lee733•3mo ago

Question about a tricky miter cut on a bay window job

I was fitting crown molding around a bay window in an old house, and the outside corner on the left side just would not line up right. I must have cut that same piece seven times over two hours before I realized the wall itself was out of plumb by almost half an inch. How do you guys deal with a bad corner when you can't just fix the framing?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_bennett3mo ago

Ugh, I used to fight it. Now I just scribe it.

gavin_kim33mo ago

Watched that happen to my friend. He used to argue with his boss all the time. Now he just writes down the orders without a word. It looks like giving up from the outside. But honestly, it just saves your energy for the fights that actually matter. That quiet scribbling is its own kind of strength.

hugo23620d ago

Wait, you spent two hours cutting the same piece? Man, I've been there and it's brutal. What I do now is grab a bevel gauge and take the actual angle off the wall before I even start cutting. You can also use a coping saw to back cut the crown so it just lays into that wonky corner, the gap from the wall being out of plumb gets hidden by the profile. If the corner is really bad, I'll sometimes shim the back side of the molding just a hair to get it tight, then caulk the tiny gap on the front. Once you fudge it with some sanding and paint, nobody will ever know the wall was bent.