A cove moulding — commonly called coving — is a profile fitted as an ornament in the corner between wall and ceiling. The name refers to its hollow, inward-curving shape. A ceiling with a continuous curved transition to the supporting walls is called a coved ceiling.
Why fit coving
- Visually — the hard 90-degree corner between wall and ceiling disappears and the room reads calmer and more traditional.
- Practically — the moulding covers the most crack-prone joint in a room. Shrinkage and settlement cracks concentrate exactly at the wall-to-ceiling junction.
- Period detail — in a period house or classical interior, coving is simply part of the language.
Materials
| Material | Characteristics | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Plaster | Heavy, hard, historically correct | Restoration and listed buildings; run in situ or supplied precast |
| Polystyrene (EPS/XPS) | Very light, cheap, soft | DIY work; dents easily and holds less crisp detail |
| Polyurethane (PU) | Light, crisp profile, impact resistant | The most common modern choice |
| Timber | Solid, paintable or varnishable | Mainly with timber ceilings and panelling |
Fitting it yourself
- Measure the profile — choose coving whose legs (the wall and ceiling faces) are wide enough to bridge the existing joint and any crack.
- Mark a line — measure the coving height down the wall and strike a continuous line with a laser or level. Never work off the ceiling: it is rarely level.
- Cut the mitres — internal and external corners are both mitred. Cut at 45 degrees in a mitre box or on a mitre saw, and always cut a test piece first; coving behaves differently from flat trim.
- Adhesive — use the adhesive the manufacturer specifies. Apply it to both legs and to the end of the adjoining length so the butt joint is glued too.
- Support — hold it temporarily with pins or a batten until the adhesive grabs.
- Finish — fill joints and butt ends with decorator’s caulk or filler, sand lightly, then prime and paint.
Common mistakes:
- Sticking it onto wallpaper — the adhesive then bonds to the paper, not the wall. Cut the paper away where the coving lands.
- Silicone instead of adhesive — sanitary silicone bonds poorly to porous plaster and will not hold the weight.
- Cracked butt joints — fill butt joints with flexible caulk, not hard filler.
Related terms
- Ceiling cove
- Moulding
- Cornice
- Hollow moulding
- Skirting
- Plaster
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