# Crown molding and ceiling problem



## titanoman (Nov 27, 2011)

If there's an attic above, I'de make sure the ceiling can't be easily straightened out. How come the cabinents were held down just a little bit? There's not an easy fix. You might take the crown back down, custom fit a 1x "face frame extension" and re-install the crown, holding tight to the ceiling, or ditch the crown altogether.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Looks like the old lath or plaster has came loose in that area, for it to have dropped that far in one area. 
Take a look in the attic to see. 
If it has you may be able to insert a 3" with a fender washer on it and screw in an area where the crown would cover it and pull it back up.
I agree with the other poster, anything placed close to that ceiling is just going to make it stick out more.


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## titanoman (Nov 27, 2011)

If you have faith that the cabinents are mounted very securely, you can try: Remove the crown. Rip a piece of 1x to 1" (the widest part of the gap). Start feeding it into the gap. When it gets too tight to continue, use a block of wood and a hammer and tap on the ceiling, applying pressure on the 1x filler at the same time. May require a third hand. If the ceiling has any give to it at all, it wil be possible to fit the rip in all the way across. Replace crown molding.


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## kirk5657 (Jun 13, 2011)

Unfortunately, it's a two story house so we can't access the ceiling from the attic. The other part of the equation is that we have styrofoam faux tin ceiling tiles that tuck slightly behind the crown, which we don't want to damage. With the crown the way it is now, the gap difference is barely noticeable, but if you're a taller person you can see past the edge of the ceiling tiles. This is another reason for bringing the molding to ceiling, besides the fact that it looks odd being an inch away from the ceiling. We REALLY don't want to have to remove the crown as I fear it will cause too much damage. I was thinking about putting a piece of dental molding at the top of the crown and pushing up on the low spot of the ceiling in hopes of pushing the plaster back up. The dip is definitely sagging plaster as it was caused by removing soffits in that area. We used some plaster washers to pull it back up in some other more noticable places. The crown is pretty well attached, do you think it would look stupid attaching dental molding to the top of it or top front? I'll see if I have a photo of the actual area and post it.


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## titanoman (Nov 27, 2011)

Can you pull a few screws and raise the cabinents as one unit?


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## kirk5657 (Jun 13, 2011)

Nope, it would require removing the microwave - plus, the backsplash tile would also be affected. Sadly, fixing this gap is an afterthought. When we originally put up the molding we thought it looked fine, but now with the ceiling tiles in place and having lived with it for awhile, we're just looking for an easy way to fill the gap. Here's three photos that don't really show the sagging ceiling well, but will give you an idea of what it looks like. Two are from right after we installed the crown and the other is with the ceiling tiles in place.

On a side note - just to get come opinions - we had planned on ending the ceiling tiles at the wall and caulk so there would be a sharp line (no crown molding). Now we're wondering if adding some crown or perhaps just some trim would look good. We didn't want to detract from the cabinet crow.


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## titanoman (Nov 27, 2011)

You have good taste. I like your cabinents and appliances and ceiling. Maybe the dentil mold is your best option (it's too late late to fer the ceiling tiles down to the crown). Thats a bummer.


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## kirk5657 (Jun 13, 2011)

Thanks! We wanted a more modern kitchen, but also wanted to mix in a little 1920's/period style. This was originally two rooms (kitchen and butlers pantry), we removed the wall and exposed the chimney - there's also a nice original built-in we left that's behind me.


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## shazapple (Jun 30, 2011)

kirk5657 said:


> Thanks! We wanted a more modern kitchen, but also wanted to mix in a little 1920's/period style. This was originally two rooms (kitchen and butlers pantry), we removed the wall and exposed the chimney - there's also a nice original built-in we left that's behind me.


Hi Kirk
I bought a bunch of polystyrene ceiling tiles from Talissa Decor. You didn't happen to buy from the same place? How easy was it to glue them to the ceiling? Where did you start the first tiles? Are any gaps noticable or did you caulk them? Thanks for the help!


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## kirk5657 (Jun 13, 2011)

Nope, we bought ours from Decorative Ceiling Tiles: http://www.decorativeceilingtiles.net/

They were extremely easy to put up. We used Liquid Nails (for trim and molding). We found the center of the room and snapped chalk lines, but instead of starting in the middle of the room where the lines intersect, we started on the center line at the far end of the room where the cabinets are. We did this so we would have full tiles across the cabinet trim as this is the first thing you see when you enter the room. 

I did caulk the seams and would highly recommend doing it. It was a lot of work, but 100% worth the extra effort. It makes the installation look so much cleaner. I used white painters caulk and it only took me two tubes for the seams and perimeter of the room.

Don't be shocked, when you get the tiles (if you haven't already). I thought they looked like cheap styrofoam and questioned how they'd look on the ceiling. Once I put them up and painted them they really do look fantastic. We have textured wallpaper in our dining room, made to look like a tin ceiling, and the tiles look so much better.

Hope the info helps!


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