Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup: Cheap/Fake Crown Moulding

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Cheap/Fake Crown Moulding

Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Forum Discription: For how-to's and where-can-I-find
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3052
Printed Date: 6/15/25 at 12:53pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Cheap/Fake Crown Moulding

Posted By: Susan27Dave
Subject: Cheap/Fake Crown Moulding
Date Posted: 3/17/08 at 3:43am

Hello!
I have just discovered your forum - what a wonderful resource!!

I am looking for an idea for inexpensive crown moulding for our set (The Butler Did It). In the our theatre storage we came across a 3 foot scrap piece of white plastic moulding - very flimsy - but if tacked up against the "ceiling" could be painted and look very fancy and quite realistic. It was about 3" in depth and quite ornate. I took it to paint stores and home depot type of stores (here in Kingston, Ontario, Canada) to see if I could find 40 feet of something similar, but no one had ever heard of it. I also tried craft stores like Michaels.

Has anyone heard of such a thing. Alternatively, are there any other ideas for crown moulding that anyone can suggest?

Thanks!!

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Susan

Replies:

Posted By: Linda S
Date Posted: 3/17/08 at 8:08am

Hi Susan,

I have used the plastic molding many times, and found it readily available at the big box stores around here in Maine. I have been able to get it at the local hardware & l umber stores also. If you can't find crown molding you can always fake it by stacking trim pieces. My sister actually did it in her home it worked so well. She used 3 different pieces of molding left a 3 inch gap between two pieces and painted everything the same color. It looks like really ornate crown molding even up close.
Linda

Posted By: Sweeney
Date Posted: 3/17/08 at 9:19am

This is Sweeney from Michigan. You should just come over the bridge to us and go into any Home Depot or Lowes. Massive varieties of mouldings to choose from. I can't believe the places you went didn't have something you could use.

Posted By: Susan27Dave
Date Posted: 3/17/08 at 10:55pm

Thanks - do you remember (approximately) the price you paid for the plastic stuff? And thanks for the idea about building it up from other pieces!

:)

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Susan

Posted By: Susan27Dave
Date Posted: 3/17/08 at 10:56pm

Hi Sweeney
Looks like I'll be heading south to NY!! The places I checked had regular (i.e. expensive) moulding, but this no one had ever heard of this flimsy plastic type that I'd found the scrap of!

I love ANY excuse to head to the US to shop! :)
Thanks again!!
S

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Susan

Posted By: Topper
Date Posted: 3/18/08 at 10:09am

I'm pretty sure this link has been posted before on this forum, but it's certainly worth another look. Check out the amazing architectural details that can be accomplished using corrugated cardboard boxes.

http://www.geocities.com/cbking43/index.html

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"None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone

Posted By: Susan27Dave
Date Posted: 3/18/08 at 6:05pm

Thanks so much - the Cardboard King is Amazing!!!

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Susan

Posted By: TonyDi
Date Posted: 3/19/08 at 7:50am

If you can find a local carpenter who is well equipped with good carpenter's tools, you can have him manufacture your moulding for you from the blue or pink insulation foam. For a long, long time, one of our members - and his working friend (we used to call them Tim and AL - from Tim "the toolman" Taylor comedy on TV) had a decent table router and he used to cut the pink or blue foam into 5" or 6" WIDE strips and with the proper router bits was able to create all kings of mouldings for use on sets. It was WAY WAY cheap to do it that way and created any kind of moulding he had router bits for - which were many. HE DID say however, that cutting a LOT of foam like that was hard on router bits - but if you have good ones - carbide tipped bits - they last a lot longer. AND they CAN be sharpened by someone who knows how to do that.

If you can find a local guy who has all the right tools you can have any kind of moulding created on the cheap. HAS to be primed before painting and you can't run into it with anything otherwise it DENTS and the blue or pink shows through if you break the surface. BUT it's VERY VERY effective - costs next to nothing and if you have someone with the right tools - you have all you will ever need for the price of a router bit or two once in a while when they get too dull to do the job...but it can take a long time for that to happen.

Good luck. HOPE you find it.

TonyDi

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"Almost famous"

Posted By: Susan27Dave
Date Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:55am

Wow - That sounds terrific!! Tim and Al's are fabulous to have, and thankfully my theatre also has a dream team like that (thanks David, Dan, Rick & Dan)!

Thanks for the great idea!

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Susan

Posted By: vlog
Date Posted: 4/10/08 at 10:08am

We use foam as well. Basically, you translate the molding profile into a series of stacked pieces at 1" or 2" thickness and cut them. We use Liquid Nails to hold them together, with 1/4" luan 6" x 6" plates ever 3 ft. or so on the back, which makes it easy to attach them solidly. The Liquid Nails dries overnight and once it's painted, it looks exactly like wood. The only caveat is that you need someone good to rip the blue foam on a table saw...someone who's careless will create a MESS and poorly cut pieces are impossible for anyone who's trying to apply a router for edging.

Posted By: Susan27Dave
Date Posted: 4/11/08 at 4:25pm

Thanks!! That's what we did!!

I appreciate yours and everyone's responses!

Susan

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Susan