Fairfield build questions (was: "fairfield foundation")

[Gavindegrawfan25]

No i didn't find my chimmy piece yet if I did actually use the piece for the foundation I will just cut a piece of wood for one of the sheets I used already.

[Gavindegrawfan25]

I'am starting to build the stairs for dollhouse I got all the pieces together but the instructions are really confusing

[havanaholly]

I lay the stringer in my gluing jig so the top and bottom are flush with adjacent sides and apply woodglue sparingly with a toothpick to the edges of each step and attach each riser and hold it in place with one of the magnets: http://www.micromark.com/magnetic-gluing-jig-10-1and4-inch-square,7038.html

Once the risers are in place I glue the treads to the stringer and the top of each riser.

[Muriel]

With bits that are difficult to glue/keep in place I like to put wood glue where it needs to be and then a spot or two of superglue. The superglue keeps it in place until the wood glue dries

[Gavindegrawfan25]

I finish the stairs now I'am up to the part where you have put partition wall 6 up I can't figure out where is the dining room/ kitchen located at ?

[havanaholly]

Some people put the kitchen where the other outside door is, and the diningroom next to it.

[Muriel]

How's it going Vanessa?

I'm slowly laying all my wooden skinny stick floors - just the attic, porch and balcony above to go. Then need to dismantle the house again to sand and varnish them all. Haven't yet decided whether to stain them or not. Cut the Houseworks stairs down to size for the second floor staircase last night. Took a while of very careful cutting, but managed without any sliced fingers! Again I have to decide if I want to stain the stairs or even paint them. Our real life stairs are painted a bright red which looks great! ;)

[havanaholly]

One of my friends bought an older home that someone with an artsy flair had fun with a paintbrush; they painted a rug onto the floor of the parlor and the stairs were painted white with burgundy accents. The last time I visited she had carpeted over the painted rug and was trying to figure out how to strip off the thick, cheap paint from the stairway and restore it to its early-20th Century splendor.

[Gavindegrawfan25]

The house is coming along fine I was think about not using the chimmy / fireplace that came with the house and just buying already build fireplace / chimmy . I don't like how you have to the chimmy throught a such little hole it's to much of a tight fit .

[havanaholly]

It's made to fit. I can't imagine substituting the chimney assembly, since it's part of the walls. I waited until after it was together to install the chimneybreasts and to brick the chimney. In addition to 1"24 fireplace surrounds I also used HO-scale culverts and made surrounds from foamcore.

[Muriel]

You can make the hole a little bigger by carefully trimming it with a craft knife - watch those fingers! Just a tiny bit shaved off will make the fit not so tight, but still tight enough to keep the floors in place. I found it is just the bit in the attic that has to fit through the tight space, and it is easy to install it and then decorate it just before putting on the roof.

The people that painted our stairs red did it with lovely hard wearing paint, so I have no complaints It is a bit different than a normal staircase, and I generally like quirky different!

[havanaholly]

I finished off the chimney and the attic before installing the roof on the Fairfield. I wish I'd thought to shingle before installing the roof!

[Ravenswing]

But before you start trimming and carving things down, make sure that you have put the chimney together the right way. If the fit is as tight as you say you may have assembled it incorrectly. Re-read your instructions. Do they tell you to place the side pieces of the chimney "outside" the edge of the chimney front or "inside", it makes a difference. Placing pieces outside the edge will make the chimney wider side to side and shorter front to back. Placing them "inside" the edge will make it narrow side to side and deeper front to back. Confusing? Look at it this way. With you chimney front flat on the table - are you placing the side pieces right up next to it (outside the edge) or on top of it (inside the edge). Try it both ways, using tape to hold the pieces. Trust me, that little 1/4 inch makes a big difference in the fit.

[Gavindegrawfan25]

I'am up to part in the house where you put the trim in the doorway of the bedroom and kitchen i already did the wallpaper so its kind hard to put the trim in the doorway. My question is do I have to put the trim in the bedroom doors and my another question is does the kit come with doors

[havanaholly]

I cut away just a bit of the wallpaper around the doors and windows and glue on the trim. I used the doorway punchouts and made second layers from 1/8" basswood.

[Gavindegrawfan25]

I torn down most of the wallpaper in the dollhouse so I could add the door trim and there is still some wallpaper left on the walls. Could I use warm water and soap to take off the rest of the wallpaper ?

[Muriel]

If you need to get it all off just be careful not to make the wood too wet - it will usually start to warp pretty quickly. Even just painting it can warp it, and I wouldn't exactly call that wet. Can you just cover it with more wallpaper?

This is another good reason to dry fit and go through the whole instructions before glueing/decorating

[havanaholly]

I find dabbing warm water with white vinegar in it using a rag will usually soften wallpaper paste enough to scrape it off without wetting all of your wood, When it's dry you can sand off the rest of the paste. If you prime and then paint your walls you want to paper with a semigloss or satin paint first, and use regular premixed wallpaper paste, old wallpaper will strip right off. Also, if your walls are already primed, the wetting you do to remove the wallpaper usually isn't enough to warp anything.

[Gavindegrawfan25]

Do you have to use the t shape part that goes Next to the chimmy ?

[Gavindegrawfan25]

Almost done with the house I was thinking of adding a window bench to the house after seeing someone else house with a window bench. Does anyone know how to make a window bench for the fairfield house ?

[havanaholly]

I made one for the library in mine from foamcore. I cut the front to fit the width of the bay and the height to the bottom of the window, less the thickness of the foamcore. Then I cut the top tthe width of the bay and set the front in place with a smidge of painter's tape to hold it in place on both sides and laid the top with one long edge flush under the window and traced along the bottom where the front touched it, and cut along that line. Then I laid the top against one corner of my gluing jig and ran a bead of glue along the top of the front piece and clamped it in place with scrapwood to keep the clamps from squishing into the foamcore. When it was dry I covered it with small print fabric on the top, front and ran beads of glue along the back and sides of the top and the sides and bottom of the front and wrapped the fabric in place and when it was dry I ran another bead of glue along the back of the top, the sides and the bottom and slid it into place (a piece of waxed paper on the floor in front of the bay keeps the glue from ruining the finish on your floor). I made a couple of wee bargello pillows to go on it.

[fov]

I built one in the Fairfield using basswood. Here are some pictures that show how I did it.

[Gavindegrawfan25]

How do slide the left bay window roof tab into the second floor bay roof tab ? It's giving a hard to go into the slot

[Gavindegrawfan25]

I figure out the second bay window I'am almost done with the house I'am up to the chimney top part . I can't figure out how to do the chimney flue top part ?

[fov]

Do you mean the "cap" on the top of the chimney? I actually left that off of mine... not on purpose, I just forgot about it. :o Maybe someone else has some tips or pictures for you.