Crown molding size recommendations for 10' ceilings?
I’d like to add crown molding in the parlor room with 10′ ceilings in a townhouse built around 1900. All the original crown moldings had been removed before we bought the house. What face size would you recommend keeping in mind that I’m hoping for something historically appropriate? Thanks in advance!
Guest User | 4 years and 3 months ago
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RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 4 years and 3 months ago
A friend showed me how to do coping many years ago. I’m sure I couldn’t do it now (and maybe not even then$. My carpentry skills are minimal.
stevecym | 4 years and 3 months ago
Even low cielings have some big moldings, even in my crappy queens house. I am not sure what my customers have done to look at moldings and i have never had to suggest any, so look at photos and see if you can get in the neighbors houses. Dont be quick to do anything that denotes a particular period that might be out of place and dont start with a dykes catalog as if you have not done this before, you wont know what you are looking at. When doing big moldings in old houses, i have noticed that most people stay away from real colonial looking stuff but go with broad curves, concave or convex with few steps, perhaps one where the trim meets the wall and cieling. If you like open and airy, you dont want busy and some of the busier trim will make you feel boxed in and that may be ok, in some of the bigger houses down there.
Guest User | 4 years and 3 months ago
I can’t cope! Actually I still don’t know what I’m installing much less how. I got out all the old samples I ordered and find I still don’t think any are right.
stevecym | 4 years and 3 months ago
And dont cope. If i gave someone a quote to cope and it was 25% more, they would tell me to mitre it.
stevecym | 4 years and 3 months ago
Dont listen to us fussing about coping. If you do the poly, it sholud be easy.
If you do large wood, the trick is not to attach it to the wall but to furring that is solidly fastened to the wall. Let the big crown hang a little loosly so if things are off with the walls, you can fudge them a bit to line it all up. If there are waves in the wall, shim where need be and plane where need be and when it is all lined up, secure it and caulk it on the top and bottom and inside corners. Glue scarfs and outside corners. Its easy. One you learn not to force the big stuff, it gets easier.
Guest User | 4 years and 3 months ago
I’m more and more certain I’m going to hire someone else to install!
stevecym | 4 years and 3 months ago
Its more a matter of the hand that’s doing the coping. A secret: i clean them up with a burr in a die grinder.
And i have not done one in ten years.
hkapstein | 4 years and 3 months ago
Not all moulding profiles can be coped so if you plan to do that, you should check.
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 3 months ago
if you are doing long runs, you will have less movement and less chance of a scarf opening on the poly. less chance of corners opening. i am a purist myself, but as materials change, we can pick and choose what will work and what won’t. no one will know with the crown.
also, the other day, with the wood, i said glue the scarfs and caulk the corners. if you are a real purist and want to do it the old way, ditch the caulk and cope the corners placing the longer run behind the short one. perhaps you won’t have to caulk. short of doing this, go with the poly.
Guest User | 4 years and 3 months ago
I started to feel ashamed about considering polyurethane lol. I guess when I said historically appropriate I meant more loosely. My baseboards are actually painted mdf cut in strips and topped with a base cap. Otherwise god knows how much I would have spent to change them to something more substantial. They wouldn’t be mistaken for original but I like them and they’re the same proportions as the original baseboards.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 4 years and 3 months ago
I know some will consider this to be heresy, but polyurethane moldings might work pretty well. I’ve made some very limited use of t hem and been pleased. We have one ceiling medallion, that replaced a badly damaged original. Also the medallion in our front parlor had been cut down into a hexagonal shape by the previous owner to fit under a light fixture. I framed it with polyurethane rope molding and IMO it looks great
Guest User | 4 years and 3 months ago
That’s a lot of information, thank you Urbandad. What did you mean about extending them onto the ceiling? I’m pretty sure the house is Victorian rather than Edwardian. I’m not an expert installer but think baseboards and window moldings are much easier than crown molding. I’ll look up Brent Hull, thank you for the reference.
hkapstein | 4 years and 3 months ago
Plaster mouldings are a whole thing, which I could say a lot about. On a 10 foot ceiling I probably wouldn’t make the so tall, but rather extend them onto the ceiling. Look at some real estate photos of similar style houses. Is your house a late victorian style, or a more edwardian? Big difference in the style around that time. Take a look at some of the writings of brent hull, who had a lot of comments about the use of classical proportions in 19th century architecture. There are certain rules but they are not exactly hard and fast.
Getting a custom gypsum moulding isn’t that expensive compare to an “off the shelf” moulding unless the off the shelf i going to be a polyurethane product. The gypsum is made to order anyway, so decocraft won’t charge you too much more to make a custom pattern. At least they shouldn’t if you sound like you know what you’re talking about. However, decocraft is not the most cost effective place to buy gypsum mouldings.
Now if you’re handy and interested, you can actually make the mouldings on site yourself. It’s not that hard, and plaster is cheap. The risk of breakage during transport is eliminated, and any pieces that break can be refabricated. However you do need time for the plaster to cure, so setting up a couple units at a time may be necessary if you’re doing a lot of moulding.
Another challenge is installing the mouldings. You’ll probably find that the walls are not perfectly plumb and square, or even flat. And this makes mitering the mouldings and attaching them a little tricky, but you say you’ve installed a lot of trim so you probably know what you’re doing.
Finally, I wouldn’t use a wooden moulding unless you really want that look. Plaster is a much better material for ceiling mouldings as they are much more stable and won’t move and show gaps and joints like a wood moulding will.
Good luck with your project.
Urbandad
Guest User | 4 years and 3 months ago
Thanks stevecym, I’ll look at Dykes. Bob – yes I’m looking for something simple too. I’ve actually installed lots of molding over the years (because the house had some of the cheapest and smallest Home Depot moldings when we bought it). It’s been a big improvement overall and very much changed the look of the house.
stevecym | 4 years and 3 months ago
For poplar molding, go to adriatic wood products on pitkin in eny. You can look at dykes catalogue and give them a dykes number. We cannot go in the facility due to covid.
stevecym | 4 years and 3 months ago
GLUE the scarf joits and caulk the corners.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 4 years and 3 months ago
The only place we have regular crown molding is our top floor hallway. The ceiling height and dimensions are about what “dork” mentioned.
RE: off the shelf molding, O think it will work fine as long as the joints are caulked or otherwise concealed. Keep in mind that turn of the 19th/20th Century plaster molding is fairly simple. More elaborate versions belong in earlier houses.
Guest User | 4 years and 3 months ago
Thank you both. Cate, it probably will be off the shelf new because price is a consideration. I didn’t mean to say that the molding has to be a perfect match to what was there originally, although if I’m able to find out, all the better.
dorkofwindsor | 4 years and 3 months ago
I have 7″ I think on a 9′ ceiling and wouldn’t go any smaller. I like Bob’s 10″ size for a 10′ ceiling.