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First time DIY dentil crown moulding. Need help

TheMightyElephant · 7 Sep 2026 at 06:06 · permalink

I haven't realized how hard dentil crown can be, but I tried my best to get until here (images attached). I tried to cope but it was way too tough with dentil so I ended up doing 45deg. I know the corners still have a good bit of gap and some areas along the moulding where I plugged in pieces.

Question is if I can move forward by using wood filler, caulk before I paint or rather take the L and spend another $150 for another 30ft of dentil crown moulding and do it again from my lessons learnt - like doing corner pieces first and run the middle pieces flat?

I really want to fix this than start all over again tbh

https://postimg.cc/gallery/HbW2WdW

SigmaUbermensch75 · 7 Sep 2026 at 06:10 · permalink

Holy fuck I thought you were trying to DIY dental crowns with wood filler before I looked at the pics, sorry I'm pretty high

Dzot77 · 7 Sep 2026 at 06:15 · permalink

Same! Entire 1st paragraph had me visualizing a dental crown with 45 deg angles and filler

Polak102 · 7 Sep 2026 at 06:17 · permalink

100% I thought the same thing and was horrified.

Ya_chustvuy · 7 Sep 2026 at 06:45 · permalink

If you have a compound miter saw there is a easy way to make the corners tighter. Move the saw to 33° (i believe this is it, it has a marking for it) and then the bevel to a 31°(also has a mark) long point will be the bottom(towards you) then they fit great without the need of much caulking. You also have to slide them down or up until the joint looks perfect but it will help tons.

AngrezZ · 7 Sep 2026 at 07:40 · permalink

Crown molding is something that you will have to look at every day for as long as you live in this house. It is not something that is hidden behind a piece of furniture. If it doesn't look right, it will bug you every time you look at it.

A major part of the problem with crown molding is, the actual walls are never actually 90 degrees. The house wasn't built exactly square to start with. And then the drywall mud in the corner is not square. So none of the corners are actually 90 degrees. Most are off by 1 or 2 degrees. Some are off by more.

I would spend the money for the material to do it over. And, I would use the existing material to test my miter-saw angles for each corner, before cutting the new material. That is, use scraps to fit the angle exactly right, for each corner.

SKIKOB · 7 Sep 2026 at 08:50 · permalink

i saw this and thought you were trying to make tiny crowns for cakes haha.

butterID99 · 7 Sep 2026 at 12:28 · permalink

I’d try filling and caulking it first. If the gaps aren’t huge, paint will probably hide a lot of it. I wouldn’t spend another $150 until I saw how it looks after finishing.

xapoh2002 · 7 Sep 2026 at 13:34 · permalink

Could try some painters caulk and paint before ripping it out, nothing is perfectly square in an old house, you'd likely have the same problem again.

TRX123 · 7 Sep 2026 at 13:58 · permalink

I'm not high and I thought the same thing. Clicked the pics and was like "oh thank god!"

TheMightyElephant · 7 Sep 2026 at 15:20 · permalink

Well mine is a new house lol. Also wood fillers first and then painters caulk right?

DarkQuack · 7 Sep 2026 at 15:37 · permalink

I thought you were doing your own dental work.

I need coffee.

Polak102 · 7 Sep 2026 at 16:22 · permalink

You need to kill the mold. And find out where the water leak is coming from. A pipe? The roof?