First time I matched crown molding across two rooms and it actually lined up

Spent 3 hours last Saturday fussing with the angle finder on a 15 year old house where nothing is square, but the seam came out so clean you can't even feel it with your finger. Anybody else find that older houses fight back way harder than new construction?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulschmidt12d ago

My 1950s house has studs that are 18 inches apart in some spots, so I feel you on the "nothing is square" thing. But I actually think older houses are way more forgiving than new builds because the wood has had decades to settle and the drywall compound is usually harder. That fresh MDF trim in a new development, man, that stuff moves with the humidity like a snake. I'd rather fudge miters on old plaster any day than fight brand new house wrap that traps moisture and makes everything warp. What year is your place exactly?

ellis.hayden12d ago

Gotta push back on that one hard. My buddy just finished gutting a 1920s bungalow and that old wood was so dried out and brittle it snapped like toothpicks when he tried to nail anything into it. Plus that ancient plaster? One wrong move with a saw and you're staring at a crack that runs all the way to the ceiling. I'd take a fresh new build with OSB and drywall any day, even if it has some MDF trim that swells up a little in August. At least you know the framing is straight and the house wrap actually keeps the moisture out instead of letting it wick right through old lathe and horsehair plaster.