Are you wondering how much it costs to paint your crown molding?
You’ve come to the right place!
In this ProPaintCorner.com guide, you’ll learn:
- The typical cost of DIY painting your crown molding
- How to save money when painting crown molding
- How much it usually costs to hire a professional vs doing it yourself
- The estimated cost of labor and supplies to paint and install crown molding
And much more!
So, if you want to learn how much you should plan on spending to paint crown molding, then keep reading our cost guide for all our tips and insights below!
How Much Does Installing And Painting Crown Molding Cost?
Truthfully, crown molding installation and painting will vary greatly depending on your individual project.
Not only will the installation cost vary depending on the square footage of your home, but it will also depend on whether you're going to DIY the installation and painting of your crown molding or whether you want to hire a professional painting company.
If you decide to got the DIY route, you'll need to factor in the costs of things like renting a miter saw, a nail gun, caulk, and a variety of other material costs.
If you're handy at carpentry and you've taken on home improvement projects like this in the past, you may have some of the supplies on hand already and that'll drive down your total cost for the project.
However, keep in mind that installing crown molding is a bit of an undertaking.
While it can add value to your home and spruce up a recent remodel to a great degree, it does require quite a bit more work than a typical DIY project.
You can change the total cost, however, by choosing the type of crown molding you use carefully and being watchful of the type of materials you use.
For example, mdf crown molding (medium-density fiberboard like the stuff you get at IKEA) is going to be much cheaper thana high-end solid wood crown molding.
That said, if you decide to go with professional installation for your crown molding, you'll save a lot of time, but you'll likely pay more to get it done.
Now that that's out of the way, let's break down the typical project costs of installing and painting crown molding based on all of these factors.
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Average Cost To Install Crown Molding If You DIY?
If you're handy at home improvement and you think you can tackle a DIY remodeling project, you're probably about to save yourself quite a bit of money!
That said, I'm going to price everything out based on the assumption that you'll need to buy all of the materials and tools to get the job done, just so you can get a better idea of the total cost involved.
Typically when installing crown molding, you'll need basic supplies like sandpaper for sanding, paint for whatever color you want your crown molding to be.
You'll likely also need to pick up a miter saw or coping saw for cutting the crown molding material, a nail gun for installing crown molding on your wall, and potentially caulking or wood putty to fill in any holes or gaps you may encounter.
Aside from that, you'll need the actual crown molding material itself, and crown molding prices can vary widely depending on the quality you decide to go with.
Wood molding is your best bet for avoiding warping, but it'll set you back more than mdf will.
But, if you want to get even fancier with it and go with exotic woods for your crown molding, make sure you add that on to your final price estimates.
Below, I'll walk through an itemized list of the typical costs of the carpentry and painting supplies you'll need so you can get a sense of how much your crown molding project might cost:
- Drop Cloths - $10
- Painter's Tape - $7
- Sandpaper - $10
- Caulking - $8
- Caulking Gun - $12
- Wood Putty - $8
- Paint Tray - $6
- Paint Brushes (For Detailing) - $10
- Miter Saw (rental) - $48/day
- Miter Saw (to purchase) - $140-500
- Nail Gun (rental) - $39/day
- Nail Gun (to purchase) - $60
- Disposable Painter's Masks - $20
- Safety Goggles - $12
- 1 Gallon of Self-Priming Paint - $36
This isn't necessarily an exact list and there might be a few other items you'll need here or there, but it's a good idea of the material costs you're looking at for a DIY crown molding.
It also doesn't factor in the actual cost of the crown molding material because, as I mentioned above, that will depend greatly on the material you choose to use.
Just keep in mind that depending on the number of linear feet you're working with, your project costs might go up.
For instance, if you're just doing your living room, it might not cost much. However, if you're looking to redo all the crown molding and the baseboards and everything in the entire house, it's going to be much pricier.
That said, the estimated total cost of supplies for installing and painting crown molding is:
$225 - $600
This range is based on the assumption that you'll need to buy all the supplies on this list and either rent or purchase a compound miter saw and nail gun to get the job done.
While of course, it'd be cheapest to only need a miter saw and nail gun for one day each, it's best to assume you'll need them longer than that just to be sure you stay within your budget.
There are also more ways to save money on these items, but I'll go over that more towards the end of this article.
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Average Cost Of Crown Molding Installation With Professional Installers?
Now let's talk about how much it'll cost you to hire a professional painting company to install crown molding for you.
One thing to note here is that every professional painting company prices their work differently and charges different rates.
For the sake of this article, I'll price this out based on the national average cost for installing crown molding per linear foot which ranges from $1-$3.5 per linear foot.
But, just remember, if you're hiring someone to install crown molding for you, it will greatly depend on the size and scale of the job at hand.
That's because the longer the project takes, the higher the labor costs for the painting company, so if you're asking for a more high end or complex finish, anticipate your total cost to be on the higher end of the range.
That said, the national average cost for hiring a professional painter to install crown molding in your home is between $500 - $1,800.
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How Can You Save Money When Installing Crown Molding Yourself?
Lucky for you, if you decide to go the DIY route there are several things you can do to lower your material costs, even if you go with good quality crown molding material and high-quality paint.
Types of Crown Molding Material
One of the best ways to save money is to choose the type of crown molding material wisely.
Obviously, if you choose to go with exotic, solid wood crown molding, your project costs will be much higher.
So, if you're still determined to create a beautiful effect with your crown molding on a budget, I'd opt for mdf and a really nice paint to cover it. Truthfully, no one will really be able to tell the difference.
It's still going to add value to your home and make your remodel look like it's high end, but it'll cut out a great deal of the material costs for the project. This is especially true if you're a newbie to home improvement because if you make a mistake with a piece of solid wood crown molding and need to buy more, it'll cost that much more to fix in the end.
Renting vs. Buying Supplies
Did you know you can actually rent certain painting supplies rather than having to buy them?
Most Home Depot stores and Lowe's stores have a rental program where you can rent out certain painting and home improvement supplies.
So if you know you'll only need those supplies for this particular project, that can be a much more cost-effective way to get the things you need.
Here's another thing that blew my mind when I learned it: some libraries rent out basic home improvement supplies!
Check with your local library to see if they have any tools like paint rollers and paint trays on hand that you can borrow.
That'll save you lots of money on your painting project and you'll still be able to get the job done right.
Obviously, the cheapest route here is to see if any of your friends and family have some painting supplies they could lend you for the day.
Also, if you do decide to rent a miter saw or nail gun, make sure you're absolutely ready to work with that tool that day.
Measure all your boards and mark them in advance so all you need to do is cut them.
Paint them all in advance and let them dry so all you need to do is nail them to the wall.
This can be the difference between paying per hour and paying per day, which can lead to big cost savings!
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Sales And Scavenged Materials
Another way you could try to save money on material costs is to wait until your hardware store runs a sale on the material you're looking to buy.
While this can be rare, it does still happen occasionally and can save you quite a bit of cash.
You can also look at something like a Habitat for Humanity ReStore where they usually offer discounted building materials that are leftover from their charity job sites.
One final way to save big money is to find used materials on places like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist where people post their leftover materials at heavy discounts. You might get lucky and find a whole bunch of leftover crown molding that just needs to be recut and painted!
Final Thoughts On Installing Crown Molding
Now that we've broken down the individual costs for installing and painting crown molding, these cost estimates should give you a good idea of the total costs you're looking at.
While every home improvement project is different, knowing the range of costs before you start is always helpful so you can find all the areas of the budget that you can cut back on.
Plus, it can help you decide whether you want to hire a professional contractor to help you avoid the time-consuming undertaking of doing it yourself.
No matter how you decide to get your new crown molding installed, I wish you the best of luck on your project.
As always, happy painting!
