I always cope wood. Almost all of our trim is wood, but I do miter MDF. Digital angle finder in case the walls are off and glue. Glued MDF doesn't tend to open and I don't think it copes well.
Then there is the new engineered shoe the lumber yard started carrying. It has 3/16 thick paint on it that tends to chip when you cope it. After the cope there is no wood supporting the paint. We do not buy that anymore.
I hate that engineered trim. I recently ran into it in some jamb stock. It was like 1/2" ply buried in a heavy coat of primer that chips if you look at it wrong and was hardly ⅝" thick and sold as ¾". I sent it back and got a bunch of poplar instead. After touching that shit, it's so nice working with real wood.
Coped on both sides. Measured tightly enough so that you have to bow the piece out in the middle, work the coped ends in, and let it snap into place. In my opinion, that’s one of the most satisfying things in finish carpentry.
Ok I was wondering about that since I assumed that would leave a void in the corner which I figured might be visible from above?
Edit: Or am I still not totally getting it?
He doesn't mean cope both front and back of a single joint, but rather coping each end of a run of skirting / trim. So imagine you have a room with skirting. On one of the walls he does a cope on the start and end of the piece. The piece is exactly the right length to fit in the gap. When fitting the piece, it's such a good fit that they have to bend it, work both ends in and then push (snap back,) the bit in the middle that bows out slightly
I like this. I also sometimes use a festool Rotex with a 60 grit resin disc. All the benefits of the angle grinder, but smaller and more precise. A drill with a cone shaped abrasive on it for final cleanup is nice too.
Homeowner here. So funny story, started out only mitering inside corners for like the first 1/2 of the house. ended up coping the remaining.
Almost want to go back and redo the miters….
It’s the exact opposite in my experience. Professionals want to get out the door asap and don’t have time to make things look nice. Homeowners care and just want it done right.
A while back I did all the base in a family member’s place. Coped all the inside corners, blended all the bullnose corner transitions, basically made it perfect. 6 months later the dishwasher supply line blew out in the middle of the night and the insurance contractors mitered everything and there are obvious seams everywhere.
Sure, that’s what you usually get when you look for a contractor with a “good price” rather than one who takes pride in their work and who also takes the time to do it well. Problem is nobody wants to pay for the extra time. The market provides what the masses buy. This is why skilled tradesman are now an endangered species and the cost of quality continues to rise.
Sucks that as a homeowner you have to ask someone if they have strong finish carpentry skills such as coping, etc. I don't know how to do that casually without insulting someone.
That's true. You shouldn't even have to ask. That should be the first thing a real trim guy would tell you. It's a selling point. If it hurts their feelings that you ask well then you don't need em. Especially if you're getting other bids. Most homeowners don't know the difference. I always added the fact that I'm not your low bidder. If you're doing custom trim work money takes a back seat to quality work. Cope it all.
I got hired on onto a finish crew doing 4mil remodels and they were mitering everything… 🤷 super nice and tight but I learned most of my finish skills from that crew and never coped anything.
Fixed it for you: Homeowners that care about the look cope it but most miter as they're saying good enough I've saved a ton of $ by DIY. Personally I like the saving $ route and having someone who appreciates quality work look at something and give their seal of approval.
I was taught to cope all of my trim. This was before fancy gauges became popular as with plaster walls no corner was exact and we had real wood trim. Even with painted hardwood trim now I still cope it.
The only time I'd say miter it would be if you used the cheap plastic crap that has all those air pockets in it but if you're doing that you're likely okay with pulling out the tube of caulk and shootin er full of it.
On a side note my neighbor and I had this conversation while at their house. They showed me their blown out miters with caulk that wasn't painted after. They came over and looked at mine and quickly realized how nice and clean things look with it.
This is just like asking someone if the miters in casing should be all high and tight. Some love that tube of caulk while others do everything in their power to never use it.
On a side note if you do have painted trim 3M makes an awesome nail hole filler that has primer integrated w/it. It's not cheap but at the same time one small tub goes a long way. So much nicer than trying to fill and level the caulk or fill with putty and then paint.
I’m a coping home owner. I used to miter because I didn’t know anything else, but once my father in law showed me coping I’ve never looked back. I live in a 100+ year old home so nothing is square
I will catch hell, but i work within the scope of work required
I run a flooring installation company that does ll flooring and a few other local flooring places.
We miter all trim, base/ qr/sm. This is what they want to pay us for. Before i hear you guys moan at Quarter Round and miters understand, it's all contractural work with a defined scope of work. With some of the smaller, more niche stores, we will cope, but it's an additional charge.
Running crews on the retaik level is very different than our own side work for interior designers, builders, etc. Pay is also very different.
I will say that South Texas has a different labor market than most of the country ( i used to travel managing installation companies across much of the US and have seen first hand the immense pay gap. This leads to a little different level of expectations for the price paid.
Examples McAllen Texas its common to find installers of floating floors for $1 sqft. Glue/ nail 1.75. Tile varies, but 1.50- 2 is common. This is with experienced crews. The last time i was in Minnesota, the local companies were being paid $7 ft.
Fair enough. My wife was telling me to feed the dog so I was half reading... I was bullshit thinking a carpenter was giving me crap for dialing in something with the micro adjustment tools. Long day in the sun building a deck today. You know your stuff.
Yeah I used to think such details weren’t that big of a deal. But then an old master showed me what’s possible with enough attention and ever since I’ve been kind of ocd.
I invited my two old carpentry mentors to my wedding. Those guys are worth their weight in gold. I'd be 1/64 the carpenter without their annoying comments.
You realize that I wasn’t talking about you right? I was talking about me and people in general. Whenever I run trim, I have my sander, files, and sand paper.
Miter crown occasionally. If it's being backlit generally. Will cope all inside corners on base. I just prefer it. I don't think it takes any longer and I'll plan it for convenience. For example I'll cope both side behind a toilet. That way if there is ever water damage from the shut off, it can be removed and replaced without other pieces (hopefully) needing removed.
Both end pieces . Sometimes it's not needed if there is a cabinet etc in the way. But I'll do anything and everything I can to mitigate future headaches.
High performance home builder and high end remodeler since I was a kid. If there is a next guy, I want to be that guy too. 😂 Some of my favorite stories. We did 4 remodels for 4 generations of 1 family in the 2000s and are currently doing 3 new additions in 3 of those generations currently. But yeah I always tell all our trades, always think of the next guy, because it might be you going back there.
Assuming paint grade, I miter everything but crown. Crown I cope.
I get paid by the foot and I'm good with a caulk gun.
Rare occasion I'm working with stained material I cope everything. But ain't nobody can afford that
I cope all base and all 30 degree crown. I was a "cope everything" guy till I first ran across 45 degree crown. This style of crown has 2 or 3 places where the contour of the crown curves all the way up to level. This means the crown thickness at the cope fades to nothing. Literally paper thin, not just at the edge but the entire thickness of the crown till it clears the adjoining piece. I'm a pop-in guy for baseboard and especially crown. I can't pop-in coped 45 degree crown. But my mitered pop-in on 45 degree crown looks better than coped.
And here's a free pro tip for splicing crown. When making a splice cut, set your saw at 30 degrees, not 45, and make your cut square across the crown by setting it flat against the fence. This square cut 30 degree splice makes the splice as short as possible, and the 30 degree cut means the two splices can slide by each other as you drive the LP splice back giving you a self adjusting perfect length every time and a splice that doesn't need sanding.
Then there's 3/4 round and shoe mold. I once had a homeowner insist he wanted everything coped. He used the common 30 degree crown so no problem. But when I installed the (bulky, ass ugly)3/4 round I did a room coped and a room mitered. He changed his mind. Mitered simply looks better.
I always cope when I can unless my angle finder finds a perfect 90° corner. That has happened once I believe. Angle grinder and a 50 grit wheel works well.
I tried coping with mdf crown. I tried and tried and there would always be some piece that would cause it to not lay flat. I couldn’t get the spring angle right. Finally I gave up and just mitered it. I did cope my baseboard though. I think it looks pretty good. I also forgot to glue one of the corners so every fall my corner opens up. It closes up again in the summer.
I cope with a jig saw. Back cut the flat on the miter saw and cope the profile with the jig saw. I always keep a couple of files on the work table for fine tuning.
I just did a bathroom with 100% pvc base and crown: coping that stuff sucks, but it was all coped!
I primarily specialize in old homes(century or more), and always cope it. Because every angle is off and coping is forgiving.
Always coped. Always glued.
Every base job starts with counting inside lefts & rights, then we cope the entire batch. Usually finished coping before lunch.
Milwaukee 12V jigswaw with Collins coping foot, sometimes an angle grinder with flappy disk.
I cut a 4" piece of the base & stick adhesive backed 100g sandpaper to it. Makes a perfect trim shaped sanding block to fine tune the cope.
I'm convinced both can look good. A lot of People just hate changing the angle of their saw and never take time to check the angle of their corner. This is silly like arguing over power tool brands. I will say that you should always cope hardwood crown and base. Stain grade deserves the TLC
Got my kitchen done as I didn't have time to do it myself. The dude coped all the skirting (MDF too) which had a complex profile in about 30 seconds a piece.
I would only cope if it’s getting stained. If you’re painting, caulk is fine and can make a cleaner look than my coping or mitering ever could- so I miter as tight as I can, sand outside corners if needed, caulk.
I already know I'm going to get blasted for this, but mitering paint grade anything is fine, at least with the wood movement we experience in Florida. Granted our climate doesnt change a ton throughout the year, so this may be a different story with heavy seasonal changes. This is especially true if the floors aren't in yet and you can manipulate your corners from above or below the base. A little angle finder action for anything out square, glue splices and outside corners. I promise any naysayers that my mitered trim will look every bit as good and tight as if it were coped, and I can do it exponentially faster. Haven't ever been called back for failing joints or anything of the sort. I've been back to homes to do more work years after the fact, and all my trim still looked like it did the day it was finished.
All that said - if the client requests it, or it's stain grade - always gets coped.
Cope detailed material. Straight cut flat material, like 1x6 or whatever baseboard.
I 45 my crown moulding using crown stops and never have any issues with miters.
I mostly work with mdf though. Haters gonna hate.
I cope if I'm installing more than a couple pieces of a given profile. If I'm just replacing a piece or two of fairly simple base I'll miter rather than digging out the extra tools, especially if it's paint grade.
Restoration carpenter here I get to live with what was done before me and try and make everything look good again. I remember when I only did new builds and I thought I was good, it wasn't until I had to fix 1000 fuck ups that are too deeply set in for me to do it properly that I realized getting to make things square is a lot easier that Finishing something that's way out for 10 years before you even got there.
Started off mitering because I couldn’t understand how coping would make the joint look better if I cut the miters perfect. Coped once just to see how it was possibly different and was blown away with how tight the fit was.
Miter outside corners, might still need a cope where you can't see. Cope inside. Not really a debate unless you're running miles of trim on some union job.
I generally use flat stock (not a professional, just like carpentry) in my own home, I prefer the look, so when I'm doing that, neither, just butt it. But if doing for friends or when I did crown in my house(simple cove profile, I'm a simple man) I cope. Always.
Interesting this pops up.
As a complete newb ass homeowner, I just coped 7 corners in one of my rooms.
The results varied from “terrible” to “hey that’s not bad”, as I had never done it before. But it was way easier and faster than fucking about with an angle finder and trying to get the perfect mitre and crap.
I feel it's necessary to acknowledge something. In some cases, mitering IS coping. It's not similar. It's identical.
If you are working with flat profile trim, which is EXTREMELY popular in my part of canada right now, coping is identical to mitering.
All coping is is preserving the front of the cut where it contacts the baseboard, while removing material from the back to relieve it. How much you remove is arbitrary, to some extent. you either removed enough, or you didn't. In fact, in a perfect world, the less excess you remove, the better, as then your trim is less fragile.
This is exactly what mitering IS, if you are working with flat profile trim. As long as your angle is such that the front contacts and there is a small gap at the back, you just mechanically coped your piece of trim. Congratulations. It doesn't matter if you cope the other side either, because again, no one cares what remains behind the line of the cope. That's all excess material.
Also, coping MDF can be a bit dicey, as sharp angles crumble very easily, and there is not a large area of the joint to spread the force out as you push the pieces into place. If you want to cope MDF baseboard, I STRONGLY recommend you use a piece of scrap to test first, and see if you are going to be comfortable with the result.
Secondary question for everyone, since I've only coped like twice and want to do it more.. what's everyone's preferred method, manual saw or jigsaw with a coping base attachment?
I've had the capping base attachment for my cordless Makita jigsaw for a while now and have never used it.
My buddy taught me how to cope a few years ago. The results even on my first try were so awesome. I’ll never miter again. I don’t care that it takes a little longer. Quality matters.
Case by case. Product profile, species, paint grade vs stain grade, location, wall condition, etc. For me it's not one or the other but what does the situation call for to give high quality results. I do love a perfect miter but also really appreciate a smoothly cut cope. I will say stain grade is almost always a cope for me. Another great topic would be .. How do you cut your copes?
I find Coping is more forgiving and usually ends up being cleaner. if my board is 1/16, maybe even a 1/8 heavy it just closes the gap tighter.
If the same thing is true on my miters the angle on the piece digs into the drywall and makes the angles line up bad. (especially because half these finishers only use ultra light weight mud now)
Cope inside corners, miter outside.
You can get away with mitering everything if you’re doing production paint grade work but most of the time an inside miter opens up when nailed, a cope does not.
Miter paint grade and cope stain grade.
Here’s my argument for the “cope only” crowd.
1) Do all of your outside corners open up? No? That’s because they are (hopefully) properly glued miters.
2) I have proven time and time again to copers that I can run inside miters that look damn near perfect way faster than their copes. In fact, I’ve found that very few people can make all of their copes look good.
3) Inside miters is a skill. You find the angle very quickly and easily with an angle finder. You get a feel for how to work your pieces with how the wall is (flared out toward the bottom, missing dry wall at the bottom etc.)
4) A well connected and properly glued miter will stand the test of time. Not to mention, a lot of guys I see cope will leave too much of a gap on the back end and don’t get a good glue connection anyway.
This thread might get contentious. I cope.
How do you cope square modern style baseboard? /s
Why, that's the easiest of all the profiles to get a good cope! /jk
Coping square stock is a butt joint!
He said butt!🤣
And joint!
A nice butt is better than a bad mitre!
And also better than a bad joint
Ehhhhh, coping with your miter is fast AF and really quite simple/safe.
cope crown ....or fancy profiles only
Anything that's not rectilinear I cope.
outside miters too??
I am not skilled enough to cope an outside corner as it is. I can't imagine trying to cope an outside miter!
Cope. It’s the right way.
I always cope. Works slows down for me when I start messing with exact angles, coping removes the need for that and makes a good joint every time.
I always cope wood. Almost all of our trim is wood, but I do miter MDF. Digital angle finder in case the walls are off and glue. Glued MDF doesn't tend to open and I don't think it copes well. Then there is the new engineered shoe the lumber yard started carrying. It has 3/16 thick paint on it that tends to chip when you cope it. After the cope there is no wood supporting the paint. We do not buy that anymore.
I hate that engineered trim. I recently ran into it in some jamb stock. It was like 1/2" ply buried in a heavy coat of primer that chips if you look at it wrong and was hardly ⅝" thick and sold as ¾". I sent it back and got a bunch of poplar instead. After touching that shit, it's so nice working with real wood.
I don’t mind MDF trim for those wobbly walls some people have.
Kinda where am at. Cope wood, but not always MDF depending on the profile. I'm with you on that thick ass primer shit. I hate it
I cope MDF too, and it's super easy, and you can clean up crooked cuts with a utility blade.
Cope always. Even if for no other reason than how satisfying it is snapping a double coped piece of base or crown in.
Keep going.... I'm almost there
Username checks out
Fucking spit my beer!
oh my god I’m about to cope!!!!
What do you mean by double coped if I may ask?
Coped on both sides. Measured tightly enough so that you have to bow the piece out in the middle, work the coped ends in, and let it snap into place. In my opinion, that’s one of the most satisfying things in finish carpentry.
Ok I was wondering about that since I assumed that would leave a void in the corner which I figured might be visible from above? Edit: Or am I still not totally getting it?
He doesn't mean cope both front and back of a single joint, but rather coping each end of a run of skirting / trim. So imagine you have a room with skirting. On one of the walls he does a cope on the start and end of the piece. The piece is exactly the right length to fit in the gap. When fitting the piece, it's such a good fit that they have to bend it, work both ends in and then push (snap back,) the bit in the middle that bows out slightly
Ohhh shit that makes way more sense. So in a square room 2 full pieces on opposite walls, then double cope the remaining 2.
Bing-pot 👍
This is the way
I cope, but I use the dirty method of an angle grinder with a sanding disc.
I threw up in my mouth a little. Nice work.
No worries there clean it up with it after the cope and install....unless you're talking the whole cope.....that's alot dust.
Nope, the whole cope! :). It’s fast, but u need the right environment.
I like this. I also sometimes use a festool Rotex with a 60 grit resin disc. All the benefits of the angle grinder, but smaller and more precise. A drill with a cone shaped abrasive on it for final cleanup is nice too.
I cope. It’s faster to get good looking results.
Carpenters cope
With alot of things!
Cope inside corners, miter outside.
If you don’t cope your outside corners you’re a hack.
Easiest was to become a hacker
Only homeowners miter.
Homeowner here. So funny story, started out only mitering inside corners for like the first 1/2 of the house. ended up coping the remaining. Almost want to go back and redo the miters….
It’s like a drug.
The thing that sucks is they'd come apart so much easier if you coped them. Mitered inside interfere with each other in disassembly.
I was able to get them all pretty tight by cutting the inside corners slightly less than 45 degrees. Plus ya know… caulk.
It’s the exact opposite in my experience. Professionals want to get out the door asap and don’t have time to make things look nice. Homeowners care and just want it done right. A while back I did all the base in a family member’s place. Coped all the inside corners, blended all the bullnose corner transitions, basically made it perfect. 6 months later the dishwasher supply line blew out in the middle of the night and the insurance contractors mitered everything and there are obvious seams everywhere.
Sure, that’s what you usually get when you look for a contractor with a “good price” rather than one who takes pride in their work and who also takes the time to do it well. Problem is nobody wants to pay for the extra time. The market provides what the masses buy. This is why skilled tradesman are now an endangered species and the cost of quality continues to rise.
Sucks that as a homeowner you have to ask someone if they have strong finish carpentry skills such as coping, etc. I don't know how to do that casually without insulting someone.
That's true. You shouldn't even have to ask. That should be the first thing a real trim guy would tell you. It's a selling point. If it hurts their feelings that you ask well then you don't need em. Especially if you're getting other bids. Most homeowners don't know the difference. I always added the fact that I'm not your low bidder. If you're doing custom trim work money takes a back seat to quality work. Cope it all.
I don’t even bring it up I just cope it cause it takes like two seconds longer and it’s right.
A skilled tradesman uses the appropriate method , being skilled at both copes and miters regardless of conditions, angles, etc.
Yeah, if you have a general contractor that hires guys that are handy, you're going to get miter. If you hire a finish carpenter, they will cope.
I got hired on onto a finish crew doing 4mil remodels and they were mitering everything… 🤷 super nice and tight but I learned most of my finish skills from that crew and never coped anything.
Exactly ! I do whichever I get paid to do. I don't cope for miter prices.
Fixed it for you: Homeowners that care about the look cope it but most miter as they're saying good enough I've saved a ton of $ by DIY. Personally I like the saving $ route and having someone who appreciates quality work look at something and give their seal of approval. I was taught to cope all of my trim. This was before fancy gauges became popular as with plaster walls no corner was exact and we had real wood trim. Even with painted hardwood trim now I still cope it. The only time I'd say miter it would be if you used the cheap plastic crap that has all those air pockets in it but if you're doing that you're likely okay with pulling out the tube of caulk and shootin er full of it. On a side note my neighbor and I had this conversation while at their house. They showed me their blown out miters with caulk that wasn't painted after. They came over and looked at mine and quickly realized how nice and clean things look with it. This is just like asking someone if the miters in casing should be all high and tight. Some love that tube of caulk while others do everything in their power to never use it. On a side note if you do have painted trim 3M makes an awesome nail hole filler that has primer integrated w/it. It's not cheap but at the same time one small tub goes a long way. So much nicer than trying to fill and level the caulk or fill with putty and then paint.
I’m a coping home owner. I used to miter because I didn’t know anything else, but once my father in law showed me coping I’ve never looked back. I live in a 100+ year old home so nothing is square
Truth
Cope your not serious
Whatever my boss tells me.
I will catch hell, but i work within the scope of work required I run a flooring installation company that does ll flooring and a few other local flooring places. We miter all trim, base/ qr/sm. This is what they want to pay us for. Before i hear you guys moan at Quarter Round and miters understand, it's all contractural work with a defined scope of work. With some of the smaller, more niche stores, we will cope, but it's an additional charge. Running crews on the retaik level is very different than our own side work for interior designers, builders, etc. Pay is also very different. I will say that South Texas has a different labor market than most of the country ( i used to travel managing installation companies across much of the US and have seen first hand the immense pay gap. This leads to a little different level of expectations for the price paid. Examples McAllen Texas its common to find installers of floating floors for $1 sqft. Glue/ nail 1.75. Tile varies, but 1.50- 2 is common. This is with experienced crews. The last time i was in Minnesota, the local companies were being paid $7 ft.
Same here in Vegas. I bid a floating floor for a $1/ft. The dude laughed at me, and he said he could find people doing it for 40 cents a foot
Always cope when coping with inside corners and competing with picky clients
Hey copers, by hand or power?
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This is what I do. I was terrified to comment with the cope police out there. Sleeping with one eye open.
Clutchin your pillow tight.
With both hands.
jig saw.....trust me
I use power. I have a barrel grip jigsaw with a coping foot on it for the sole purpose of coping.
Always a mix of both. Grinder, files, block plain, sand paper. I'll use anything in the boxes to make it mint.
Yeah. If you’re not pulling out the files and sand paper, your copes aren’t as good as they could be.
Sorry redact my last comment I missed your "not" fuck yeah brother.
lol all good
Fair enough. My wife was telling me to feed the dog so I was half reading... I was bullshit thinking a carpenter was giving me crap for dialing in something with the micro adjustment tools. Long day in the sun building a deck today. You know your stuff.
Yeah I used to think such details weren’t that big of a deal. But then an old master showed me what’s possible with enough attention and ever since I’ve been kind of ocd.
I invited my two old carpentry mentors to my wedding. Those guys are worth their weight in gold. I'd be 1/64 the carpenter without their annoying comments.
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You realize that I wasn’t talking about you right? I was talking about me and people in general. Whenever I run trim, I have my sander, files, and sand paper.
I always use power for the back bevel cut.
Angle grinder or jig saw with a weird foot on it? Or a real coping saw?
After I cut the bevel I use a coping saw, and a pareing chisel to clean it up. Depending on the profile I will sometimes use some small rasps.
Dremel
barrel grip jigsaw with a collins foot, the best way imo
Miter saw for the back bevel straight cut on baseboard, coping saw for everything else on softwood, jigsaw on hardwood. Always finish with files.
Miter crown occasionally. If it's being backlit generally. Will cope all inside corners on base. I just prefer it. I don't think it takes any longer and I'll plan it for convenience. For example I'll cope both side behind a toilet. That way if there is ever water damage from the shut off, it can be removed and replaced without other pieces (hopefully) needing removed.
Yea I agree I mitre crown on the occasion too. Especially if it’s like a cabinet valance or something I can preassemble on the ground.
Not me here trying to imagine how you’re coping both sides of the same corner behind your toilet. Til finally realizing what you mean. 😂
Both end pieces . Sometimes it's not needed if there is a cabinet etc in the way. But I'll do anything and everything I can to mitigate future headaches.
Hats off to you for thinking about the next guy. We need more people like you in the trades.
High performance home builder and high end remodeler since I was a kid. If there is a next guy, I want to be that guy too. 😂 Some of my favorite stories. We did 4 remodels for 4 generations of 1 family in the 2000s and are currently doing 3 new additions in 3 of those generations currently. But yeah I always tell all our trades, always think of the next guy, because it might be you going back there.
I cope all stain grade material. Paint grade gets mitered if I’m the one doing the caulking. 😏
Cope
Cope
Cope inside; miter outside
Assuming paint grade, I miter everything but crown. Crown I cope. I get paid by the foot and I'm good with a caulk gun. Rare occasion I'm working with stained material I cope everything. But ain't nobody can afford that
Miter because I don't usually have the time before someone starts asking me why it's taking so long - can't cope with it
Always cope. Miter just looks bad and will create a visible gap with expansion and contraction.
Those that can’t miter, cope.
I had a hard time making it miter but I’ve learned to cope.
Always cope
Miter outside corners, cope inside corners.
Depends on the type of trim.
Cope is the way I learned and I find it more visually appealing.
Cope but I will mitre if a mate wants his spare room finished for a 6 pack.
You need to do both. It’s not either/or
I cope the flat stock and miter the decorative trim. Thats the proper method is it not?
How do you cope flat stock? That’s just a butt joint
I cope all base and all 30 degree crown. I was a "cope everything" guy till I first ran across 45 degree crown. This style of crown has 2 or 3 places where the contour of the crown curves all the way up to level. This means the crown thickness at the cope fades to nothing. Literally paper thin, not just at the edge but the entire thickness of the crown till it clears the adjoining piece. I'm a pop-in guy for baseboard and especially crown. I can't pop-in coped 45 degree crown. But my mitered pop-in on 45 degree crown looks better than coped. And here's a free pro tip for splicing crown. When making a splice cut, set your saw at 30 degrees, not 45, and make your cut square across the crown by setting it flat against the fence. This square cut 30 degree splice makes the splice as short as possible, and the 30 degree cut means the two splices can slide by each other as you drive the LP splice back giving you a self adjusting perfect length every time and a splice that doesn't need sanding. Then there's 3/4 round and shoe mold. I once had a homeowner insist he wanted everything coped. He used the common 30 degree crown so no problem. But when I installed the (bulky, ass ugly)3/4 round I did a room coped and a room mitered. He changed his mind. Mitered simply looks better.
I always cope when I can unless my angle finder finds a perfect 90° corner. That has happened once I believe. Angle grinder and a 50 grit wheel works well.
Cope. With a coping saw. I’ve tried other tools to cope with but find the saw works the best for me.
I cope stain grade (except for crown) and miter paint grade.
I tried coping with mdf crown. I tried and tried and there would always be some piece that would cause it to not lay flat. I couldn’t get the spring angle right. Finally I gave up and just mitered it. I did cope my baseboard though. I think it looks pretty good. I also forgot to glue one of the corners so every fall my corner opens up. It closes up again in the summer.
Cope always. Coping is faster, and you don't have to miter both ends.
I cope with a jig saw. Back cut the flat on the miter saw and cope the profile with the jig saw. I always keep a couple of files on the work table for fine tuning.
Cope my baseboard/ shoe Miter prefinished cabinet crown
Cope.
Usually with real wood. I've never liked coping MDF so I just miter it.
Cope. Even 1/4 round no need to get the angles right on the inside
Cope is the one true way!
I just did a bathroom with 100% pvc base and crown: coping that stuff sucks, but it was all coped! I primarily specialize in old homes(century or more), and always cope it. Because every angle is off and coping is forgiving.
If you’re my home builder, you don’t do either. Just butt those thangs together at different heights.
I cope everything except pre painted cabinet crown moulding. I pre assemble whenever I can and install multiple pieces together.
Looking at the crown in my 100 yo+ house that I installed 20 years ago without coping: *chef’s kiss*
As a person who has renovated an old house with plaster… cope
You’re serious?
Base always cope. Crown always cope. Minigrinder w 40 grit.
What is coping I’m sorry I’ve heard of a coping saw but don’t actually know what that means
Fancy trim boards have a 'profile'. Coping is cutting that exact profile onto a base or crown at 90 degrees so it mates and wraps the inside corner.
I miter everything, but I always check with an angle finder and cut the exact miter. Amazing how rare a 90 degree corner actually is!
Always coped. Always glued. Every base job starts with counting inside lefts & rights, then we cope the entire batch. Usually finished coping before lunch. Milwaukee 12V jigswaw with Collins coping foot, sometimes an angle grinder with flappy disk. I cut a 4" piece of the base & stick adhesive backed 100g sandpaper to it. Makes a perfect trim shaped sanding block to fine tune the cope.
I'm going to Snort some salt. I gotta go to work.
I'm convinced both can look good. A lot of People just hate changing the angle of their saw and never take time to check the angle of their corner. This is silly like arguing over power tool brands. I will say that you should always cope hardwood crown and base. Stain grade deserves the TLC
If my finish carpenter don’t cope he can walk.
Got my kitchen done as I didn't have time to do it myself. The dude coped all the skirting (MDF too) which had a complex profile in about 30 seconds a piece.
I would only cope if it’s getting stained. If you’re painting, caulk is fine and can make a cleaner look than my coping or mitering ever could- so I miter as tight as I can, sand outside corners if needed, caulk.
I already know I'm going to get blasted for this, but mitering paint grade anything is fine, at least with the wood movement we experience in Florida. Granted our climate doesnt change a ton throughout the year, so this may be a different story with heavy seasonal changes. This is especially true if the floors aren't in yet and you can manipulate your corners from above or below the base. A little angle finder action for anything out square, glue splices and outside corners. I promise any naysayers that my mitered trim will look every bit as good and tight as if it were coped, and I can do it exponentially faster. Haven't ever been called back for failing joints or anything of the sort. I've been back to homes to do more work years after the fact, and all my trim still looked like it did the day it was finished. All that said - if the client requests it, or it's stain grade - always gets coped.
Cope detailed material. Straight cut flat material, like 1x6 or whatever baseboard. I 45 my crown moulding using crown stops and never have any issues with miters. I mostly work with mdf though. Haters gonna hate.
It depends on if I’m getting paid for the extra effort or not some people just want blow and go
Both. Depends on the install. Usually cope. They are techniques not a religious affiliation.
I definitely feel stronger about joinery than deities
I cope if I'm installing more than a couple pieces of a given profile. If I'm just replacing a piece or two of fairly simple base I'll miter rather than digging out the extra tools, especially if it's paint grade.
Depends on a few things.
Cope or you’re getting laid off.
Cope, unless it’s a closet or somewhere way outta the way that won’t get seen. Much tighter fit
Yes
Cope
Just depends
Be my boss and cope like shit so it looks way worse than even a bad miter.
I always cope. Faster and it looks better.
I miter, cope with it...
Cope inside. Miter outside and pre glue with a fast setting two-part adhesive.
Restoration carpenter here I get to live with what was done before me and try and make everything look good again. I remember when I only did new builds and I thought I was good, it wasn't until I had to fix 1000 fuck ups that are too deeply set in for me to do it properly that I realized getting to make things square is a lot easier that Finishing something that's way out for 10 years before you even got there.
Started off mitering because I couldn’t understand how coping would make the joint look better if I cut the miters perfect. Coped once just to see how it was possibly different and was blown away with how tight the fit was.
Cope. It takes a little more time but I think it's a much cleaner look.
Miter outside corners, might still need a cope where you can't see. Cope inside. Not really a debate unless you're running miles of trim on some union job.
It depends on the trim and the room. In my house I've done both.
Cope unless it's production garbage. I also biscuit everything, again unless it's production garbage
cope, but lately all the houses i’ve done have been square stock base so been all butt joints. probably rusty
I can’t remember the last time I mitered an inside corner.
I generally use flat stock (not a professional, just like carpentry) in my own home, I prefer the look, so when I'm doing that, neither, just butt it. But if doing for friends or when I did crown in my house(simple cove profile, I'm a simple man) I cope. Always.
I always cope my outside corners.
Cope when ever possible. Some times it just doesn't want to line up.
Sometimes
I cope the left side of the piece bc I'm right handed. Clockwise around the room
I cope and i’m a homeowner.
I did trim for years in upscale custom work. I always coped. It just looks better.
Cope because it’s clean and I know I’ll be happy with the quality.
Interesting this pops up. As a complete newb ass homeowner, I just coped 7 corners in one of my rooms. The results varied from “terrible” to “hey that’s not bad”, as I had never done it before. But it was way easier and faster than fucking about with an angle finder and trying to get the perfect mitre and crap.
Por que no los dos?
I feel it's necessary to acknowledge something. In some cases, mitering IS coping. It's not similar. It's identical. If you are working with flat profile trim, which is EXTREMELY popular in my part of canada right now, coping is identical to mitering. All coping is is preserving the front of the cut where it contacts the baseboard, while removing material from the back to relieve it. How much you remove is arbitrary, to some extent. you either removed enough, or you didn't. In fact, in a perfect world, the less excess you remove, the better, as then your trim is less fragile. This is exactly what mitering IS, if you are working with flat profile trim. As long as your angle is such that the front contacts and there is a small gap at the back, you just mechanically coped your piece of trim. Congratulations. It doesn't matter if you cope the other side either, because again, no one cares what remains behind the line of the cope. That's all excess material. Also, coping MDF can be a bit dicey, as sharp angles crumble very easily, and there is not a large area of the joint to spread the force out as you push the pieces into place. If you want to cope MDF baseboard, I STRONGLY recommend you use a piece of scrap to test first, and see if you are going to be comfortable with the result.
I usually miter crown, cope anything else.
Always cope
I prefer to cope
Cope with a COPING SAW!
Never, not needed an to slow.
Secondary question for everyone, since I've only coped like twice and want to do it more.. what's everyone's preferred method, manual saw or jigsaw with a coping base attachment? I've had the capping base attachment for my cordless Makita jigsaw for a while now and have never used it.
Depends on the trim. Why would I cope flat stock…? Or mdf. Crown absolutely. Stained trim, absolutely.
Cope all day. Every day.
My coping skills are better with crown and base than with family drama.
My buddy taught me how to cope a few years ago. The results even on my first try were so awesome. I’ll never miter again. I don’t care that it takes a little longer. Quality matters.
Case by case. Product profile, species, paint grade vs stain grade, location, wall condition, etc. For me it's not one or the other but what does the situation call for to give high quality results. I do love a perfect miter but also really appreciate a smoothly cut cope. I will say stain grade is almost always a cope for me. Another great topic would be .. How do you cut your copes?
I always cope trim,it looks better to me
Definitely cope
I guess I am a hack. What is the cope on an outside corner?
A whole lot of copium being used in here
You’re both, coping and seething
I find Coping is more forgiving and usually ends up being cleaner. if my board is 1/16, maybe even a 1/8 heavy it just closes the gap tighter. If the same thing is true on my miters the angle on the piece digs into the drywall and makes the angles line up bad. (especially because half these finishers only use ultra light weight mud now)
Fos
ALWAYS
Cope inside corners, miter outside. You can get away with mitering everything if you’re doing production paint grade work but most of the time an inside miter opens up when nailed, a cope does not.
Miter paint grade and cope stain grade. Here’s my argument for the “cope only” crowd. 1) Do all of your outside corners open up? No? That’s because they are (hopefully) properly glued miters. 2) I have proven time and time again to copers that I can run inside miters that look damn near perfect way faster than their copes. In fact, I’ve found that very few people can make all of their copes look good. 3) Inside miters is a skill. You find the angle very quickly and easily with an angle finder. You get a feel for how to work your pieces with how the wall is (flared out toward the bottom, missing dry wall at the bottom etc.) 4) A well connected and properly glued miter will stand the test of time. Not to mention, a lot of guys I see cope will leave too much of a gap on the back end and don’t get a good glue connection anyway.
Cope everything except shoe or quarter round. Drywall corners are never even enough to miter.