When you’re installing crown molding, sometimes you are working with a VERY LONG wall and you just can’t manage to get it covered with a single run of molding. In this case, you’ll need a seam but you don’t want the seam to be visible. With this method, once you use a little wood filler and paint, your seams will be nearly invisible! The technical term for this is a scarf joint.
How to cut a scarf joint in crown molding.
Leave the saw set up for whatever corner you just cut, it doesn’t matter what the settings are as long as you cut both ends of the seam with the exact same saw setting. That way they will fit together like a well oiled puzzle pieces.
- Set up your miter saw with both a bevel and a miter. See my post on cutting crown molding if you need a refresher.
- Cut both ends of your seam with the exact same setting
- Apply wood glue to one or the other end
- Slide the two pieces together
- secure with small nails (18 gauge)
It’s that easy. Once you use a touch of white wood filler and paint that seam it should be nearly invisible.
This method works great with crown molding and just about any other molding you happen to need to put a seam into.
Now run out and cut a scarf joint just to try it. You know you want to! 🙂
Richard says
Wood filler works fine in many cases. However, there are times that wood filler will not work and you will still see a faint shadow. What I do is use drywall tape and joint compound to hide the seam. After sanding, priming and paint, the seam is completelyi invisible. I did my vaulted ceiling with this method and it works. I had a fair amount of joints running along one of the walls due to using scraps of crown rather than buying an additional 8 foot piece. Saved a couple of bucks and it really looks like one continuous piece.
kristin says
OK…my “wordworking” is not working–it should say woodworking! That scarf joint term had me so boggled I couldn’t think/write straight! 🙂
kristin says
Another post to add to my “how-to” section from the master! Scarf joint? I find this funnier than some of the other odd/inappropriate words used in wordworking. “So how bout that scarf joint, eh?”