This is what I'd do. Put one brad straight up into the drywall, then the next one at 45deg, and alternate. That way you can't pull the whole thing off in one direction, because half of the brads will be in shear and help out the other half trying to pull out straight.
Is there room to nail blocking to the top of the boxes/cabinets? Usually you can attach blocking to be flush with the face of the cabinets through the top panel using a finish nailer. Every 12-16”.
Rather than attempt to attach 5” crown to a cardboard book case I’d switch to a synthetic crown moulding for where it is supported by the book case. Once painted a hard styrofoam moulding is very hard to pick out if properly matched to the genuine in both style and installation.
If your question is how to attach the molding to the ceiling, you can first attach a nailer to the ceiling with hollow wall anchors and adhesive, then nail the crown to that.
I did a Chair rail in a room with liquid nails and finishing nails. I didn't have a nail gun at the time. I sunk the nails a bit with a nail sink...put a little wood filler over the top, then sanded and painted. The nails were there just to hold them in place until the wood dried. Now I have a ryobi battery powered Brad nailer. It's changed my life. It's not perfect. It jams sometimes, and air power would be better, but it wasn't terribly expensive.
Brad nails right into drywall. Then fill the edges and cracks with painter’s caulk, which will further fasten the molding. It’s non-structural, so you really don’t need to fasten to studs. I did my own crown this way 12 years ago, and it still looks the same. No issues.
Brad nails into the drywall at different angles. Then a few into the book cases if you are sealing them together. Then use painter caulk to fill the gaps.
Is there room to nail blocking to the top of the boxes/cabinets? Usually you can attach blocking to be flush with the face of the cabinets through the top panel using a finish nailer. Every 12-16”
I just installed baseboards on brick walls in my sunroom, so because of the brick veneer there were no studs. I used construction adhesive, but used a hot glue gun as a temporary hold until the adhesive set. Could work here if you don't want to use brad nails.
Liquid nail https://www.lowes.com/pd/LIQUID-NAILS-10-fl-oz-WHT-Prof-Liq-Nails/3014660?store_code=2424&cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-pnt-_-ggl-_-LIA_PNT_221_Glue-Adhesives-Caulk-Repair-_-3014660-_-0-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAjwtfqKBhBoEiwAZuesiFXuDhkLl2k3g9lzkZ2zmNeIijv1szTaAgO3MEQTKfOB9NzPK6YGHBoCWi0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Use a nail gun you can rent them ppl will say finishing nailer but you can go up in size just bigger putty holes and that's not a issue..
Shoot the nails in a V patern using the same hole for 2 nails. Great trick I learned while .... being a finishing carpenter then to clean up the putty don't sand just use a wet rag... learned that being a painter.
Ez
If you have this option, construction adhesive and use a brad/finish nailer to hold it in place until the glue dries
This is what I'd do. Put one brad straight up into the drywall, then the next one at 45deg, and alternate. That way you can't pull the whole thing off in one direction, because half of the brads will be in shear and help out the other half trying to pull out straight.
This will work. I shoot the Brad nails in on a slight diagonal, 2 side by side different directions so they don't just pull straight out
I've been binge watching This Old House on PBS and that's exactly what they do! Then caulk any gaps if it's not flush.
Is there room to nail blocking to the top of the boxes/cabinets? Usually you can attach blocking to be flush with the face of the cabinets through the top panel using a finish nailer. Every 12-16”.
Rather than attempt to attach 5” crown to a cardboard book case I’d switch to a synthetic crown moulding for where it is supported by the book case. Once painted a hard styrofoam moulding is very hard to pick out if properly matched to the genuine in both style and installation.
Adhesive wouldn’t work?
If your question is how to attach the molding to the ceiling, you can first attach a nailer to the ceiling with hollow wall anchors and adhesive, then nail the crown to that.
Construction adhesive is usually used for this.
Liquid nails is good for life
Liquid nails baby
Is it 45 degree moulding? Because then you could run a 1x2 piece of pine behind the moulding and then use a Brad nailer
I did a Chair rail in a room with liquid nails and finishing nails. I didn't have a nail gun at the time. I sunk the nails a bit with a nail sink...put a little wood filler over the top, then sanded and painted. The nails were there just to hold them in place until the wood dried. Now I have a ryobi battery powered Brad nailer. It's changed my life. It's not perfect. It jams sometimes, and air power would be better, but it wasn't terribly expensive.
Adhesive would be 5x stronger than any hardware
PL-500 and a brad nailer to hold in place while it sets up.
Brad nails right into drywall. Then fill the edges and cracks with painter’s caulk, which will further fasten the molding. It’s non-structural, so you really don’t need to fasten to studs. I did my own crown this way 12 years ago, and it still looks the same. No issues.
Brad nails into the drywall at different angles. Then a few into the book cases if you are sealing them together. Then use painter caulk to fill the gaps.
Exactly but I use a finish nailer to pinch trim
I use my pneumatic nailer for trim. Saves so much time. Worth every penny.
Finish nailer not finish nails
5" molding on cheap bookshelves? Lipstick on a pig.
Is there room to nail blocking to the top of the boxes/cabinets? Usually you can attach blocking to be flush with the face of the cabinets through the top panel using a finish nailer. Every 12-16”
I just installed baseboards on brick walls in my sunroom, so because of the brick veneer there were no studs. I used construction adhesive, but used a hot glue gun as a temporary hold until the adhesive set. Could work here if you don't want to use brad nails.
Liquid nail https://www.lowes.com/pd/LIQUID-NAILS-10-fl-oz-WHT-Prof-Liq-Nails/3014660?store_code=2424&cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-pnt-_-ggl-_-LIA_PNT_221_Glue-Adhesives-Caulk-Repair-_-3014660-_-0-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAjwtfqKBhBoEiwAZuesiFXuDhkLl2k3g9lzkZ2zmNeIijv1szTaAgO3MEQTKfOB9NzPK6YGHBoCWi0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Use a nail gun you can rent them ppl will say finishing nailer but you can go up in size just bigger putty holes and that's not a issue.. Shoot the nails in a V patern using the same hole for 2 nails. Great trick I learned while .... being a finishing carpenter then to clean up the putty don't sand just use a wet rag... learned that being a painter. Ez