Install Crown Moulding to Sell Your Home or Office Faster
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.”
According to RealEstate.com’s consumer expert Holly Slaughter, “Trim work can really add interest, depth, and sophistication to your house, and put money back in your pocket at resale.”
Did you know that crown molding doesn’t have to be expensive? While six inch crown molding in rare woods can run six dollars a foot or higher, prices for the least expensive woods start as low as only sixty cents a foot.
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.
Retailers and some installers only stock a very limited selection compared to all the widths, thicknesses and shapes a moulding manufacturer offers. Millwork companies can match existing trim mouldings regardless of when the original was created.
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.
Ranging in width from two to twelve inches, you can select from hundreds of individual crown moulding profiles that vary by shape, thickness and height. Wide, thick mouldings are usually more expensive – and far more distinctive; however, you could use a less expensive wood and go bigger or a more expensive wood in a narrower or thinner style.
The most popular wood moldings are made from pine, poplar, oak, mahogany and cypress including rare sinker deadhead cypress. While we prefer the warmth and distinction of wood moldings, they are also available in cured polyurethane (flexible plastic), polyvinyl chloride (recycled cellular pvc) 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.
If you have a favorite historical building or house you remember and admire, have you ever wondered what it was about it that made it special? Look again and you will notice the rooms have wide, thick moldings around the doors, windows. They may feature impressive crown moldings and much wider or fancier baseboards or special moldings like chair rail that was commonly used to protect wallpaper from damage. Moldings turn a plain room into one with charm and warmth.
Whether you add it to one room or an entire house, crown molding is one home improvement that enhances not only the value but the beauty of your home or office.
Frank Wright recommends architectural moulding manufacturer Good Millwork for their high quality and excellent selection of Crown Moldings. Read more on How to Install Crown Moldings like a Pro. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.
