Real Estate Search Direct

Because it increases property values, crown moldings are one of the most popular upgrades made to any home or building. Rooms in new buildings are often painfully plain because moldings are frequently skimped on to cut construction costs. You can greatly enhance the beauty and warmth of any room by installing window, door, crown and other architectural moldings.

Realtors and home selling experts recommend installing crown molding in an entryway or major room as an inexpensive way to increase buyer interest and get homes sold faster – especially in a slow economy. Crown molding is widely mentioned as one improvement that costs less than the resulting increase in property value.

According to the author of 101 Cost Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home, Steve Berges, “When you’re comparing two houses, the one with the crown moulding is going to show better.”

Holly Slaughter, RealEstate.com’s consumer expert says “Trim work can really add interest, depth, and sophistication to your house, and put money back in your pocket at resale.”

If you think crown moulding is too expensive you may be surprised to learn that the less expensive materials can cost as little as sixty cents a foot while rare woods can run six dollars a foot or more.

Lower cost crown mouldings can be added to an average sized room for a total cost of only $300 to $500 including painting or staining, materials and installation. Total installed prices can range from $8 to $12 per running foot and up.

Even fans of crown molding probably do not realize that buying stock crown moldings greatly limits their choices. Millwork companies offer far more widths, thicknesses and shapes and can match any existing moldings.

Manufacturers of mouldings and millwork trim can source almost 200 different wood species. Best of all it costs less to order crown mouldings directly from the manufacturer than to buy them from retail stores or moulding installers.

When you consider the wide selection of styles, shapes, thicknesses and heights there are hundreds of Crown Molding profiles to choose from. Crown moldings can be two to twelve inches wide; the thicker and wider the molding the more impressive they are. Consider taller or wider moldings from less expensive wood or narrower or thinner moldings from the most rare and beautiful woods.

We prefer the beauty of wood mouldings and the wide selection of woods used include pine, poplar, oak, mahogany and cypress including sinker deadhead cypress. Crown moulding can also be made from polyvinyl chloride (recycled pvc), polyurethane (flexible plastic) and polystyrene (foam).

Unless you are a talented do-it-yourselfer or carpenter, installing crown molding is usually best left to an expert. Few buildings are totally square and one expert says “crown molding has to be cut upside down and backwards” to specific angles. Arches or complex corners can make the job even more complicated.

If you want your moldings to really last, be sure to have them sealed, stained or painted on all sides prior to installation. Though few installers actually do this and many will insist it is not necessary, this step is critical to protect the wood from moisture that can cause warping or deterioration.

There are specialized tools that make installing crown molding easier for talented carpenters and do it yourselfers including compound mitre charts, True Angle measuring gauges, and specific mitre saws.

Wayne Drake’s book Crown Molding and Trim, Install It LIke A Pro shows you better ways to cut angles and install crown molding through the use of hundreds of examples and 350+ photos.

Do you know why historical buildings and old houses look so distinctive compared to new buildings and homes? If you really look you’ll notice the wider or more elaborate moulding trim around the doors, windows and ceilings that are missing in most rooms today. Adding mouldings – and especially crown mouldings – adds warmth and character to any space.

Crown moulding is one of the most widely recommended ways to increase the value and beauty of your home or office. Whether you install it yourself or hire a crown moulding installation expert, consider adding crown moulding to at least one room. When you see the difference it makes you may decide to continue adding interesting architectural mouldings in other rooms.

Frank Wright gets his answers about Crown Moldings from Good Millwork, a quality manufacturer of Architectural Molding selling direct to the public. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

Comments (0) Feb 01 2010