Carpentry and Woodworking - Crown Molding and A/C Vents

I am installing crown molding in a bedroom and I need to figure out what to do about 2 air conditioning vents. The vents are only about 1 inch from the ceiling, and the molding is 3 1/2 inches. I thought the best approach would be to move the vents down by cutting out a few inches of the drywall beneath the current location. However, when I removed the front plate off the vent and inspected it, it appears to be a bigger job. Inside, there is a metal chute that comes down from the attic, and it doesn't appear that it is easily moved.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeremy

Hello: Jeremy

Hope you return and it is not too late to post a reply to your question. My fault. Excuse me. I found your question in an unmoderated forum minutes ago.

Moved it to this forum topic since the molding is as close to a woodworking topic as I could locate and one in which replies are likely to be posted to help.

The heating/cooling registers are not easy to move. They have large flashings which span to the beams or are attached to wood frame boxes between the beams.

Working with the molding is likely only possibility. The moderators and members whom work with wood projects are best qualified to help. My reply will move the topic up to the current date in the list of topics for you.

Thanks for the reply.

I received a reply in another part of the forum that recommended notching the moulding rather than attempting to move the vents. So this is what I did. The notching was painstaking and tedious work with a coping saw, but after about only half an hour, it looked great! The vents are barely noticeable.

Of all the difficulties I encountered with the crown moulding, the vent notching was one of the minor ones.

Thanks again,
Jeremy