Clive Driscoll

One room in my house has a low ceiling (around 8 foot). I would love to put crown molding in this room- however I think the crown might look funny because on one wall, where the door and closet are, the bottom of the crown molding would only be an inch or two away from the top of the door casing.

My question is twofold - 1) should I install crown anyway and 2) is there a type of "short" crown (Im thinking similar to quarterround/baseshoe) or something I could put up instead of a more traditional crown? Thanks for any thoughts, Clive

Big Dave

If you want it then put it up.

Yes you can buy short crown. Just go to your local lumber yard or home improvement store and look around.

__________________
Do one thing at a time, do it well, then move on.
www.bigdaveswoodworks.com

firehawkmph

Clive,
don't know where you are from but I am guessing you may be in the UK. Over here in the states 8' is a common ceiling height in modern houses. Older ones had taller ceilings. If a normal size crown, say 3 1/2-4" tall, would clear the door molding, go ahead and do it. Sounds like you have taller doors also. Usually we have about a foot between the door casing and the ceiling .
Mike Hawkins

Clive Driscoll

Mike, I'm actually in the twin cities, but this single room in the house is very non-conventional (at least compared to all the other rooms)!!! Thanks for the advice so far, I think I will go this weekend to Home Depot or Lowes and see what they have for smaller crown. Thanks

GeorgeC

My whole house has only 8' ceilings. (It was built in 1977 and I am the original owner.)

Last year, as part of a total refurbishment, I put crown molding in all except the three guest bedrooms. It looks perfectly fine.

You just have to be judicious in your selection of the crown molding size. I believe that mine is about 3 1/2 inches. I used somewhat smaller molding in the bathrooms because these were smaller spaces.

George

RussBoyd

Do yourself a favor and check your local lumber yard. My experience has been you pay 2 -3 times the price for mouldings at HD.

firehawkmph

Clive,
Twin cities, eh....guess I didn't recognize the accent. Like Russ said, visit a local lumberyard or better yet a millwork shop if you have one close by. You will normally get much better material and far more choices.
Mike Hawkins

GeorgeC

Finger joint moldings are probably the best of the cheaper moldings. You get the benefits of solid wood and less expensive price.

George

cabinetman

The lowest ceiling height in this installation was 89". A production crown short in standing height (@ spring angle) only comes down 2 1/4" from the ceiling.
.

PTownSubbie

If you think crown will be too overwhelming, they make a simple cove that you can put up. This cove comes in various sizes and I used some of it in my kitchen when I remodeled. I cut myself on a router.

They have alternatives if you think crown is too large.....

dokuhaku

Would that make you a PwnedStubbie?
Because of the...
cut...
on the...

No?...

Charles M

Ive used Bed Molding for smaller scale rooms/lower ceilings and it looked fine. If I recall correctly it's 1-1/5" wide and consists of a cove and round with a single fillet in the middle.

__________________
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.

Al Killian

You can get crown and/or bed molding from 1" up to what ever you want. A 3" crown should only hang down around 2".

__________________
Maker of quality hardwood moldings

Clive Driscoll

Thanks for all the responeses, I've found a variety of smaller crown at both the big stores (HD, Lowes) and the lumberyard that will fit this room and my needs. Thanks again for all the insight

pmaru77

That's some nice work there. I know for a fact that you do not want to notch molding to clear anything. Looks crappy.....but sometimes there is no chioce. Some clown put a vent 2z' off the floor on me.