Crown moulding with a vaulted ceiling?

Renovator,LLC

Gary Katz is a finish carp that now takes his craft on the road, DVD, web, and anywhere else he can make a buck telling everyone else how they should trim a house. Which sounds negative, but is not intended to be. He's a good guy, and absolutely knows what he's talking about; he's kind of the finish carps guru.
This is an article he wrote on this subject. It's worth the read, even if you don't think you want to do this now, but someday might:
http://www.garymkatz.com/TrimTechniq...ansitions.html

dcoyconstuctor

i have done a lot of crown moulding and it is no problem for me.but i just went to look at a new job and it was a vaulted ceiling.the transition piece looks like crap to me. I was wondering if there is any way to mathematically figure it out?

drtbk4ever

Hey Guys,

I googled "crown moulding on a vaulted ceiling" and my trusty DIY site popped up. Great info.

I also found this site.

http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/artic...ticle_id=60354

Anybody else have anything to add?

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Bill

A DIY Noob that knows just enough to be dangerous.

carpenter23

Installing crown molding on a flat ceiling is challenging enough. I have intsalled crown molding on vaulted ceilings before. I've actually done this in my own great room. It looks beautiful, but does take an incredible amount of patience and skill. This task cannot be completed without the use of a coping saw. Because you will likely have a flat piece running along one wall and a piece running along the vaulted wall, you need to first install the crown on the vaulted wall. If you have a 4/12 pitch, your angle cuts on both ends would be 8 degrees. Now comes the challenging part. Where the crown meets the corner of the vaulted crown, you will need to cut the end of the flat crown to match up to the face of the vaulted crown. This is where the coping saw is necessary. I like to refer to this cut as a "beveled compound miter". I highly suggest making yourself a cardboard template, so you can tranfer the shape to all of your corners. It will work for either side of your room by simply flipping the template over and using the other side. Also, after you have cut the shape from the end of the crown molding, you will need to use your coping saw again to make a 45 degree back cut along the shape. Imagine cutting a 45 degree bevel while your molding is standing on end. If you did this with a chop saw, you would achieve the back cut, but you wouldn't be able to follow the shape. This will take some patience and practice if you haven't used a coping saw before. Now the flat piece should match the face of the vaulted piece in the corner where the two meet. If you get it close, don't worry too much about perfection. This will become complete when you fill the corner with wood putty, sand and paint to finish. You will have a beautiful finished ceiling line.....I promise. Good luck and may God bless your home!

Carpenter23

LloydBurrell

Hi Chuck

How is the ceiling vaulted?

I’ve seen crown molding flanking the arched center section of a three parts ceiling. If it’s a barrel vaulted ceiling, I can tell you it looks classic.

Lloyd
officedeskreviews

Jay123

This bears repeating

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Jay


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Cache

Gary Katz' method is usually the one used by the amateur because the supposed "correct" way to do it is by using two different trim profiles. The raking crown is an elongated version of the horizontal crown and the spring angle must be changed. Most DIYers aren't willing to spend the money to get the new profile milled for the vault, so they do it with a transition piece. Doesn't look right to me, but it is one way to do it.

Personally, if I couldn't do it the right way, then I would either use corner blocks or nothing at all.

Jay123

I haven't seen any "amateurs" trying gary's method...and remember this is d.i.y. not "carpentry gods"

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JakAHearts

I used the above method and I had never touched a piece of crown molding. It wasnt too bad. Granted, my wife and I almost got divorced over it but it looks nice now. I dont believe that my ceiling would have worked any other way... The book and the angle finder were too confusing so I just trial and errored through one piece and saved the settings that worked, marked the pieces as templates and wa-lah!

Shane

tpolk

i've done crown where the wall hits the vault ceiling line then carried it horizontal at the same elevation on the gable sides. we then installed strings of led up lighing behind the crown. nice effect

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drtbk4ever

JakaHearts and Tpolk,

Please post photos.

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Bill

A DIY Noob that knows just enough to be dangerous.

JakAHearts

Its not perfect but I think it looks good enough for free labor!

Shane

Jay123

Not bad at all...if your labor is free...I can use some serious help with some lawn work this weekend

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JakAHearts

Thanks! I forgot to mention this is Focal Pointe molding so its not wood. Its very flexible and I just brad nailed the upper edge to the gabled ceiling to take up the gap.

drtbk4ever

Nice work JakaHearts,

Thanks for posting the photo.

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Bill

A DIY Noob that knows just enough to be dangerous.