Installing moulding ourselves?

[IIOY]

I know nothing about this so please tell me if this idea is insane.

Several of our rooms could really use some moulding along the ceiling to spruce them up. We have high ceilings and they just look empty, if that makes any sense.

Is this something we could do ourselves?

[angnshaun]

Sure you can. If youre nervous there are tons of instruction videos for this type of stuff on youtube.

[drbean]

I have done it and one thing I would do differently is to use the decorative corners - the ones that don't match. Then you can cut straight lines

[IIOY]

May 19, 2012 7:25:27 GMT -5 drbean said:

I have done it and one thing I would do differently is to use the decorative corners - the ones that don't match. Then you can cut straight lines

Interesting! I know nothing about this - can you explain a bit more?

[vanillahip]

May 19, 2012 8:18:34 GMT -5 IIOY said:

May 19, 2012 7:25:27 GMT -5 drbean said:

I have done it and one thing I would do differently is to use the decorative corners - the ones that don't match. Then you can cut straight lines

Interesting! I know nothing about this - can you explain a bit more?

:Y: It's a little pricier and woodworking experts sometimes sneer at it LOL (because c'mon, mitered corners take patience and a little talent and anything else is cheating!) but I just redid all of the baseboards and door casings in our upstairs hall using plinth blocks and rosettes- totally worth the extra expense! I didn't have to eff around cutting perfect mitered corners and I really love the look!

[kaylie]

I second pp on the corner blocks because they make it look unprofessional. Home depot offers tutorials on molding sometimes - check their website for the schedule. If you walk into that department of the store they can probably give you a quick how-to as well.

I'm doing all of ours myself and I'm not that handy. You'll need a miter saw and I would recommend getting a double-bevel to make getting the angle easier. Getting an air compressor and nail gun would also make life easier. Expect to spend about $500 on the equipment to do it, plus molding. Molding price will vary based on style (intricate design is more expensive), size and material.

[brittmk0922]

I second the instructional videos on youtube. That's usually my first go to when I'm considering doing anything myself that I haven't done before!

[pescalita]

We did it ourselves, and I think it turned out well. It was a really inexpensive project for a big impact, and that wouldn't have been the case if we hired it out.

We used the pro packs from Home Depot which are particle board and super cheap. We did the same for our baseboards when we moved in. You can't tell by looking at all, since they're painted white, but they do bang up easier (more of a problem with baseboards).

We already had a miter saw and BigT is handy with it. He took his time before we started figuring out all the angles, what you need for both an inside and an outside corner. We cut and nailed everything at 90 degrees, and used caulk to fill (our house is 50yo and NOT straight). You really can't tell, esp in corners. A couple of the straight seams need work. We bought a nail gun & compressor but we knew we wanted it for other projects.

Then BigT painted them by hand. We did the baseboards by spraying them beforehand, but it requires so much touch up between nail holes and caulk, we decided to do it all at once.

Our best trick was to tape off the wall/ceiling when caulking to get a straight line.

[sratsey]

H did all the moulding in our old home. As PP have mentioned, corners are rarely ever at perfect 90 degree angles which becomes a total PITA.

H has a tool that you push into the corner and it basically tells you what the angle is so you know what to cut. I'll find out what it is and post the link. Cutting the angle correctly to being with saves A LOT of time since you don't have to do much coping.

I agree with others that those corner pieces make it look very unprofessional.

Good caulk though goes a LONG way to fill in the gaps.