• Crown molding makes an attractive addition to any room, but is considered one of the more difficult moldings to properly install. While hiring a trim carpenter to install crown molding in your home is certainly an option, the average homeowner with a bit of woodworking skill can properly install crown molding using a few professional tips.
  
  

Quality Molding

• Proper installation of crown molding begins with choosing quality molding for the job. Place strips of molding on a level surface, such as the floor, with the end of the molding touching the floor. Eliminate molding that curves upward, creating a gap between the molding and the floor, because it will not fit correctly on the wall. Inspect the remaining molding for cracks, splits and knotholes. Molding with numerous flaws takes longer to prepare for installation and will split easier when cutting and nailing.
  
  

Precise Measurement

• Crown molding corners are some of the most difficult cuts in trim carpentry. Many homeowners assume that because a corner is supposed to be 90 degrees, it is 90 degrees, but that is often not the case. To ensure exact fit for corner crown molding pieces, buy a protractor that measures the exact inside and outside degree of corners. Protractors come with a chart that translate the exact degree measurement of the wall angle to the exact settings for your miter saw, giving you a much better chance of making a perfect cut.
  
  

The Right Tools

• Tools can be expensive, but failing to use the right tools for crown molding installation can result in wasting a lot of expensive wood and cause an enormous amount of frustration for the homeowner. Don't set yourself up for failure. Buy, rent or borrow a compound miter saw or a table saw with a miter gauge. Those tools are especially important if you have corner angles that are not 90 degrees, as they can be easily adjusted for accurate cuts based on the exact degree measurement of the wall.
  
  While crown molding can be installed on the wall by using a normal hammer and a punch, regular nailing is more likely to cause splits in the molding. You'll also create more and larger spots for repair if you miss the punch and hit the molding with the hammer. Also, manually nailing molding often requires three people as you will need both hands for hammering. A pneumatic nailer drives a finishing nail through the molding and into the wall stud in one clean shot that minimizes splitting, eliminates hammer marks and allows you to install the molding with only two people.