How to Miter Crown Moulding

Properly mitered molding adds a dramatic effect to any room.

The addition of decorative-crown molding adds style and flair to the look of any room. Crown molding is installed along the ceiling line of the room, creating an angle across the the ceiling and the wall. While the task of adding molding to a room is easy, properly mitering crown molding is essential to achieving the desired look.

Things You'll Need

• Molding
• Compound miter saw
• Pencil
• Tape measure
• Roller stands (optional)

Instructions

1. Find a work space with enough room to work on 16-foot lengths of molding.

2. Set up saw. If the saw is set up on a table, be sure to use stands to hold the molding that extends beyond the saw.

3. Take the first measurement from corner-to-corner. These measurements will be the long points of the miters.

4. Mark the molding.

5. 

   Adjust the saw so that the base angle, the bottom of the miter saw, is one-half of the angle for the wall corner (45 degrees for square rooms), and the blade angle is equal to the face angle of the molding. (The face angle is the angle the molding creates between the wall and the ceiling when installed).

6. Position molding in saw so that the mark on the molding is the long point of the miter once it is cut.

7. Check the position of the blade prior to cutting. Make the first cut, repeat for second cut.

Tips & Warnings

• If you feel uncomfortable, purchase additional materials on which to practice. An additional person may be helpful. Buy 10 percent more material than you need for scrap and mistakes. It may be necessary to hold a short piece of molding in the installed location to measure the face angle.

• This process requires concentration and understanding of angles. Be sure to ask the home improvement specialist at the lumber yard for the face angle of the molding.