Coving on an angled ceiling.

But I will anyway!

I have just finished a bathroom ceiling and want to use a very narrow coving strip all round. The problem is the eaves are low so the ceiling slopes at 35 degrees (approximately!) along one wall. This means the joint is at about 125 degrees meaning normal coving strip meant for a 90-degree won't fit and can't even be bodged into place. I could just leave the join as is, but has anyone come across anything, such as a thin strip, that I could use.

Neil

Perhaps time to revisit traditional methods ?

MichaelG.

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https://www.oldhouseonline.com/repairs-and-how-to/knife-and-mould-plaster-technique-explained/

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 23/02/2023 14:54:24

Why not machine a timber strip?

Just run your wall tiles upto the ceiling, no one wants Cove these days

But if you must could you just make up an "L" shaped trim from flat strips, 90 deg for those walls and just angle cut one strip where the ceiling meets the wall at the 125deg angle

Edited By JasonB on 23/02/2023 14:54:44

Neil does.

My coving is about 4in on each flat side. I assume it is plaster based. So it might have been possible to machine the back off to the angle if the depth of the 3rd side curve is not too deep. Borderline in my case.

You could possibly use a strip of flexi-ply comes in various thickness and the sheets various sizes are designed to bend either the short way or the long way. Two bits glued together will become rigid.

Likewise a couple of layers of styrene sheet glued together would become rigid. Would need some sort of jig/former to hold it to the desired angle for gluing. 

Or the double glazing industry uses a multitude of different trims and sections in UPVC with a foam inner, I used these as a skirting (about 50mm wide) in my bathroom easy to glue, no painting or finishing.

John

Edit: Add a bit

Edited By Journeyman on 23/02/2023 15:40:51

like Michael said - do it properly and just use plaster. make yourself a a form tool ( in 1/8" plywood) of the radius you want. Slap up a good load of plaster and drag the form tool over it. let it set a little bit and refine the form once again but this time use a flat trowel like in this video - Be brave my son !

Plaster curves

Unless I’m missing something which is possible, don’t you just need some fancy corner bosses square but wider than the coving with a nice finial end pointing down. That gives you something to butt up against without having to do mitres. Make them out of wood with the fancy end turned in the lathe.

I do have a fancy gauge somewhere, which I’ve never used, that has two arms which you clamp pieces of cove to and then present to the wall. Digital angle gauges give you a readout so you can set your table saw up to do compound angles and it cuts the ends perfectly. That one only works with flat ceilings though.

The alternative is scribed joints.

One other trick that looks quite nice is to cut the ends in a scallop with the same curve as the cove so as to leave the top edge longer. This works when you run up to something that isn’t being coved like a cooker extract. Much better than just butting up which looks less finished.

regards Martin

Hi Neil,

I had some Poplar machined up once to a coving section for our Bathroom and Hallway. Standard coving was just too deep and it looked out of place. While the bathroom was no problem. The hallway has a dogleg wall. To get this to fit the convex and concave curves. I cut into the back of the coving at regular intervals which allowed the wood to flex and follow the curve.

In the lounge on the opposite side of the hallway the standard plaster coving was treated in exactly the same way.

This technique will work for you downward sloping ceiling.

Regards

Gray,

The guy who did my mums "sharps" wardrobe would run a bit of shaped wood around the entire job and you'd barely see the join as it ran perfectly along the original wavy victorian plaster wall

I think guys like him built the pyramids

cost her an arm and a leg tho

Neil it is possible to purchase coving without the 90 degree angle. It is flat on the inside and moulded on the customer facing side the two edges butting up to the ceiling. Google is your friend, but i can't work out how to paste the link.PM me if you wish.

Robert Butler

Try UK Home Interiors

Robert Butler

Edited By Robert Butler on 23/02/2023 21:05:43

I recall my mum and dad using rolls of coving card. Essentially a cheap, stiffish card with a compressed/shaped edge above and below. One edge of a length was glued to a line on the ceiling, then the card was bowed inwards for the curve and the second edge glued to the wall line.

I also recall a tile warehouse where some chappie re-created plaster ceiling mouldings in long trays - presumably from a mould of an undamaged section of the original. The mouldings were then stuck in place. I regret not paying more attention now but I'd guess for an amateur it’d be easier to shape lengths on a bench than on the ceiling.

pgk