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caulking between ceiling and crown molding

18 years ago

Several months ago, I installed crown molding in several rooms. Its an older house (1965) and the walls/ceilings are not exactly flat/level, so there were alot of small gaps in the molding-to-ceiling edge. So I used some painters caulk (DAP from Home Depot) to fill the gaps. Let it dry for 24 hours, primed with Kilz Premium, and painted with Benjamin Moores paint. All was well for a month or so, and then small cracks started appearing along the edge. Its not the caulk which is cracking but where the calk and molding or caulk and ceiling connect.

Did I miss some step? Isn't the caulk supposed to be flexible enough to deal with slight movements within the molding due to temp/humidity changes? The molding is not at all loose, so from what I can guess either: a) the caulk shrunk a little; b) the caulk did not "stick" well enough to the ceiling or molding; c) the molding contacted/expanded because of temp/humidity changes and broke the seal.

Any idea what I can do the prevent this from happening again? I'd like to fix it. Any idea how? I don't want to remove all the caulk, redo and repaint if its going to just happen again.

Thanks for any advice

- Tom

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Comments (3)

sierraeast
18 years ago
Probably a combination of(a) and (c), but shrinking is a problem with most caulks that are latex based.Dap makes a latex caulk that contains silicone and is paintable. The silicone allows it to stay somewhat flexible for contraction/expansion issues and shrinks less than latex without, but will shrink on larger gaps. Polyseamseal all purpose adhesive caulk is another decent product that remains flexible without silicone, and is paintable.Less shrinkage with polyseamseal as well.Sometimes gaps require more than one application.
Michael
18 years ago
I have to agree. It's the grade of the caulk and the size of the gap.

I always used the urethane acrylics like BM's Crown & Trim 464. It's permanently flexible and made exclusively for crown & trim.

It's always best to clean out those gaps with 5-in-1 tool and prime prior to caulking too. When unprimed, you may experience separation with most painter caulks.

Michael
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You can back it with chewing gum if you want. Personally I would take the crown down and fix the ceiling or work with it. Without doing that you will end up with straight crown that shows the ceiling is off. Your other option, working with it, which is done in old homes, put the crown up according to the angles that natural settling of the home caused. It wont look odd and unless someone measures, they will never notice. A quarter inch caulk line will always stick out.
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Realize that “painters” are a dime a dozen, and usually do not do prep before slapping on some housepaint. A great Painting Contractor, as well as being licensed and insured, will talk to you about the prep that is needed before the paint goes up. And he will charge for it too. It won’t be Mr, $250 Per Room advertising on Craigslist.
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brickeyee
18 years ago
$2 a tube caulk performs like $2 a tube caulk.
Higher grade caulks remain more elastic.

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