crown moulding question.....

mikey1999

I want to install some 3 5/8 mdf crown moulding. I painted my basement joists, hvac, pipes, etc black so we are going with modern bar/man cave theme. I want to install crown moulding about 12 inches below the joists so it will be floating. If I use my brad nail gun and 16 guage brad's every 16 inches on center will it hold ok? I was wondering if I needed to rip some wood to place behind the crown for extra support.

DannyT

cut some blocks the same angle as the back of the crown. we used to do that when we left the crown low for rope lighting. we nailed the crown up first then just put some pl on the blocks and slid them in gluing to the crown and the wall. we just did them like 2 feet apart but you could rip a piece and go full length if you wanted but its more work

hand drive

As DannyT mentioned add the blocks in later after attaching the crown or pop a chalk line on the wall and screw the blocks to the wall following chalk line and add crown to the blocks afterward. there are different ways. you could maybe even add a 1x shelf on top that sticks out some from the crown to give it a different look...

joecaption

#1, I would never use MDF in a basement. To high a chance of moisture causing it to expand and buckle.

If you used picture moulding instead of crown you would have the same look but no backing needed.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...748CFE&first=1

hand drive

Indeed, even moving up to stain grade crown to avoid the finger joints is preferable in a possibly humid environment. nothing worse in crown than a finger joint showing and pulling apart from moisture...

Thanks for the picture and crown images pic link also