I Installed Molding Without Crying! by Nicole Rittenour

woodworking, diy

I Installed Molding Without Crying!

By 86'n It on Dec 13, 2012

Seriously, a huge milestone for me. Like epic.

The last time I tried my hand at any molding installation was when I put crown in the bathroom. It was awful. AWFUL.

I cried. I cursed. And it looked terrible.

(I just KNOW Marc stares at that disjointed corner every time he is in the shower and curses me.)

Look at me four years ago all skinny and not hugely pregnant and wearing a hat and two sweatshirts inside the house!

In order for the painters to paint the guest/play room, the base and picture rails needed to be installed. So at 7:30pm last night I headed off to Lowe's to buy it while Marc did bedtime. I was DREADING this work. So much so that I sat down and ate 3/4 of a container of Talenti Sea Salt Caramel gelato before starting. (OMG, best ever. Buy it! They sell it at Target, Whole Foods, etc.)

I did the base boards first, because they are easier. That went pretty smoothly. I did have to agree begrudgingly with Marc that the 11th-hour handyman I hired to put up the last pieces of wall framing didn't do such a great job. One of the walls is seriously out of level. Ugh.

Next up, the picture rail. I checked out this article at thisoldhouse.com to refresh my memory of how to cut and install molding and then got to work. I was trying to be all precise and measure the angles, etc. but it just wasn't working.

In the end, I used this sliding-T bevel angle measuring tool (see pic) and then just guessed and adjusted the angle on the miter saw until it was right. Not scientific at all, but it worked!

By 12:35am I had installed all 40 linear feet of picture rail, including two ridiculously out-of-square outside corners! I was absolutely giddy with excitement. GIDDY!