To Cope Or Not To Cope?

Coping Mouldings ... Does it even have to be a question? 

I've always considered coping to be the "standard" for joining the inside corner of mouldings. That's what I was taught. Whether it's baseboard, chair rail, crown moulding, etc., in my view it is  proper procedure to cope all the inside joints of any type of moulding. I don't even remember questioning it, we just did it. Back in the day, if someone just mitered all their inside joints it was considered to be lazy, a short-cut, the wrong way to do it.

It seems to be a lost art nowadays, at least around this area. I'm noticing more and more that no one seems to cope anymore. In the past, it seemed rare to find someone just mitreing all their corners, now it's rare to find carpenter's who cope their corners.

A few months back I was on a jobsite talking to a lead carpenter for a trim crew and he actually laughed and made fun of the fact that I coped my trimwork. He just thought that was the stupidest thing he had ever seen. Nobody on his crew  even owned a coping saw, never mind used one. I honestly believe he had never even heard about the technique before.

What's ironic in all this, is the fact that I lose contracts to companies like that. It seems that neither the builders nor the homeowners seem to care or know the difference anymore.

I have even noticed  a lot of these, do it yourself how to articles and videos instructing people to just mitre the corners. It's frustrating when you see a television show, and they are just mitreing all the inside corners, then to top that off you see them installing the crown moulding upside down sometimes. What have things come to? The other day I was at your local big box supply store and they sell a book on crown mouldings that blatantly discouraged the practice. In my view, when he did describe the coping process in the book, it wasn't anything I have ever done. I would be firing people if they tried to cope moulding like he described. It isn't any wonder he discourages the practice.

Now there are instances that you need to mitre inside corners. I will mitre them if they are really short returns. Usually under an inch or so, for instance around keystones, mantels, pilasters etc. And another example is certain types of crown mouldings don't cope well, some have almost negative angles on the profiles that are impossible to cope without cutting into it. Another example would be certain conditions encountered on cathedral or vaulted ceilings.

This article seems to be one of the better ones I have found to date concerning the practice: Coping Moldings

Whether or not to cope mouldings... not a even question in my book, and never will be.

Comments

[Jim]

Thanks for the advice. I'm a DIY home improvement guy that aspires to do very good work on my projects at home. I try to adhere to the "ask 5 people" methodology on my home improvement projects. I've done my own baseboard with coping and it's beautiful. I'm about to start installing crown molding.

Coping crown molding is about 50/50 with the people I speak to. Some have even laughed at me for considering it! They also laughed at me for doing it with my baseboards. I think I'll cope crown, it just seems a better way to me. I would hate to see the inside corners separate in a couple of years!

[Roger]

Thanks for the comments,
Coping the crown moulding is a good idea. It is actually a lot easier than 45'ing everything. In a room with four square corners,for example... I only have four cuts & four copes... one on each piece. I don't have to flip the moulding around or cut both ends of every piece. Also you have to be perfectly exact in cutting for the mitres to be right... the angles have to be perfectly square (which is never the case). Coping the mouldings eliminates everyone of these issues.

In longer runs say anything over 10'(wall to wall) I cut the crown say almost 1/8" heavy, Then you can place the butt end up to the wall and bow the coped end in place and the piece will lock right into the joint perfectly. You need to backcut the cope a little so it will almost kind of cut right into the adjoining piece with no chance of ever spreading open or misaligning. Good luck with your project.

[archmolding]

Its really a question of: Is this crown copable or not? for a detailed video of why watch http://miterclamp.com/videos/uncopable_crown.wmv...I have always been of the same mindset as the author...Growing up always coping its hard to want to miter...On the other hand, with MDF being the standard in paint grade in our area...The Idea of mitering your crown needs to be considered. As delicate as MDF is...Its bound to break, just getting it from the saw table to the wall inside the house. Also You cannot spring fit MDF crown very well without the fibers busting out of the cope.
Issues with "Out of square" corners can be corrected in a miter not an issue. Tighten up your degrees a bit to close them up. Also properly glueing, shimming and/or getting a biscuit in the cut, will keep it just as tight and strong.
Again I do agree with the author...I would always prefer to cope to spring the crown in tight...(Just to clarify we are talking about crown molding. Baseboards, chair rails etc..all cope out great in MDF)
With a company named "Mitre Contracting" One would think they would utilize that technique, as there is a place for it.

[Roger]

In over 30 years, I could count on one hand the number of times I have installed MDF crown moulding. I will virtually always spec out (for paint grade) a FJ or clear pine or poplar moulding. I have actually declined contracts with builders that utilize all MDF mouldings. Maybe I have been lucky to be able to steer clear of it for so long. I am seeing it becoming more poplar these last few years... especially in larger more intricate crowns.

My little blog about coping mouldings... I was not at all considering MDF. It is something I never use, will advise my clients against using, and more than likely... never will. You are correct in that it is almost impossible to try and cope the stuff and spring in the crown without messing it up. My blog was not meant to be an all encompassing treatise on all mouldings and installation procedures. I was just spouting off on the fact that almost no one around here even knows how to cope... crown or any other moulding for that matter.

I still stand behind everything I state...wholeheartedly. And naming my company Mitre Contracting, doesn't mean that I have to "mitre" all my mouldings. I agree there is a place for mitering... and I stated that in the original blog posting.