Is installing crown upside down "wrong"?

[Greg Scull]

I have been working on installing some plantation shutters as a loft jumping deterrent for my kids. I got the shutters from CL for cheap but they are about 3" smaller than the openings in my loft half wall. The shutters will be installed so they cannot move, centered in the openings and I was going to use 2.25" crown to frame in the shutters like a picture frame.

I had purchased the Freud 99-402 router bit to make some 45deg crown to hide the space and made a few test pieces. Enough testing to understand what I was in for. Well... Last week I happened across a sale at a salvage company selling crown molding at 1$ per 10'. They had the same profile I was planning on using so I got enough to do the job. (and a few hundred feet of unfinished alder,maple and cherry bigger stuff because I couldn't resist the deal)


Turns out the molding I got is the 52/38deg not the 45 I had planned. Because of this I would need to install it upside down to get the 1.5" height.

So I ask... Is it "wrong" to install it upside down?

[Lex Boegen]

Anyone who knows what crown molding is supposed to look like installed will be able to tell at a glance that it's upside-down. If that matters to you or not, is something only you can answer. I went over to a friend's house after he had installed crown molding upside-down without realizing it. It screamed "I did it myself!", but I didn't say anything negative nor point out to him that it was upside-down. What's the point? He's happy.

Another option would be to install the crown right-side up, but on top of some upside-down base molding. That will get you the extra height, and built-up molding looks better to my eye.

[Gene Waara]

I confess, I once did the same thing, but by mistake. LOML wanted 2 or 2 1/2" crown in her laundry room. I didn't want to do it, thought it was a dumb idea, etc., but finally agreed. I finished three walls and realized my mistake. I'm pretty anal regarding details and thought about tearing it down but finally realized no one would ever even see it. I bought a couple of pieces of edge trim and added them to the wall side to give the crown a more balanced look and forgot about it. I have to admit though, I periodically look at it and shake my head. My first reaction, to pull it down, was correct. Live and learn!

[Dave Zellers]

Of course it's wrong.

But if you did it and called it 'art', you'd be covered.

[Mike OMelia]

Well, who am I to argue with installation form? If you can get yourself upside down on a ladder and do the job... go for it! :)

(sorry, but you got lots of good advice and I could not help my weak self)

Mike

[fRED mCnEILL]

" It screamed "I did it myself!""

you've got to be kidding me. What makes it wrong. I've done most of my house in crown and looked at many "show homes" looking for ideas. Never did see one that looked wrong.

[Van Huskey]

Probably the only person that would pick up on it is a trim carpenter. Sure you could ask me and I would LOOK at it and say it is upside down, but I don't make a habit of looking at trim, you see it but you don't "see" it if that makes sense. I have a lot of creative trim in our house, I have some 14" tall built ups that I didn't plan I just did the day I had help that wanted to start the trim when we were building (you don't argue with free labor). They don't follow any traditional pattern and a trim carpenter might feel some of it was "wrong" but we have gotten an awful lot of compliments on it.

My general rule is if my wife likes it I "dun good", but I can't tell her it is "wrong".

[Don Morris]

I was eating in a $900,000.00 home once and happened to look up at the crown in the dinning room at one section that just didn't look right. The more I looked at it I realized that section was only a similar pattern to the rest of the crown (9' ceilings). It blended in fairly well and the trim carpenter figured nobody would catch it other than another carpenter. I figured he ran out of the pattern and just substituted. The home was by this time 5 years old and had multiple dinner parties in the dinning room. The owner never noticed it. And i was admonished not to mention it to his wife.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Well... Last week I happened across a sale at a salvage company selling crown molding at 1$ per 10'. They had the same profile I was planning on using so I got enough to do the job. (and a few hundred feet of unfinished alder,maple and cherry bigger stuff because I couldn't resist the deal)

Gloat trumps right or wrong.....go for it!
:D