[johnnyq627]

Ok, looks like I made a big OOPS...


I was planning to use crown moulding around my soffit to make a light tray. However, without thinking, I curved the front part of my soffit to match my stage... never even though about how the crown moulding wouldn't "curve". Does anyone have any ideas on how I can continue my crown moulding around the room with the curved front soffit?


Nick

 

[willise]

Well, I've bent many many pieces of wood to match curves and I use only a couple of techniques. One is kerf cuts, which won't work for you. The other is steam. This MAY work, but I confess I've never done it.


Basically you need to build a steam chamber. Get some 4" PVC pipe that your molding will fit into. Here are the instructions: http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/WO...NDING_WOOD.htm


Be very careful as the wood gets extremely hot!! Now this may not work given the profile of the crown. When you take the wood out of the tube, use your stage (if it matches the curve of the soffit, to mold the crown to stay in the proper shape.


There may be other ways, but these are the only ones I've used. Of course, the easiest way is to use flexible crown molding like this: http://www.profilemouldingsusa.com/flexible.cfm


Good Luck!

 

[johnnyq627]

Thanks Willise! That flex moulding looks like it might do the trick!!


Steaming the wood sounds like it could be kinda tough to get right, not to mention I think the parts would cost me as much as just buying the flex trim

Now has anyone used the flex trim before? And would they recommend it?


Nick

 

[finishingtouchcu]

I've installed almost every kind of flex a builder can throw at me, from cheap to expensive. One thing I found in all of them, is they are not nail gun friendly.Once you get your length and angles cut, pre-drill it for hand nails. if you use an adhesive along with it, put the adhesive on your soffit, not on the moulding, you have to work the flex a bit sometimes and this can get messy. (Use a caulk for the adhesive and have a damp cloth handy) Set the nails carefully, juuuuust below the surface.If you set them to deep, the material tends to dimple.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mahler007/TheatreRoom

 

[JimboH]

Are these fairly long radius outside corners? You could always build up sections of curved crown by gluing up a bunch of small mitred sections. You can reinforce them with some backer material, then hand sand the sections to smooth out joints so they look continuous. The more pieces you're willing to cut/glue, the less sanding you'll need to do. The trick is to make a jig to support the crown at the proper ceiling angle while you cut. This way you'll only have to vary one angle as you determine the cut angles.


I would think that it would get pretty pricy to go the flex route as you're likely to get locked into their product for the entire room, if you want the profiles to match throughout.


Jim

 

[johnnyq627]

I'd say the curve is probably 10' long and hard to tell the radius but it goes about 1' into the room from the ends.


Here are a couple of pics before I put the plywood on the outside...

Good advice on how to put the flex moulding up... would screws be easier than nails?


Nick

 

[two-rocks]

Azek and other PVC trim can be heated (they sell a heat blanket) and made into a pretzel if you wanted. Not very cost effective for interior work. The advantage is that once cooled it returns to its original strength.


Crown usually can't be kerf cut and look very good; look into the foam and bendable as others have said.

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

You might want to look at the Orac decor cornice molding for indirect lighting. It's a plastic so I suspect it MIGHT handle that curve.

http://www.outwatercatalogs.com/2007...catalog=070148


not cheap, about $11-12 / ft.