Planning & Installation of Crown Molding using the Northwoods Crafted System

The Northwoods Crafted Molding System is a number of preformed molding corners at varying precision angles and jigs to ease installation to achieve eye-catching professional results.

The corners pair to stock crown molding profiles, commonly available at home centers like Lowes and Home Depot. They carry three sizes of the standard profile: 2-5/8", 3-5/8" & 4-5/8, come in lengths of 8 or 12', and sold individually or in "contractor pack" bundles at a reduced price.

Generally speaking, the larger sizes are used as the ceiling height in the home is higher; use 2-5/8" for 8' ceiling, 3-5/8" for 10' or 4-5/8" for 12' or higher. 

As of the time of this post, Northwoods Crafted Co. offers a line of corners to fit the 2-5/8" molding profile. Watch for us to offer the additional profiles as we grow. 

The Design of the Corner Piece - 

Typical corners in a room form 90° angles. But, because of construction tolerances in rough framing, they often deviate slightly from true 90° angles. For this reason, we’ve designed corner pieces in 1° increments from 87 to 93° with the angle embossed on the back.

Likewise, for the home that may have a wall that runs on a 45 diagonal, these form a 135° angle, and we offer variations from 132 to 138° to accommodate.

The corner pieces have "tabs" at the sides where they meet with the wood trim. These provide a hidden location for pin nails when using that installation option and a surface to help uniformly orient the trim to the corner.

The profile of the corner stands proud of the crown molding, creating a 2mm reveal. This gives a little forgiveness in the installation and makes for a nice visual appeal.

The Molding Jig Kit

In addition to the corner pieces, we offer the “Molding Jig Kit” to make installation a breeze. The kit includes two jigs that conform to the molding profile, has faces to seat it true to the wall and ceiling, and a swiveling acme screw thread to receive a telescoping painter's pole. Each jig can be paired with an included swiveling padded foot when used pole mounted.  

These jigs will give you an extra set of hands while installing your molding. Use one hand-held and the other on a pole or use both pole mounted. Long lengths of molding are difficult to work by yourself, particularly when bowed. These jigs will remove that struggle and hold the molding at the proper angle to the wall and ceiling ensuring it meets up with the corners without fuss. 

PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

Before you begin, before you order our system components, you'll need to plan your project to determine the number of corners you'll need and the angles they'll need to be. You'll also need to estimate how much crown molding you'll need to pickup at your local home center. We've developed a project planner that you can print and use as your guide for arriving at what you'll need. Download the planner here. 

First, you'll need to understand what is an "Inside" corner vs. an "Outside" corner.

Picture the corner, looking down at it from the top. The corner viewed this way forms an "L". What direction does the inside of the "L" face; inside or outside the room? An inside corner is where the inside of the "L" faces inside the room. Likewise, an outside corner is where the inside of the "L" faces outside the room.

With that understanding, and your planner graph in hand, you'll work around the room measuring the angle of all the inside corners and noting them on the graph. You'll round the angle to the nearest whole degree; 90.6 - 91, 89.2 = 89.

Note, not shown on the sample graph above but, you'll also measure the length of each wall from corner to corner. Totaling those measurements up will give you the total estimate of crown molding you'll buy at your home center. You may want to add a few lengths, so you don't come up short. You can return any uncut left-over molding when your project is complete. You might also want to figure out how many 8' lengths and 12' lengths you'll need. If you only buy 8' lengths and you have a 10' long wall, you'll have to run two pieces with an extra joint to trim that wall. On a long wall, like a 20' wall you'll need at least 2 pieces but it's always best to plan to minimize the number of pieces to complete a wall. 

After you've noted all your angle types (inside/outside) and the angle measurements on the graph, you'll count up the number of each angle and note the count on the summary sheet. You'll use this summary sheet to aid in placing your order. Count these carefully to avoid ordering the wrong number.

Now that you know what the system is, what we offer, and how to plan for your project, let's get into the installation steps. After that, you'll find a list of required/suggested tools and materials as mentioned in the installation instructions.

INSTALLATION  - 

Please review all the instructions before beginning your project. 

Use your planning graph to ensure you apply the correct degree of corner piece in the matching room corner.

Use a high-tack construction adhesive, sparingly, with a dab in the locations shown. 

Don’t get it too close to the edge of the piece to avoid squeeze out.

Press the corner into position, taking care to not smear the adhesive on the wall and ceiling in a spot where it will be visible… get it close to its final spot before making contact with the wall.

Now, tape a short scrap piece of molding to one of you molding jigs. The scrap should extend past the jig side by an inch or two.

Now, use the jig to check the alignment of the corner previously glued in place by resting the jigs scrap piece over the tab on one side of the corner. This has to be done soon after the corner piece was glue in place, before the glue firms up, and while it can still be repositioned. Ensure the corner is flat against the wall and ceiling and the side of the corner is flush against the jigs scrap piece.

Optional, using your pin nailer (not a brad nailer), drive a pin through the exposed tab into the wall and another into the ceiling.

Now, removing the jig, pin nail the other tab.

Alternately, if you don't have a pin nailer, you can opt to tape the piece in place until the construction adhesive sets up. You'd do that as outlined for the pin nail option, taping one side while using the jig to hold the other side in position and then taping the second side.

Note, if your choice of construction adhesive has a high enough initial bond you don't need to pin nail or tape the pieces. Just monitor them as you move on to the next corner.

Continue around the room and install the rest of the corners, repeating the process until all corners are in place.

Allow the construction adhesive to fully set before installing the crown molding between the corners.

Now that your pieces are glued in place and the adhesive has set up, you'll begin cutting your crown molding and putting them in place between the corners.

Please, ensure you familiarize yourself with safe operation of your miter saw and wear proper safety gear; googles, glove, etc.

Your cuts are going to be straight cuts, that's simple. What's going to be important is accurately measuring between the corners and cutting the molding to that length. If you don't have a lot of experience with a miter saw you may want to cut the piece 1/16" or 1/8" long, test fit and trim again until you hit the perfect fit. If you start with your longer pieces and find that you cut it too short, you could use that piece for your next shorter piece rather than throwing it into the dust bin.

Ok, now you have a piece cut, test fitted, and ready to install. Use you stud finder and place pieces of painter's tape marking wall stud and ceiling joist locations. These will aid in brad nailing the trim into the studs.

If your molding is a short piece, use one of the molding jigs, hand-held, to position it against the wall and ceiling and flush against the two corners. Use your brad nailer, drive brads thru the bottom of 

Use your brad nailer, drive brads through the bottom of the molding into the wall studs, and through the top of the molding angled up and into the ceiling joist.

You'll repeat those steps as you progress around the room. A few points to keep in mind as you continue:

The ceiling joists only run in one direction. Two, opposite walls will have the ceiling joist coincide with the crown molding. The other two walls will only have wall studs and top plate. You can determine this by using your stud finder on the ceiling. If ceiling joists are not present, you'll angle your brad nailer toward the crotch of the wall to nail into the top plate.

Once you’re done installing the moldings you'll do a little gap sealing and nail hole finishing.

Brad nails are beefer than the pin nails. They will leave a noticeable nail hole on the surface. You’ll fill that hole with the painter’s caulk and wipe it smooth with a paper towel, caulking tool or your finger.

There may be some gaps where the molding meets the wall and ceiling. This is normal and generally caused by undulations in the wall or bowed molding. Much of the time the nailing closes the gap with the wall but the span between nailing locations may have more of a gap. Use your painter’s caulk to run a fine bead, just filling the gap, and use your finger or caulking tool to smooth it down. If you don't intend to repaint the wall, mask the wall with painter's tape before running and tooling a caulk bead.

Equipment and Materials Required or suggested:

*May need more depending on the size of your project

** This pole fits into the molding jig kits foot piece.

Note, the estimated item prices above were at the time this instruction was written (2/2024). All items were 4.5-star rating and above and are products we use on the job. Many of these items you can get from your local home center. Some of the links above earn NCC a commission without affecting the price you pay.