Hi,

Would anyone be able to tell me if installing crown molding (attached only to the ceiling) to cover the gap between the wall and the ceiling will work out ok or not? The gap between the wall and the ceiling appears only during winters (due to condensation in the attic, which cannot be cured due to various reasons); and this gap goes away completely in summers when condensation doesn't happen in the attic. Due to this movement of ceiling I cannot attach the crown molding to the wall.

Any suggestion is welcome.

Thanks
Kumar

First a foremost, welcome to the pool. I hope you stick around to see how the water is.

On with the problem. If you are really having condensation in your attic, it needs to be corrected soon. This will soon cause mold and mildew and start to rot the timbers. Try to get breathers installed or some sort of ventalation in your attic.

Next. As you live in a cold climate, you might have condensation a little mixed up with humidity.

In the summer, when it’s humid, you joists are expanding with the humidity. In the winter when the air dries out, so does the joist and they shrink. It is this shrinking in the winter that causes the gaps.

While not a carpenter, if these gaps are small, I see no reason why crown molding can’t be fastened to the wall and ceiling. Properly done, it should take up this movement. If I had to, I would fasten them just to the walls and leave the ceiling “Float”. If you fasten to the ceiling, the gap would show between the wall and the crown molding.

quote:

Next. As you live in a cold climate, you might have condensation a little mixed up with humidity.

Thanks WOW, for the reply.

Couple of things. I live in a top floor (3rd floor) CONDO and it so happens that any work in the attic has to be approved by the CONDO association which is a huge task as all the association members are too skeptical of any work that may affect anything outside my condo. I would need to hire licensed and certified contractors, get their plans approved, pay for supervision and then for certification after the work is complete. So, I thought installing a rather wide crown molding would hide the gap and would be an easier and cheaper cosmetic fix to this problem. I will let the condo association take care of the bigger (root cause) problem of condensation and/or humidity in the attic.

Next, coming to humidity Vs condensation, I think it is condensation in winters and not humidity in summers that is causing the gap and here is why I say that. Firstly, it doesn't get too humid in summers in NJ where I live. Also, in winters the heat escapes from a lot of sources (leaks) from my condo (and the condos below) into the attic and due to the temprature difference between the attic and outside, water/moisture starts to built up in the attic (just like water/dew builds on the outside surface of a glass having very cold water/liquid). All the moldings are nice and hug the ceiling tightly in summers, it is only in winters that ther gap emerges between ceiling and the walls.

Now coming to fastening the molding to the wall; as of now the molding is attached to both the wall and the ceiling but in winters the ceiling moves up around an inch and a half and the molding sticks (stays with) only to the wall only, exposing the gap between the wall and the ceiling. Now, since the ceiling is the surface going up and coming down seasonly I thought it would be best to fasten the molding with ceiling only and stick it close to the wall (without fastening it to the wall) so that the molding moves along with the ceiling but still hides the gap between the wall and the ceiling. Of course, I would need a wider/taller molding strip for this purpose.

But I was wondering if this solution has been successfully tried by anyone yet or not.

Mainly, my concern is if the molding would be flexible enough (vertically) to move and bend along with the ceiling in winters when the ceiling moves around 1.5 inches up in the center (but stays put in the corners) and makes a small arch kind of a shape.

Thanks
Kumar

Hey Rasesh- those gaps could be filled with compound and sanded. Are you doing the work yourself?

Edited to remove ad.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

I am adding to this just so you don’t think I forgot about you.

You have a bigger problem then I thought from your first post. I am a little perplexed and needs a little more thought.

If I am reading correctly, your ceiling is moving up and down about an inch and a half? Wow. I think you might have a bigger problem then just that gap. And if I might add, so does the association. It almost sounds like something was not built right and this will effect all condos.

Have you brought this up to the association? What were their comments?

Any of my learned Poolies have any ideas?

davidness,

Those gaps are huge (up to 1.5 inches in the center and about .2 inches in the corners of the wall), and moreover the gap appears in winters and goes away completely (not even a line) in summers so if any compound is filled in these gaps in winters I am sure it will be crushed and spitted out in summers. What do you say?

WOW,

Yes, it indeed is a big problem. All good solutions to this problem are extensive. I was hoping to get a quick and dirty fix (rather hide).

The condo association, as of now, doesn't have any extra money to go ahead and treat the root cause of this problem which is faulty lumber/material used in the attic beams and no ventilation (for circulating cold air in winters) in the attic. Also, this problem is so extensive in my condo only coz mine is the only condo that has central air conditioning ducts, coming from the floor below mine, into my attic. These ducts provide most of the heat leakage into the attic. On top of that there is no ventilation in the attic that works in winters.

I saw another web page explaining how to put crown moldings on the ceilings where the ceiling moves. Here is the link, I am thinking of now putting the strip on the wall as that would rather work as the reference point for anyone to see that the molding along the ceiling is in an arc shape when the ceiling moves up in winters. What do U say?

http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-bin/jlconline.storefront/4...b9b3f212c8c4&p=1&q=1

davidness, yes I am thinking of doing this myself.

My expertise is HVAC(Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning)so carpentry is a little out of my league.

I looked at your site and looks good to me. Just keep in mind you are camouflaging the bigger problem.

WOW,

Where are you located? Do you do attic ventilation?

Thanks
Rasesh