[Pugaboom]

How exactly do you create a soffit? I am interested in creating the cool rope lighting effect many of you folks have used above the crown molding but I can’t quite figure out from any of the pictures or written explanations here, how it is accomplished?

This is what I have to work with. Ceiling is only 7 feet high so no room for deep, elaborate soffit. The area I wish to run rope lighting along the crown molding would be 17ftL and 11.5ftW. This is a sublevel basement so two walls are concrete up to the 7ft height. Another wall separates the this room from the second basement room, and the forth side extends further out than the 11.5ft width I mentioned but because a heating vent runs along the length of the room, dipping down below the rest of the ceiling, leaving like a 6 foot clearance, I figured I would just enclose the rectangular shaped 17x11.5 area of the room with the 7ft high ceiling. I was planning on nailing on some kind of small (narrow) crown molding after sheet rocking the walls. The ceiling is currently got some kind of cheap 12x12in cardboard T&G type panels, stapled to the joists, that I plan to tear down anyway so I can insulate between the ceiling joists (floor joist for room above).

So how do you crate that soffit or “tray†above the crown molding I’ve seen some of you mention. Thanks.


Jim

 

[jhill32]

The simplest method is to attach the crown moulding to the walls only, and an inch or two below the ceiling. This leaves just enough room to lay a simple rope light into the channel left between the crown moulding and the wall.

 

[ScottF200]

I just did this a week or so ago....a common method is to put up a piece of 2x2 that is cut in half diagonally so you have 2 triangular pieces. Nail this to the studs at your desired height. Then apply the crown to that. The rope lighting can lay on the 2x2.


Hope my character picture turns out. the o is the rope light. The outside / is the crown.

red=furring strip; blue=crown_molding_support; black=crown_molding

|o_ /
| //
|v/

./


Some put a 1/2"x2" or 3" plywood furing strip down first.


I can e-mail you a picture if you want. I don't have them on my site yet or others will point you to their site I'm sure.

 

[jhill32]

I tried the attachment, but that didn't seem to work. Here's a picture of what both Scott and I are talking about.

Crown moulding with Rope light


And a scanned (poor quality) photo of how it looks when done .


The extra support block really is needed to give the whole thing some stability.

 

[ScottF200]

Excellent Jim. You da man. (Jim, you must be off this week as well )


Pugaboom, please don't forget to mark (on the floor/ceiling) where your studs are behind the wall drywall!! If you put up 2 sheets of drywall (2 x 5/8" in my case) your fancy studfinder may not work. You need to use a small nail to locate them and/or measure 16"/24" centers. HTH.

 

[SVonhof]

Here is the image I made up for another AVS'er that was wondering how I did mine.


Also, here are some pics of what it looks like now:

 

[ScottF200]

Jim, you now suck and Scott V is da man.


Ok I'm off to work in the 3D rotating version since you guys simply can not appreciate character artistry!


Pugaboom, sorry if we are giving you the wrong impression...not every questions will be answered in this "fashion".

 

[Pugaboom]

LOL... thanks Scott, I figured as much, and no problem, I think it adds a certain amount of entertainment to the whole reading experience.

Also, thanks for the quick replies folks. I think what I need to do now is head on over to Home Depot and actually look at how crown molding is applied, I think I have an misconception of how it sits against the wall. Is crown molding such that when it is secured to the wall, there is still some kind of space behind it (jhill, I ask because you say, "lay a simple rope light into the channel left between the crown molding and the wall")? I assumed it was flat on the backside AND on the top (with a 90 degree angle created) and sat flush against the corner of the wall and ceiling. Now, with your explanations, I understand to secure the crown molding a few inches below the corner where the ceiling and the wall meet. Based on your explanations though, I'm now thinking the molding does not use a 90 degree angle on the inside but has some kind of lesser angle creating the "channel" jhill mentions which leaves space between the front, room side edge of the molding and a the portion of the back side of the molding, (I'm thinking there must be an inch or two gap between the back part of the molding that makes contact with the wall, and the top edge of the molding. Again, my misconception was that the inside of the molding used a 90 degree angle to sit flush into the corner where the the wall and ceiling meet. Thanks again folks, this board rocs!


Jim

 

[SVonhof]

!
Quote:

Ok I'm off to work in the 3D rotating version since you guys simply can not appreciate character artistry!

O.K., ScottF200, how about this attachment? It is the best I can do with the limited tools I have on-hand!


I cannot figure out the 3-d rotating version yet. This one spins on my screen

 

[jhill32]

Quote:

Originally posted by ScottF200 Pugaboom, sorry if we are giving you the wrong impression...not every questions will be answered in this "fashion".

Yes they will....Oh, yes... they will...


What the "other" drawings failed to show was that most crown moulding is not going to be meet with the wall at a 45 degree angle. So, when you go to creating your additional mounting block, be aware that it will probably be either 38 or 52 degrees, depending on which way you mount your moulding.


Good luck!

 

[Pugaboom]

Duh me!!! Sorry guys, now that I'm actually at home instead of work, I actually took the time to look at all the attactments and links you all included and I understand exactly how the crown molding should look/be applied in order to create the soffit. Thanks again!


Jim

 

[amillians]

With just the rope light in the crown moulding trick, how much light output do you get? For example, if I have a 16' x 12' room and I do the rope light, is that equivalent to a 60 watt bulb on the ceiling? 40 watt? I tried to get some answers at Home Depot, but I got a lot of blank stares...I'm guessing the aggrgate light output is pretty low!


I think this looks cool and have a non-HT room in my house that I would like to do this in...but it was not pre-wired for a traditional bulb hanging from the ceiling, so this would be the only light source in the room. I guess if you went with one of those side-emitter fiber optic things (attached to a 400 watt light gun(, that would be bright, but expensive.


In other words, are we talking single-candle-blowing-in-the-wind bright or read-a-book-but-suffer-permanent-eye-damage bright?

 

[SVonhof]

Quote:

In other words, are we talking single-candle-blowing-in-the-wind bright or read-a-book-but-suffer-permanent-eye-damage bright?

Kinda in-between both of those. I would say that it would be equivalent to maybe two 60 watt bulbs, but that is because you are getting the reflection off the ceiling and not the full brightness from the rope bulbs. The stuff I used from Costco actually gave the wattage for a length I think, but I don't remember what it was. It adds up, but not like stringing a bunch of regular bulbs does.


In short, don't use it as the only room lighting in another room, you might trip over something and break your arm. Well, not that bad, but......


If you look at the first pictures I have of the screen-shots, the ropes are on full, since I didn't have dimmers yet.

Example: http://www.vonhofs.com/theater/8-11-01_Theater_2.jpg

The ropes are the only thing on, but the camera shows it darker than it is because of the room colors.

 

[amillians]

Thanks, Scott. After more searching late last night, I found a reference that indicated 1/2" rope light typically put out 1/2 watt for every inch (I think the bulbs are spaced every inch). I guess that would make for mood lighting at best...probably not the best lighting solution for that room.

 

[Daryle Tilroe]

Maybe I should not have bumped such an old thread but it has some pretty cool pictures anyhow .


What I was wondering is has anyone thought to use the open crown moldings as wiring trays as well as a place to put rope lighting? I am at the preliminary design stages of my basement HT and was going to do some sort of closed soffit or crown moulding for running cables. That or else some conduit in the ceiling/wall/other room. When I first saw the nice open crown moldings with rope lights it also struck me that they would make ideal cable trays; particularly for my 5 surround speakers which will be attached to the walls with universal ball mounts/brackets. Has anyone tried this? Any unforseen drawbacks?

 

[Daryle Tilroe]

...before posting.


I just realized that this is likely inadvisable due to the rope lighting being essentially an ac power cord. OTOH has anyone actually tried it in the real world to see if there is noticable interference?

 

[smchan]

I think the specs on my rope light said 6 watts per foot. That adds up by the time you go around the whole room. so make sure you have sufficient power. For example, a 15x20 room would be 15+15+20+20 = 70 feet * 6 = 420 watts / 120v = ~ 3.5 - 4.0 amps. A 15 amp circuit allows 1,440 watts at 80% utilization (120v * 15 amps = 1,800 watts * 80% = 1,440 watts), so that's a healthy chunk of your power budget right there for a 15 amp circuit.


Sam

 

[kbarrett]

What exactly is the rope lighting? Are we talking about the approximately 1" thick hose of AC lights that also gets fairly warm?


If so; aren't there better alternatives to this? What about low voltage lighting? or Christmas tree lights?

 

[SVonhof]

Rope lighting is typically about 1/2" diameter and does get warm to the touch if left on at full power. Most people are not leaving them on at full power though, since it is kinda annoying at full brightness. Most dim it to give the glow that they want.


X-mas tree lights also get warm. Think about it, it is still a bulb, that has a filament. The only alternative might be LED's, I don't know how they really work though, but then you would have to make your own wire harness of sorts. Also, x-mas lights might be spaced too far apart and unless they are all laying pointed up or on their sides or whatever (all the same) it will look strange.


In short, if you dim it, it doesn't get very warm.

 

[DVDAPEX]

I have sheilded speaker cable that I would love to use the soffit to hide along with the rope lighting. Because it's sheilded, can I put it right next to the rope light, or should I seperate it by putting it underneath the extra brace piece?