Crown Molding Install Labor Costs?

[Rockuf8]

Want to add crown molding in several rooms on the first floor of my home. Was going to use the same guy I used last time who installed the majority of crown in the garage. Just wanted to get a sense if what he's charging me is a fair price.

231 l/ft
Same sized molding in the garage (I think it's 5 or 6")
MDF (to save cost, more forgiving on uneven walls)

Gave me a price of $1,100 for just labor, which works out to approx $4.76 l/ft.

I have to get my own molding. Being one wall is over 21', is it worth getting longer pieces?

This also includes installing a stair box newel post (to replace the current turned post)

I thought the price of $700 for the crown he added to the garage which included painting walls and ceiling was a bit on the high side too for just one room.

Here's a diagram of the rooms that don't have and need crown.

And the site I found which gives pricing for expected costs including labor, material, etc with a range of low to high in a specific area code.

 

[uberish]

I can't comment on labor prices as I did the crown in my house with the help of a handyman friend. It doesn't sound too far fetched for the tri-state area though.

Definitely get longer pieces of moulding unless you have no way of transporting it. It tends to be cheaper and you'll have less unusable waste cuts. Not to mention longer runs means less joins which reduces the amount of cuts. The only reason I would see an advantage for shorter runs is if you were going to be tackling the job alone and a long piece would be too unwieldy.

 

[Scott H in Wheaton]

Was going to use the same guy I sued last time who installed the majority of crown in the garage. Just wanted to get a sense if what he's charging me is a fair price.

If you *sued* him last time, what went wrong and why would you use him again?

 

[Rockuf8]

I can't comment on labor prices as I did the crown in my house with the help of a handyman friend. It doesn't sound too far fetched for the tri-state area though.

Definitely get longer pieces of moulding unless you have no way of transporting it. It tends to be cheaper and you'll have less unusable waste cuts. Not to mention longer runs means less joins which reduces the amount of cuts. The only reason I would see an advantage for shorter runs is if you were going to be tackling the job alone and a long piece would be too unwieldy.

Yeah, that's why I didn't want to take this on myself, I have done some crown. But I have some long walls, over 17' and one over 21' which I may have to do in two pieces, unless I can somehow get really long pieces to my house somehow.

So I suppose that site I found is pretty far off because according to them he's overpriced. Yet I just got another quote from someone for $1,900-$2,000. Geez

If you *sued* him last time, what went wrong and why would you use him again?

I fixed that immediately upon noticing that typo, sneaky on your part.

 

[uberish]

I found it easier to use two pieces per wall regardless of wall length. If you use a 45degree bevel cut, the join should be almost invisible. This made it a lot easier for me to get the actual corners flush and you can't really tell the seams are there unless you get up closer and specifically look for them.
I also had some long walls (one wall that starts from living room and crosses kitchen, bathroom and turns into a long hall going to the bedrooms ~ 50ft) so those were a join of about 4-5 pieces of crown. Again, bevel cut the joins and they won't be very noticeable. Also recommend going around the house with some scrap pieces to measure and mock out the corners, then jot down the angles needed on the wall to make things easier. I lucked out and had pretty consistent corners and only had to deal with 2-3 different combinations.

As far as contracting it out, is that the price for just installation or will he also do all the finishing work (fill in nail holes, sand, paint etc)?

 

[jrsulo]

I charge a whole lot more for that,im in central jersey,sounds like a steal to me !!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Did you use him or sue him ? Your post shows "sued" him


The skills and the talent you have at finish work and you want to hire the job out ? Get somebody to hold the other end and save the cash.

 

[Conductor562]

Price sounds about right.

Is it something you just absolutely can't do yourself? It isn't to hard if you have the right equipment.

 

[mechanicworkman]

For anything near those kinda labor costs I would go buy a nice saw and trim gun and just install myself. Installing trim can be learned quickly there are plenty of tools on the market like kreg jig that turns a novice into doing a great job in short work. Shop around for trim prices too other than the obvious HD & lowes as. I buy all my metal at a metal supply store saving over 50 percent verses the local hardware store and all my wood and trim at a lumbar supply outlet. Trim board I save about 45 percent vs Home Depot and if ur really smart finding the same thing at HD and lumbar supply have Home Depot do the price match plus the additional 10 percent off.

I have only had one issue with Home Depot price match and I was buying aluminum stock which HD was selling at 48 dollars a stick for the same thing I was buying at the metal supply for 12.89 when HD rang it up at register manager told me after the with the additional 10 percent off it was below what they bought it for. He didn't want to honor there price match guarantee

A quick call to corporate fixed that situation


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zeke]

5 dollars a foot sounds high until you do it. I would rather pay by the hour. It really should be cheaper that way. And if the installer isn't doing as you would like, you can end it at any time. I hate being bound by a fixed price agreement.

After 42 years as a contractor, I now work part time as a handyman for a few. Just about all of them realize and know that my hourly charges are rather modest compared to what I would bid for each task. As I get older and slow down, I adjust the bill accordingly. IOW, if I want to sit down and talk to the customer for 30 minutes, I go off the clock. No one gets hurt that way.

If I want to work and they want to talk, I just remind them that the meter is running.

The last crown I ran was in one room, 15 x 18. 66' for 200 bucks cash. 2 hours for myself and a helper from curb to keys in the ignition. At 3 bucks/ft. that was a bargain. But it was small stuff.

 

[uberish]

Yeah, just saw some of the work you did on your garage build thread. Crown should be a snap for you.* Compound miter saw can be had for a lot less than your labor quotes. Grab a friend, buy him some drinks and get him to help you. (probably better to give him the drinks after the work is completed)

*unless your house has a lot of funky angles or stupid high ceilings

 

[54FordPanel]

For that money, you could buy the top of the line saw, pancake compressor, nail guns, laser level and anything else you could possibly need and still come out ahead.

I never did crown moulding until I did it, and now I've done it 4 times, 2 times with 45* and 30* angles on my kitchen cabinets.

You do need a helper, but it's not hard.

 

[hickfied]

If you are able and have time, do it yourself. Since it will be painted it allows a ton of room for error. Just be sure to get a couple tubes of caulk.

 

[Zeke]

One trick in doing it yourself (well maybe 2 tricks) is to drive a dinky finish nail 1 foot from the corner where the bottom of the molding can sit. Make up a story stick for the short runs and poke it into each corner for the overall length. Hook it around outside corners and leave an extra 1/8th. For real long runs, cut a length and hang it. Then work to the middle with your story stick or stiff tape measure.

Measure 2wice and cut 2wice. The first cut being a tad long so you can fine tune it angle wise and otherwise.

 

[Rockuf8]

Thanks guys, yeah I tried once and had trouble installing crown molding on really long walls, plus I tried to fit it using one piece. I had a lot of waste then finally gave up, my wife was of no help lol. I've installed primed wood crown in my kitchen, basement and bathroom without issues, but the amount of linear feet intimidated me, and MDF is flimsy as hell, although it does have a nice smooth surface for painting. The crown in the garage on the ceiling is MDF, crown on the cabinets is wood, figured it would hold up much better to scratches, dents etc.

I had these guys do most of the crown in the garage except for the one new cabinet I ended up doing on my own.

The mitre cut should hide the seam provided the wall where you put it is nice and flat. Working with 20ft pieces must be a pain in the ***.

I have all the equipment I would need except for a friend who would be willing to help. All my friends are always too busy with kids and what not and they're quite the lazy type.

They'll also be prepping and handling the painting, they do amazing paint work, it's just too much for me. If it was one room I could handle it, I'm very good with the brush and can cut in with the best painters out there. Just want this project done in a day or two and can't afford to try and tackle it myself. Need to get back on the garage!

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[Rockuf8]

Did you use him or sue him ? Your post shows "sued" him


The skills and the talent you have at finish work and you want to hire the job out ? Get somebody to hold the other end and save the cash.

Haha just fixed that one, didn't realize there was another typo.

I just hate crown, cutting the pieces upside down and backwards always confused me. Although the right side fence I recently got for my Makita really helped when I cut the molding for the newer cabinet top.

 

[Regnar]

The number seems reasonable to me. How tall are the ceilings?

I am cheap though so I would probably do this myself. Take one day to prime and paint 2 coats of color with a sprayer of coarse. I hate brush marks.

Day 2 I would start the install. Use a jig on the saw and a little coping you would be done in not time. This guy does almost everything I do.

 

[Rockuf8]

For some reason coping seems so difficult to me, I've tried it several times and failed at it.

 

[Moose97]

The price seems high but I'm not anywhere near your area. I would tackle that one myself but it sounds like you're really not interested in it which can make for a miserable job. My only advice is get multiple quotes. If there is a new sub division close by see if you can find some trim guys working there and see if they want to make some weekend money,

 

[Todd.Brock]

Lareg amounts of crown molding are on my hire out list. Drywall is there too. It's cosmetic, so if he did gave you a materials allowance, say 1.50/ft or so, that would probably warrant me signing the check. Are you painting or staining? Does that include either of those in the price?

If you do have to do it yourself, check out kreg.com. They have a jig that will help you get the bevel for the corners. Dont use those prefab corners either. They are expensive-probably be closed to adding up to his labor cost- and they look goofy. Man i hate hanging crown...

 

[Outlander]

First thing I did was made some inside and outside corner templates. This took longer than the room I think. Once completed, use these templates to orient yourself. My ex-BIL used them after I was done - seemed to work for him too.

Takes away some of the confusion when cutting the moldings upside down and backwards

 

[shoot summ]

The price to me seems reasonable, I wouldn't pay it as I can do it myself, and I would charge that or more to do it for someone. There is more than just linear feet in this install. There are 24 inside corners, and 1 outside corner, that is where the labor is. If this were 1 room, 4 corners, then yes the price is high.

I would never splice a piece that didn't need to be spliced, ever.

You can't buy all of the "top of the line" tools to do this for $1100. You can get tools that will get it done, but a "top of the line" saw with a good stand can set you back close to $1100.

Coping is easy, practice is what it takes, and learning to let the saw do the work.

 

[Kevin54]

Crown moulding can be a ***** to cut correctly. A lot of finish carpenters will cope the ends to fit over the CM that is on the other wall. When we redone our batheroom, I cheated and took the easy way out. I bought the corner blocks, so all I had were straight cuts on the CM. In doing that, it was a piece of cake to install.

 

[Stuart in MN]

It also depends on how complex the crown molding profile is, and if there are multiple parts. A simple modern style molding is pretty easy to cut, but if there are a lot of curves and maybe several parts it takes a while.

 

[OldNeons]

You get what you pay for, could you find someone to do it cheaper? Sure. If this guy will do a good job on something you can't or don't want to do, I think his price is fair, can you live with it?

 

[Todd.Brock]

And think of all the joints that will need recaulkedv and painted in a couple years. Uh.. Love how it looks though. There is a good point about inside corners and being coped. They are 100x easier. The only cope that really ***** is when you are at the end and you have to fit a piece that is coped on both ends. I wasted some board ft on that piece. Hopefully you dont have too many mitred returns. Those **** too. You could get a mitre gauge for the outside corner to reduce the trial and error. From what I have seen, how to books will have you hang a 2x4 or something to nail into at any interval and you can make your mitred joints between two pieces anywhere, instead of just at a stud. I always try to use one piece if possible- one less joint to mess with. I'm not sure If crown goes over 20ft? I used a deadman, I think they are called that. A 2x4 with a cross piece to hold up the end Of the board. Settin up your mitre saw once is critical. I measured down the wall and made pencil marks. I took the ceiling measurement and transferred it to my mitre saw so when cutting upside down, it was the same angle. I didn't have a stop block, but it would make it easier. Be careful if you use the pressed board material, it likes to tear out in the smallcorners with the coping saw. Real wood is more expensive, but it holds a nail better and doesn't split out quite as bad when coping.
Good luck if you do it yourself!

 

[Angelfire]

Crown can look great or like hell. If he did a good job for you before, then the price probably isn't that bad assuming you'll get a good finished product. If you do decide to install yourself and splice pieces on the long walls, use about a 20 degree angle cut, not the 45 many suggest....much better fit.

 

[Chaz]

Its crown molding that sets the craftsmen apart from the schlubs... If the guy is GOOD, the price is fair. If he's worked for you before, you already know. I was in this line of work for a lot of years. I've seen a lot of bad crown molding jobs.

 

[KerryH]

First thing I did was made some inside and outside corner templates. This took longer than the room I think. Once completed, use these templates to orient yourself. My ex-BIL used them after I was done - seemed to work for him too.

Takes away some of the confusion when cutting the moldings upside down and backwards

This is how I have always done it, I then go around the room and place the corner templates in the corner to see how well that corner fits. I make sure to mark where the bottom of the trim falls when the piece fits well (as you can have the trim angled towards the top or bottom). I then cut straight pieces placing them using that bottom mark and cope (Jigsaw is quickest but a manual coping saw isn't terrible on MDF) the pieces that run into them.

I am able to get near perfect corner joints using this method. Surely you could find a friend, or at least a friend's son to assist as it's mostly just holding the other end of the trim in place.

 

[Rockuf8]

All you guys are awesome and I appreciate the excellent advice.

I'm going to just let my painters trim guy do it for the $1,100, he did a nice job last time so I know what I'm getting. I just wanted to make sure the price was competitive.

Not that I'm trying to be stereotypical but I have had my doubts about this guy since he's mexican, and all of the workers he subbed out other work to were mexican, but everyone he has recommended has been very good, especially the guy who did the 2 finish coats of mud on the ceiling, he was amazing. I just figured since their prices were reasonable, the work might not be all that great. As far as painting, he's one of the best I've ever seen and I'm a VERY PICKY SOB. So, he will caulk, fill nail holes, and paint the molding, ceiling and walls for an additional cost. I just was alarmed when I saw his professional equipment and how much old paint was on everything, but the walls in the garage came out fantastic.

Got another quote through some online service called thumbtack.com. He was $200-300 cheaper for labor but I have no idea who the guy is or if he's any good. He said 5-6 crown was rather large for 8' ceilings. I figured for the $75 difference (over 4 5/8") it as worth the wow factor, plus I have 4 5/8" in my garage so I figured go a bit larger in the house. Hope it looks ok! I have tall bb molding, chair rail and shadow box molding I did recently so it should all come together nicely.

Purchased my 16' pieces of MDF 5 1/4" crown from a local lumber yard since the price there was $165 less for the same MDF molding in a smaller size (4 1/4") at Home Cheapo. Also ordered a bunch of primed wood casing (nine 16' pieces) and two pieces of large bb molding, all deilvered for $20, its coming today. Being I was only able to get 16' pieces I will have 4 seams total, something I will have to live with.

 

[wrenchguy]

i doubt very many actually cope crown, but more to miter it. it takes quite a bit effort to cope a profile like crown. good luck with ur decision.

 

[grommit]

Some points
1) inside and outside corner templates.
2)know when to stop messing with it and caulk. (ceiling/wall problems)
3)if you really get in trouble, install square wood blocks in corners and **** joint to them
use or turn some finials will really dress it up

 

[Rockuf8]

Well the crown went up quickly. Guy had it all up in place within 6 hours. Didn't cope the corners, cut them at I think he said 43º. Looks really good, despite having to work with two slightly different profile moldings. I was delivered two different 5 1/4" moldings, they were slightly off, couldn't tell until the corners were cut and matched up. He said one of the MDF molding felt distinctly heavier and more dense too.

Forgot to mention the price included replacing my old colonial newel with a larger box newel. This opened up a whole can of worms since I started wondering how wrought iron ballusters would look with the box newel. Post is in, not sure which ballusters I'm going with or the best place to get them from. The ones at Home Cheapo look cheap to me, want nicer ones. Would be nice to have a wrought iron hand rail too, starting to sound like I need a custom welded railing now.

Being he was done by like 2:30, he installed casing on 4 doorways for me too at no extra cost.

I had received a quote from another carpenter for $2.50 l/ft but after looking up his business name I discovered some complaints about him not finishing work and a F bbb rating.

 

[shoot summ]

not sure which ballusters I'm going with or the best place to get them from.

kingmetals.com

 

[Rockuf8]

Thanks for the link