crown moulding question

[Erin]

Hi all! It's been awhile I know! We are starting a projet today and I have a question about it.

We are putting up crown moulding and we want to paint it first. We are going to have to paint it outside though. Is there a certain temp. at which we have to paint? Is it too cold outside? It is probably in the 30's right now - hopefully going to get warmer - but not for sure. The sun is out and bright so that may be a good sign!

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Ingersoll444]

You realy want to be over 50 deg to paint. Anyother place you can set up? Celler, garage, another room. If it gets close to that temp, and the wood, and paint are warm you might be OK, but 30 I would pass. Remember that wood is going to move around a lot when it goes from 30-70 deg. You also want it warmed up before you fasten, and cut it for the same reason.

[Jim_WV]

Exactley what Ingersoll said :fing32:

[cadurning]

No less than 50 degrees.

[cadurning]

No less than 50 degrees. And you want the wood to room temp before installing.

[sixchows]

Ideally, the wood should sit in the room you are installing it in for a few days. Like the guys said, the temp should be 50* or above for painting. That means the ambient temp and the wood itself for the entire painting and drying time. You don't want warm wood cooling down to 50* and trapping moisture in the process. Best bet would be to do it all in the room you are installing it in. Might be an inconvenience for a day or 2 but worth it in the end.

[sixchows]

You may be thinking why, what's the big deal? Well, if the wood isn't aclimated to the room, you may find your mitered (or coped) joints looking a little wider than when you installed the moulding. You could go back and use caulking in the joints if that happens, but it's so much easier to do it right the first time. Good luck, hope it goes well!

[Oslo in NC]

Erin, You say outside painting only. Can you go to another room, seal it off and paint it there. Or do you know anyone who has a heated garage. I presume that you are using water based paint. Are you using an air nailer? That makes for a neater job. I never did have any luck hitting the nail with a nail punch. If you are precutting the molding, be sure you leave it inside for a day, at least. When you have your first coat on lightly sand with fine paper. If your wall and ceiling aren't perfect, who's is, you might want to use some caulking to seal that gap. cut a small tip off the end of the caulk and use a wet rag, or in my case, spittle. fill the gap and wipe clean with a rag. When done neatly you won't know if a pro did it or a handyman. Remember with molding, measure twice, no three times, cut once. Good luck on that project. Keep us updated. I like watching people work. oslo

[Erin]

Luckly it heated up to 65 today so we had a change to paint outside. We just brought the moulding inside to sit -- and thankfully we did it outside - because it is 12' long and it was a real hassle to even get it in the house! But it is nicely sitting in the hallway now waiting to be put up. The only thing is -- Jerrod just got called for work and the inside/outside joints still need painting and the guys are going to be here tomorrrow to put it up!

I hope they know what they are doing -- we spent $230 just in materials for the kitchen, livingroom, and hallway. If they do a good job we are going to ask them to do the bedrooms and bathrooms -- if they do a bad job -- well, I'll beat them with the moulding!

They are using an air nailer -- thankfully cause I can see it now -- hit the nail and miss and put a big hold in the moulding!

Thanks for the advice -- I'll be taking many pics!!

[Oslo in NC]

If they are professionals, they will do a good job, I'm sure. Watch them do their work. It is interesting and a great learning experience. If you don't get it painted before they put it up you will have to let them put it up unpainted. It's no big deal, but it is more time consuming to paint it already installed. I take it you don't want the paint smell in the house. You may not have a choice there. If you are going to have them do the other rooms you may just have them cut the unpainted pieces. Paint them later and when they come back for the other rooms, then they can install it. Ask them about it. If you can not get those pieces painted tonight then bring them in now so they are room temp when they are cut. tomorrow. Painting molding, installed, isn't difficult. Just buy yourself a good quality paint brush and an edger, one of those Venetian blind type edgers and wipe the edger every time you remove it from the wall. Good luck, tomorrow. oslo

Remember at 20 feet or 20 miles per hour it will look good.

[Erin]

I really want to watch them work - especially since I don't know what kind of job they do! But I figure - how hard could it be?? I could learn then finish the bedrooms and bathrooms myself -- since they are all totally square! Not much cutting!

I have all the corner pieces primered up and they are dry so I am getting ready to paint them. I want to have at least half of them done tonight and I can finish them in the morning. There are only 12 of them - shouldn't take too long! Except those little "layers" at the bottom are a pain in the arse!

I can't wait to see the finished rooms -- I bet it is going to make a total difference!!

[Erin]

OH yeah -- PS -- I don't really care about the paint smell much -- it's more the dog and the amount of room we have to work with that I'm afraid of! I pretty much end up painting the walls about every year - I am not painting them again until we are moved out of here--- moving the fish tank is a back breaker!

[Ingersoll444]

Don't sweat the little parts you missed. When its all installed, you will need to do some painting anyway. You will want to putty/paint the nail holes, and theres always some small trimming to do when installing.