# Crown Molding Help!! Wood Filler Problem



## afreeman553 (Feb 12, 2018)

Hello,

I recently had crown molding installed in my house and need advice on how to correct installation nightmare. The installer applied Elmer's wood filler over all the nail holes and on all the joints. The next day my wife and I decided to sand and prep for paint and found the filler had dried as hard as wood. The installer applied so much wood filler that even trying to remove it with 60-grit sandpaper doesn't work and sanding is destroying the profile of the molding. The installer did a good job with the cuts and install but ruined it by applying so much filler. 

I need some advice on fixing this, please. Should I just tough it out and sand it down or will I need to have it removed and new molding installed? Attached are pictures of the damages.

FYI...We settled with the installer, we agreed he will not be paid and he will not have to fix it on his expense.


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## andr0id (Jan 11, 2018)

Oh my!! Is that polyurethane crown molding?

Go look at the video by a guy on youtube called DFW Crown.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYU9ctqfZCDdagNPfEzL6dg

He is absolutely great.

If that's foam, I think you're going to have to cut it out. Put you replacement pieces back in with superglue as he shows in the video and then use the filler that goes on pink and turns white. You can sand that without destroying what's under it.


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## afreeman553 (Feb 12, 2018)

I should note that it is 3" wood molding


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## andr0id (Jan 11, 2018)

afreeman553 said:


> I should note that it is 3" wood molding


Are you wanting to fix this yourself?

How much $$ do you have in material?

The primer was shiny like poly. What you have is probably finger jointed pine which is going to be softer than the wood filler. It is up high which is a terrible place to work on it to start with and getting it to look good is not going to happen. Even if you sand off all the filler, once it is painted, all the divots will be visible from the ground.

If I were fixing this, I would carefully pull it all down, cut out and throw away anything with filler on it. You can salvage long runs and then cut them for shorter runs and get more molding to replace the screwed up long runs.

I hope you know where the molding came from. I have found that even the same big box store will have different batches of mill-works material such as crown and casing at different locations. Otherwise you might as well buy it all over again at the same time. 

So take a sample of what you got with you and make sure the profile is identical. Otherwise the miters will not line up correctly.


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## afreeman553 (Feb 12, 2018)

Thanks for the input. I was afraid that I was going to have to take it down and start over. Sanding down the filler is causing more damage to the wood than it is the filler. I don't have too much invested in the material, this is only for two bedrooms and a bathroom. It's a pine board that was purchased from a local lumber yard. Shouldn't have an issue getting more.


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## gj13us (Apr 19, 2016)

It can be sanded out. I've done it lots of times around my house. The trick, of course, is to not lather it on so thickly as that. You only make that mistake once. But yes, it can be sanded. If you have a scraper, a chisel, anything with a sharp edge, you can shave it away where it's really thick and save yourself some time and effort. 

I'm more concerned about the big piece that split off the bottom edge in the third picture. I'd never have hung that in my house, can't imagine a professional doing that to a client's house. But I'm not a professional. So what do I know?


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

naphtha may get rid of some of the build up.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

A hard lesson for sure. If spackling had been used instead of wood filler, you would be painting now. 
Wood filler was a very poor choice for this project.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

At least you're not paying the installer for that shoddy work. I've done crown moulding twice and it looked a lot better than that.

Huge gaps, slopped on filler, broken pieces, my gosh!


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I have installed crown molding. Far faster to start over. This is hopeless.
What you have there will always look like a really bad job of sanding on a very poor install.
You will never find anything to match the contours for sanding.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I think I would tear it all down and start over before I cleaned that mess up. 

I have to say until now I thought I saw some of the worst work in the world. With 45 years experience that has to be the worst. 

When I do an inside corner I put masking tape on each side of the void, apply the putty and wipe off the excess with some thinner before it dries. There is almost no sanding when done that way. Then nail holes I use an artist spatula which doesn't leave much excess. If I put up the trim I put a piece of tape on first, shoot the nail through the tape so when it's puttied the putty is just in the nail hole.


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## Sawdustmaker99 (Feb 1, 2018)

That’s definitely the worst wood filter job I’ve ever seen. You might try chipping it off. If it’s water based filler you might try softening it. If neither of those work tearing it down is about the next option. I’m not a professional trim installer ( and by professional trim installer I’m better at it than a bunch of so called professionals but I don’t do it for a living ) but I always paint the or apply whatever finish before putting it up. I cut the joints so there’s no filter required. If it’s white I just put a little calk in the nail holes. I clean it off before it dries and there’s no sanding. If it’s stained trim I use a wood putty.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Whoever installed that wasn't even close to being a trim carpenter. Even seeing through the filler, you can see the sloppy workmanship. No mater what you do with what is there now, it will never look 100% and that would still be with a lot of work.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Why was not the installer required to correct the problem he/she caused?

George


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

afreeman553 said:


> The installer did a good job with the cuts and install but ....


sorry, but he didn't. Since it is bedrooms/bath, I would try to repair before starting over. but I would look for a solvent to soften the putty that is there to remove it, rather than sanding. looks like he removed the bottom of one section to line up with the other side - misaligned to the wall.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Do you know/can you find out what brand the filler is? That might make it easier to figure out what the solvent is.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

I hate to say it, but I'd pull it down and start over. Just from the couple of pictures you posted I'm seeing places where the moulding is broken and not lined up correctly. Definitely don't let him touch anything else!


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## Sawdustmaker99 (Feb 1, 2018)

GeorgeC said:


> Why was not the installer required to correct the problem he/she caused?
> 
> George


 Because he wasn’t paid. Which he definitely didn’t deserve. Besides that would you really want this guy to fix anything else?


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

My spouse and I have done crown molding in several rooms throughout our house. (How many spouses wanted a miter saw for Mother's Day? Gotta love her!). I showed her your photos. We both agree that you gotta take it down, dispose the parts with the wood filler, salvage what you can, buy more, and then re-do the project.

We think you can teach yourself to put up crown molding. We taught ourselves. We put ours up the old fashioned way - with ladders, hammers, nails. We use punches to push the nails below the surface for filling. (I think we might buy a pneumatic nail gun for next time.) It takes at least two persons for the long runs. Buy extra molding so you can practice the cuts for corners on small pieces to test fit them so you understand the angles.

My spouse uses ordinary spackle to fill the holes and gaps. She uses her fingertips to smooth them over. It works. There may be a little sanding, but not much. We paint our molding so there is no need for wood fill. We paint our molding before we put it up, leaving only touch-ups over the spackle spots.

All you need is a miter saw and a good blade. The sum of them is far less than the cost of one installation by a "pro" (laughs!!). Even if you didn't pay him for labor, you lost out on materials. I say go for it. It might take less time than it takes to find and qualify a "professional." Do it yourself!

There are three ways to get something done: (1) Do it yourself, (2) Pay someone to do it, or (3) Forbid your children to do it.


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## gj13us (Apr 19, 2016)

Tool Agnostic said:


> We taught ourselves. We put ours up the old fashioned way - with ladders, hammers, nails. We use punches to push the nails below the surface for filling. (I think we might buy a pneumatic nail gun for next time.) It takes at least two persons for the long runs. Buy extra molding so you can practice the cuts for corners on small pieces to test fit them so you understand the angles.
> 
> My spouse uses ordinary spackle to fill the holes and gaps. She uses her fingertips to smooth them over. It works. There may be a little sanding, but not much. We paint our molding so there is no need for wood fill. We paint our molding before we put it up, leaving only touch-ups over the spackle spots.


Ditto. 
Except for the "my spouse" parts. :laugh2:

The more I look at the pics the more unbelievable it is. How old was the installer? Was it some high school kid doing a project for school?


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

The solvent for most woodfillers is a pretty hot solvent and might just melt your plastic molding.


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## d_slat (Apr 10, 2012)

Toolman50 said:


> The solvent for most woodfillers is a pretty hot solvent and might just melt your plastic molding.


But it's pine...

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