem: the ceiling is not even.
>
> There is no face frame for the crown to ride up and down to match the
> ceiling. Here are some suggestions I have heard to solve this problem.
> I would love to hear some feedback on these ideas or any other ideas
> people have on how to solve this problem:
>
> 1. get an additional narrow molding and scribe to match the ceiling
>
> pros-will match ceiling very well
> cons-a lot of extra work, cannot do until the crown is installed,
> difficult to attach to the crown once it's scribed
>
> 2. hang the cabinets higher and scribe the crown to match
>
> pros-will match ceiling well
> cons-if I scribe too much, will ruin the look of the crown, a lot of
> effort
>
> 3. hang the cabinets low enough so that the crown never actually
> touches the ceiling; leave a 'shadow line' above the cabinets that
> will vary as the ceiling moves up and down
>
> pros-very easy to do
> cons-if the ceiling goes up and down by 1/2" or more, will this look
> bad? Will it look bad regardless to have cabinets and crown that is
> supposed to go straight to the ceiling but stops just short of it?
>
> 4. run quarter-round between the crown molding and the ceiling, on top
> of the crown, and vary that up and down to match the ceiling
>
> pros-easier than scribing
> cons-cost of quarter-round; will it look good? can it cover a 1/2"
> variation in ceiling height?
>
> Thanks to anyone that can offer pointers, advice, information, or
> suggestions! I am waiting for your answers before I make my next
> move...
On 29 Sep 2003, nemo spake unto rec.woodworking:
> I would love to hear some feedback on these ideas or any other ideas
> people have on how to solve this problem:
There is no easy answer. Any level, horizontal line that close to
the uneven ceiling is going to draw attention to your problem. Scribing
the crown would be my last choice, it would look very odd, I think.
If it isn't too late (if you haven't bought the cabinets yet!) I
would suggest shorter wall cabinets that leave a space between their tops
and the ceiling. You can finsh them with an applied crown or bed molding,
and put SWMBO's basket collection or whatever on display in the open space.
On 29 Sep 2003 11:48:31 -0700, [email protected] (nemo) wrote:
>I am hoping someone can suggest the best way for me to do crown
>molding in my kitchen.
Before putting up the cabinets I would float the ceiling out level in
the area where the top front edge of the crown molding will butt.
You can use regular pre mixed joint compound, with a little bit of
plaster of paris added to it. Apply it with a wide knife or trowel.
If you are not used to doing this sort of thing, you may have to do a
bit of sanding to make things come out right.
Also, you don't say what kind of doors you have on the cabinets. If
they are overlay doors you will have to attach a piece of solid stock
to the tops of the cabinets that will project beyond the carcasse to
the front plane of the doors. The idea is that the crown should
spring from the front of the doors rather than from the carcasse.
When I do this sort of thing I have the manufacturer send me enough
extra fillers so that I can use them as my nailers.
Regards, Tom
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker
Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
http://users.snip.net/~tjwatson
[email protected] (nemo) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
> Problem: the ceiling is not even.
>
As Tom suggested, fixing the ceiling is probably the best solution.
I can second the caulk method. I use the painter caulk type. My
father usually helps with this - he is a Rembrant with caulk.
What color are you painting the molding? When I bought my house,
there was a dark stained molding in the kitchen and it looked fine
(except we didn't like the color). I took the molding down and
painted it, then put it back. The lighter color exposed the gap that
was there all along but wasn't noticable before. If you are painting
or staining them a dark color, a gap probably will not be very
noticable. Light or white paint will send you running for the caulk
gun.
-Chris
How wide is the worst gap? Most installers run a line of white caulking to
hide a small gap....
Bob
"nemo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am hoping someone can suggest the best way for me to do crown
> molding in my kitchen. I am a foolishly optimistic novice doing a new
> cabinet install in my house and currently there are no wall cabinets
> (I tore out the old ones, I put in the base cabinets and countertops
> successfully). The new wall cabinets are 42" and, with the crown
> molding, will run up to the ceiling. The doors are full overhang and
> there is not much face frame peeking over the tops of the doors (maybe
> 1/8"). I was planning to put a backer board on top of the cabinets
> around the perimeter where I was going to attach the crown molding,
> just to give me something to nail into. I would do this before I
> installed the cabinets on the wall, obviously, because there will be
> no room to work on top of the cabinets once they are up. I would then
> nail the crown into this backer.
>
> Problem: the ceiling is not even.
>
> There is no face frame for the crown to ride up and down to match the
> ceiling. Here are some suggestions I have heard to solve this problem.
> I would love to hear some feedback on these ideas or any other ideas
> people have on how to solve this problem:
>
> 1. get an additional narrow molding and scribe to match the ceiling
>
> pros-will match ceiling very well
> cons-a lot of extra work, cannot do until the crown is installed,
> difficult to attach to the crown once it's scribed
>
> 2. hang the cabinets higher and scribe the crown to match
>
> pros-will match ceiling well
> cons-if I scribe too much, will ruin the look of the crown, a lot of
> effort
>
> 3. hang the cabinets low enough so that the crown never actually
> touches the ceiling; leave a 'shadow line' above the cabinets that
> will vary as the ceiling moves up and down
>
> pros-very easy to do
> cons-if the ceiling goes up and down by 1/2" or more, will this look
> bad? Will it look bad regardless to have cabinets and crown that is
> supposed to go straight to the ceiling but stops just short of it?
>
> 4. run quarter-round between the crown molding and the ceiling, on top
> of the crown, and vary that up and down to match the ceiling
>
> pros-easier than scribing
> cons-cost of quarter-round; will it look good? can it cover a 1/2"
> variation in ceiling height?
>
> Thanks to anyone that can offer pointers, advice, information, or
> suggestions! I am waiting for your answers before I make my next
> move...