Replies

1. 
   RW | Apr 18, 2006 03:43am | #1

   I don't know how you define good, but as a trim carpenter, I look at what you say and think it's pretty do-able. And really, when it comes to homes, a ceiling thats only 3/8" out? Wow, how nice. The hard part is to unwrap your brain from furniture thinking. Really you just want to split the diff. I'd put some ticks at your "ideal" location for the bottom of the crown.

   Now, at one end, that ideal leaves you 3/8" low. So at the high end, stay put. At the low end, move up 3/16". That difference, extrapolated across a run of cabinets, isn't going to show to anybody other than the guy holding the nail gun. The rest is just finessing. You can pitch the crown just a touch more at that end so the spring angle might be a degree or two more. Again, over a run, it won't show. On your crown box if there's a corner to cut there, stick something thin (scrap formica, credit card) at the front of the box and test where it needs to sit to keep your miters tight. Those will show easier than anything else.

   "Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton

1. 
   Danny | Apr 18, 2006 02:00pm | #2

   Thanks RW, I haven't got to that point yet but I'll give it a shot.  The molding she bought is so expensive I just hate for it to not look good.

2. 
   mike4244 | Apr 18, 2006 05:36pm | #3

   I agree with RW, but if you want, you can install a piece of base that is shimmed level.Caulk the gap, install the crown against the cabinet and base.The profile of the base ,usually an ogee projects past the crown .I let the bottom part of the profile extend past where the crown hits the ceiling 1/4" or so.Does not have to base, any flat board will do,with or without a molded edge.I do this often on older homes with plaster ceilings that are not straight.

   mike

1. 
   Danny | Apr 18, 2006 08:02pm | #4

   Thanks Mike, that was my first thought also.  I'm just concerned that such a thick caulk line would look funny.  Maybe I could split the difference with the base molding and the caulk so the molding didn't have to confrom as much and the caulk line not be as thick.  Do two wrongs make it all right?

1. 
   mike4244 | Apr 21, 2006 08:21pm | #5

   That will work Danny. If I recall you said the difference was about 3/8",I don't think 3/8" to nothing will look bad on the ceiling.Actually ,if the difference in the ceiling is in a straight line, you don't need anything but the crown. The crown does not necessarily have to be level. I only use an extra piece at the ceiling when it is bowed.

   mike