I've found that too and I honestly think it would be difficult to get professional looking results with it. JMHO... Using real crown is not that difficult really if you take the time to learn the proper method of cutting. The next best thing would be to use the "foam" kind of formed molding, which I have used once for a project and find to be perfectly acceptable for crown due to the fact that nothing would ever touch it. It looks real if painted.

Good luck!

I just had crown installed in a recently-remodeled kitchen. My cabinet guy did it. He is a talented woodworker, but even with his expertise, the crown molding didn't look quite right until after it was caulked to the wall and to the ceiling. Just slapping some pieces of vinyl up around a room won't yield professional results, IMO.

I know wood is better, but we're trying not to put too much more money into this place, we have to move next year. And it just looks so easy!! I do plan on caulking and painting them, plus the ceiling is pretty high, could it look good from afar?? It is so tempting :) Christy :)

I've heard that it does not give a good result.

It's cheap enough to give it a try, but I'd do it in something like a laundry room.

I've used some cheat products over the years with good results... like those plastic ceiling medallions - they're a bit of alright.

This post is soooo timely! My friend and I just ordered samples from a company called sosimplecrown.com (I think that's the name- I found it on youtube while looking for instructional mini videos.) We attempted crown molding ourselves in one room and want to see if this product will be easier and, hopefully, better. The cost was not that much greater from what we spent at Home Depot for materials, but, on this website, it has FREE delivery to your home! Stay tuned for our product report, ha ha.

We did crown in our LR a few years back and while time consuming, it was really pretty easy the way we went.

We do have a miter saw but DH was really worried about the corners since our house is old and nothing is square. So we went w/ the corner blocks and LOVE the effect and detail it has added to the room. There were no corners to angle and so no waste on the lengths of straight crown. Sooooo easy!! The total room was much less expensive than we planned for, too!

We also went w/ the less expensive MDF as it was going to be caulked and painted. We used a 2 piece stack and just had to make sure that it wasn't deeper or wider than the corner blocks. The caulk and corner blocks hid the gaps in our not-plumb corners better than a normal mitered corner would have.

Oh Syllabus, I wish you had posted pics, I'm dying to see what that looks like. When you say blocks, are you meaning those rosettes (square blocks of wood that have the round circle in the middle)? I want nicer crown molding, but last time we did a small room DH had a fit over cutting the corners. He said NO MORE! So your trick just may save the day for me!

"I know wood is better, but we're trying not to put too much more money into this place, we have to move next year. And it just looks so easy!! "

Since you are moving, save your money and your time. As a buyer, I would rather have NO crown than a bad looking fake.

As far as easy.... you are assuming that your walls are perfect - and none really are. Making it fit well and look good may be more than you bargained for....

JMHO!

My BIL using something similar. I'm not sure what this is made of, but his was syrofoam. It just looked ok. He did a good job, but you could tell it wasn't wood, even after it was painted.

We also went w/ the less expensive MDF as it was going to be caulked and painted. We used a 2 piece stack and just had to make sure that it wasn't deeper or wider than the corner blocks. The caulk and corner blocks hid the gaps in our not-plumb corners better than a normal mitered corner would have.

That sounds possible! I think the general consensus is that it just won't work well. I'm not sure I understand everything you said, though. What is MDF? And, what is a two-piece stack? Our walls are definitely not even!!! Thanks, Christy :)

It's very easy to post a link. Simply go to the website you want to link, copy the address and paste it into the Optional Link URL box at the bottom of this page. Then in Name of the Link box type in a short name for the link and you're done!

Testing.

Here is a link that might be useful: sample of corner block

Thanks Syllabus, and thanks for the link!! Now I have even more to consider :) Christy

We've used a similar product with great result. There is no way for anyone to tell that it's fake - you'd have to actually push on it and feel the give in order to know. Just to look at it you can't tell.

The type we bought is put on with a glue gun and joints are caulked. We bought it from http://www.creativecrown.com/

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Crown

Ladynimue, I found that website yesterday, and ordered enough for one room. Thanks for posting the pics, they look fantastic!! How easy was it to put up? Can one person really do it, or is it easier with two? And the corner blocks, were they from the same company, or did you get some at the local hardware store? Thanks :) Christy

Oh wait, I bought from So Simple Crown, let me see if they are the same :) Christy

Here is a link that might be useful: So Simple Crown

christy, let me know your thoughts about the so simple crown. we only ordered the free samples. if possible, post pix after you have finished!!

Wait, this stuff is styrofoam? I don't know....

I put regular wood crown molding throughout my house and I think in the end this is probably as hard or harder than just using painted wood molding. The hard part is all the caulking and painting on a ladder. When using wood, I can use nails to pull the molding tight to a wavy wall and usually the only caulking is at the corners (if then). I can also buy wood in 16' lengths so most rooms only need cuts at the corners. I've bought basic 4" primed wood crown for 70 cents/ft on sale, so its pretty cheap. I think if buyers could tell it wasn't wood, it would probably be a liability. I would think cheap/shortcut crown, what else did they do cheap/shortcut. Then its glued to the wall, so removing it would be a mess. Because it is not easily reversible, I would give it some thought before commiting.

Chris8796 - glue gun glue is very easy to remove, it peels off. Also, we used dabs of it, so nothing is overly saturated with glue. Definitely reversible. I think of it as another option rather than cheap or a shortcut. We're very pleased with it and so has been everyone who's visited our home. Also 70 cent primed wood crown is not an option where I live, travel time and gas would increase my costs dramatically.

Christy2828, yes it's easy to put up. Easier with two people, one on each end of the stick, but one person can still do it. The 1st pic shows crown that we painted ourselves - that took forever and was the hardest part of it. The 2nd pic shows crown that is white all the way through. The corner blocks were bought at the same website - they also have outside corners, etc. Shipping was very quick, our orders have always arrived within one or two days.

Thanks ladynumie, I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm only doing one room to start with, but will potentially do 4 more. I might even try ordering from the Creative Crown company to compare to the So Simple Crown company and see which I like better or if they are comparable. So Simple Crown uses only caulk whereas Creative Crown uses a glue gun, and offers the corner blocks. Plus, Creative Crown is cheaper (from what I've seen), so I guess I'll keep you posted!! Thanks again for all of the advice :) Christy

I did my 14 x 16' living room with styrofoam crown with corner blocks from Creative Crown for under $100. I did it myself without too much aggravation. The most time consuming part was the painting. I bought the installation kit which had a tube of special caulk for the seams and a sanding pad. It took me 2 days from delivery to full installation and I'm very happy with the results.

Well it's done!! It was $107 for the molding, and 8 dollars for 2 cans of caulk. I painted the molding yesterday and installed today!! Just need to touch up the seams with paint. The room is 16' x 11'. I'm very happy with it :) Christy

It's looks great Christy. Perfect look for your room!

Looks like it went on pretty easy for you :) I need to order an inside and an outside corner block and then I'll be done with my LR + DR.

Thanks, ladynumie!! I've got a few more rooms that I want to do, and the company you ordered from seemed cheaper. I might try to do a room with the other company and compare!! Christy :)

looks really nice!

Looks really nice. I guess the word I had on it not coming out so great was another brand or someone who just didn't know what they were doing. I'm glad you had success because it really does make the room.

Here's a shot of my living room crown:
{{!gwi}}

That is beautiful! I'm happy for you and glad that you took the step. It proves it can be done....even if you're not a pro installer.

BTW, wood crown, pvc crown or styrofoam crown...who cares? It's THE LOOK you were after, and you achieved it quite professionally.

Michael

I'm so confused! I've been looking at this stuff for over a month.

Correct me if I'm wrong:
So Simple Crown - polystyrene, mitered corners, apply with caulk, arrives white?

Creative Crown - "styrofoam polystyrene" (same material as So Simple Crown?), separate corners, apply with "liquid nails", arrives blue?

Is MDF the white, lightweight stuff that's sold at Lowes and Home Depot?

Christy, we too ordered from so simple crown and were really happy with the results until we attempted to caulk the seams. We painted over the caulk and it still seemed the line was so noticable. I think my husband made it worse by sanding and attempting to fix one too many times however. Did you run into this problem? I believe your pictures were taken before you caulked the seams? I'm just wondering where we went wrong, b/c otherwise I think this is an ingenious product.

Jeanninepc99: Don't know about the mail order stuff, but yes, the white, lightweight stuff at Lowes and HD is MDF. It was what we used and it was great to work with!

Our LR looks like dian57 posted of hers. We also used the corner blocks and a deeper profile for more umph to the detail.

The MDF cuts, caulks, nails and paints just like the wood.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Medium-white-hardwood-inside-crown-corner-block_W0QQitemZ110230930806QQihZ001QQcategoryZ29505QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

It's the corner pieces. It will be cheaper or about the same price to do it the right way.

kellygirl - Those pictures were taken after the seams were caulked. It looks a little darker in the picture between the ceiling and the molding, but that is just the camera. It is perfectly sealed, and looks great. Caulking the seams was a bit tricky. I never got them perfect and they are still noticeable. But not very, I have to look for them to find them, but they are there. There is one seam in each of the photos I listed above, I noticed two of them. Christy :)

Thanks Christy! I notice your seams now, but you're right they do appear to blend in for the most part and look much better than ours! I think that my husband is just too sloppy with the caulking of the seams part :-) and I will have to redo. Did you have to cut a piece to fit in between or were your pieces long enough? I only noticed 1 seam in your photos, wheras each wall of ours has to have two since the pieces were not long enough.

There are 2 seams on 2 walls, and 1 seam on 2 walls. Each peice was about 6.5 feet long, and the room is 16' x 11'. So, I'd do a corner 6.5 feet one way and 6.5 feet the other. To complete the 11' wall I had to cut off about a foot of the other corner panel creating only one seam. For the 16' walls I had both 6.5 foot panels, and had to cut a peice for the remaining 6 feet. Hope that makes sense :) I ran out of paint, I'll probably touch up the molding with a second coat for those seams. Hopefully it will conceal them even better, but if it doesn't I'm not really worried about it. I'm still very pleased with the results!! Christy :)

I guess I'm missing something. Why does everyone talk about crown moulding being so hard? Why would it be any harder than a chair rail or baseboards?

BTW, everyone's pictures of their new crown moulding looks beautiful!

Maybe gravity and/or uneven ceilings? I don't know. I would think something on the floor is easier than something up in the air.