# Tips for installing crown molding as a on man job?



## gmhut (Jul 28, 2008)

From another post of mine:

I'm doing all the work by myself (as in one man, one pair of hands). I plan to put a temporary finishing nail at the ends of the wall, hang a loop of string loosely to it, and slip the ends of the crown molding in the loop to be my second pair of hands while working alone—comments about this technique or better ideas are much appreciated.

Any tips for measuring the walls for one person? This may sound stupid, but I'm planning on cutting a long strip of brown paper from a roll (trimmed to a manageable width) to measure with, hoping that because it is light but not super thin, I can tape one end of the paper strip to one end of the wall and pull it relatively tight (assuming brown paper won't stretch) and mark the paper at the other end of the wall. Then use the paper as a template to mark the cut on the molding. I'm considering this because I'm not sure I can find a way to get one end of a tape measure securely attached to the end of the wall I'm not holding, or be attached securely enough to pull the metal measuring tape taught enough to get an accurate measure without detaching it from the wall opposite the one I'm measuring to. Any tips better than what I'm planning with the paper template would be much appreciated (unless you think that will work).


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## mrmac204 (Nov 29, 2007)

gmhut said:


> From another post of mine:
> 
> I'm doing all the work by myself (as in one man, one pair of hands). I plan to put a temporary finishing nail at the ends of the wall, hang a loop of string loosely to it, and slip the ends of the crown molding in the loop to be my second pair of hands while working alone—comments about this technique or better ideas are much appreciated.
> 
> Any tips for measuring the walls for one person? This may sound stupid, but I'm planning on cutting a long strip of brown paper from a roll (trimmed to a manageable width) to measure with, hoping that because it is light but not super thin, I can tape one end of the paper strip to one end of the wall and pull it relatively tight (assuming brown paper won't stretch) and mark the paper at the other end of the wall. Then use the paper as a template to mark the cut on the molding. I'm considering this because I'm not sure I can find a way to get one end of a tape measure securely attached to the end of the wall I'm not holding, or be attached securely enough to pull the metal measuring tape taught enough to get an accurate measure without detaching it from the wall opposite the one I'm measuring to. Any tips better than what I'm planning with the paper template would be much appreciated (unless you think that will work).


There are several ways to do this- I work alone almost all the time hanging crown etc. In new construction, you can just tack in a nail or a screw at the bottom of where the crown will sit on the wall, and that will support your piece while you nail it in place. Lee Valley tools has a neat little gadget that works for this, its a little bit slow for me but I think for one off jobs it would be ok. You nail it onto the wall 1" below the ceiling, and then you rest your crown in the "hook" part of it (its adjustable) after you get part of the crown nailed up, you just lift up on this gadget and slide it out- the nail stays in the wall and hidden so its no problem.
What I use is the "little green suckers" that I got from an outfit in Florida- they attach to your air hose and suck themselves onto the wall, and with the adjustable "rod" you can raise/lower the height that you want your crown to sit at.

As for measuring, I use a 25' fat max. this has an 11' standout. measure from one corner to about the 10' point, make a mark, then do the same to the other corner to your mark. add the two and there's your length! be sure to measure where the bottom of the crown will touch the wall, its surprising how much difference there can be just by moving up a few inches.

If you have a rediculous amount of money, you can get one of the laser measurers. I got one!  big $$$ but wow, what a time saver! hilti pd42. 

good luck!


Laurie.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

MR said most of it. If you have an angle finder, they come in handy for out of square outside corners. Or even a framing square, if it's true. 

Check out this gauge: http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuil...arpenter/coping-crown-molding-techniques.aspx

Be safe, G


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## hayewe farm (Mar 15, 2009)

I just lean a couple of 2X4s up against the wall with the top ends stightly lower than the bottom edge of the crown. set the crown on the top of the 2x4s. I split measure the lenght as stated above by mrmac204.


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