How to Install Ogee

Measure the length of the walls you want to decorate with the ogee. Record the exact lengths of each span. Draw a small diagram of the room, complete with measurements.

Shop for the actual ogee crown molding at a large hardware or lumber store. Almost all of these stores will have saws on-site to make your cuts for length, as well as your angled cuts. When you select the ogee style you like best, have a salesperson assist you in getting your pieces cut. If you have your measurements and diagrams with you, give them to the salesperson when explaining what you want; it should make this process go much faster.

Run the stud finder along the length of the walls that you plan to decorate with molding. Use a pencil to mark the location of each stud about 6 inches below the ceiling; this is low enough that it won't be obscured by the molding, but high enough to be useful in judging where to drive in the nails.

Examine each board of ogee, measuring if necessary, to determine which piece goes with which wall. Lay them around the room next to the walls where they will be installed so that they won't get mixed up.

Stand on a stepladder and have another person help you hold the pieces of ogee in the corners where the walls meet the ceiling. Fastening one board at a time, nail the pieces of ogee directly into the wall. Drive one nail into each stud, using the pencil marks you made earlier to determine placement.

Fill in any gaps in the corner joints with wood putty using a putty knife. Smooth the putty as best as you can while it's still wet, then allow it to dry.

Sand down the wood putty as needed with a fine grit sandpaper.