Beginner’s Guide to Installing Crown Molding

Reader Contribution by Steve Maxwell
Published on September 16, 2021
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Sliding chopsaw. Photo by Steve Maxwell.

Of all the ways trim can make the inside of your home look better, crown molding delivers the most bang for the buck. It had fallen out of favour for decades, but the 1980s saw the beginning of a resurgence in crown molding popularity. These days crown is at least as popular as it ever was, and not just because it looks great. Crown is also easier than ever to install if you prepare yourself with the right tools and know-how. Follow these real-world tips and you’ll enjoy excellent results even if you’ve never installed crown molding before.

Crown Molding Tip #1: Get a good chopsaw

Also called miter saws, chop-saws make it fast and easy to complete the kind of smooth, precise, angled cuts every good crown installation requires. Once adjusted correctly, a chopsaw allows anyone to make cuts as quickly and as well as any professional carpenter. The best chop-saws for crown installation have two features. First, they spin a 10-inch or 12-inch diameter blade on rails that slide back and forth for wide cuts. A big blade with sliding action means crosscutting capabilities up to 12” wide and beyond. And second, the best crown molding chop-saws tilt both left and right from vertical. This is called “dual bevel” capability and it really helps with crown installation. Taken together, saws that can do both sliding and bevelling are called “dual bevel sliding compound chop-saws” and there’s a reason almost no one installs crown moulding without one of these tools on their side. Nothing else works as well, especially for beginners.

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