This project consisted of hanging (14) new interior 6 panel doors, installation of two vanities in a Jack and Jill bathroom, installation of base trim and door casings which were both paint and stain grade, and also installation of 3 piece crown molding onto a 20' high ceiling! This project definitely had its challenges, the biggest being the installation of this 3 piece crown over the staircase while being 20' high!
Some of the tips and tricks for this type of crown installation was to first stain and polyurethane the crown, prior to installation. The other option would have been to rent scaffolding to spray this crown, but would have taken quite a bit of scaffolding to effectively complete this large of a job. The preferred method normally is to finish moldings after installation, however for this type of job it was best to finish the crown prior to installation.
Another tip was to use crown hangers. Crown hangers allow you to measure and cut the crown, place in the desired location and make adjustments where needed without having to have additional sets of hands and repeatedly going up and down the ladder. Once you get the ideal fit and start to fasten the crown to the wall and ceiling, as you move along you can push the hooks inward to release from the side of wall and then pull out from behind the crown molding.
We also prefer the old school method of cutting inside corners, which is referred to as coping. However, we also add a new school approach to performing the actual cut. Using a barrel jig saw with a coping foot attachment really speeds up the coping process and performs just as well as an actual coping saw. Based on the contour detail of the crown, the type of blade, and the speed of the blade, you can make all the cuts flawlessly and much faster than a manual coping saw. I will post a video sometime in the near future of this coping method process.
Besides the 20' high ceiling, the most difficult part of this 3 piece crown installation was trying to reach these points over the staircase. What we ended up doing was building a platform that could lay over top of certain sections of the staircase and allow us to place our ladders in different locations to get the crown installed properly and safely.
This crown molding along with the new white 6 panel doors and matching stained casing really provided a timeless and beautiful look to the entry area of this home! It was a fun, but very challenging project, and we and the homeowners were very happy with the finished results!
Please leave us a comment if you have any questions or feedback. Also, if you have any projects you would like us to take a look at please feel free to reach out!
Here is a list of tools we used during this project: