molding and ancient twisted walls

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I'm trying to apply some molding to a room with complex angles and terrible walls. No corner is square (no surprise there) but worse the walls are not remotely flat. So the corner molding wants to project into the room so badly that forcing it to conform to the wall curvature breaks it.

I'm thinking of kerfing it on the back side and hoping for the best.

[Pete Bradley]

I'd try a forum like Fine Woodworking Breaktime. You'll find more folks with experience there.

Pete

[Todd Jensen]

Your only 2 choices are to remove wall or remove wood, OR :) add wall or wood. If your molding is thick enough to hide a little bit of the difference, you might want to score and remove some of the offending drywall where it will be hidden by the trim. Please feel free to PM me with any specific questions - I don't always check the forum. I'm a finish guy by trade and specialize in custom work, particularly stair systems.

[Mike Henderson]

It's hard for me to visualize exactly what your problem is, but when I've put up molding on a wall that's not perfect, and didn't have any other options, I'd put the molding up and leave the gaps. Then come back and refloat the area where the gaps are. This is a lot of work because if the wall is textured (usually orange peel) you have to retexture it, and then paint it. But when nothing else works, that will solve the problem.

Mike

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm with Mike H. It's the only way I've ever found to make it look "right".

[Gary Herrmann]

A simpler than refloating the wall would be too apply a bead of caulk behind the molding and then paint it to match the wall. Not the most elegant solution, but not a lot of work either.

I got that suggestion here when I posted a similar thread to this one. I'll be you'll be the only one that ever notices.

[Ray Knight]

I completely agree with Gary, keep the molding relatively straight, caulk and paint. It reads and shows a lot straighter and better than a molding that is forced to follow curves, and trying to refloat an original curvy original plaster wall just seems wrong. I had exactly that problem in my 1920 house with original plaster walls. The molding read as nice and straight. Some have wall paper cut right to the edge of the molding, again visually no issue. Ray Knight

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Oh I'd love to use caulk or a little more mud but the deformity is severe and the molding I'm using is 3.5" crown so it's inflexible and the deformity produces substantial error.

I took a strip of molding to the TS and cut a zillion little kerfs in the back side and that seems to work well making the molding less rigid and more able to conform to the wall.

[Jim Becker]

Cliff, I feel for the situation as I had one wall in my kitchen renovation that was a banana wall...'didn't realize it until after it was rocked. The moldings went down, but the "wave" is very noticeable. It sounds like slight kerfing on the back may work for you, however...