Help Getting Started

[weppler1978]

Hi

My wife purchased a doll house, that is or was pretty much just a shell from an auction. Basically its a 9 room doll house, has the roof, walls, etc. The windows and doors are still I the packages not installed. The railings on the porch were broken so I took them all down with the intent to replace them. Structurally though its good solid house. No finishing of any kind yet.

So initially my thought was to start on the outside with the shingles, railings on the porch, etc. We went to a miniatures store over the weekend and the helpful store owner recommended we do the railings, trim towards the end so they don't get broken or damaged as we're doing much of the other work. Realized too we needed to do siding as well. She did suggest we also wire it up first and we bough everything we needed for that (tapewire style).

So I'm looking online at different techniques so I don't screw this up, and I'm reading that they suggest you seal the inside before you wire it, then paint or wallpaper over that. If so what should I seal it with?

Also, on the outside, in what order should we proceed, should we install the windows and doors then siding and then do the shingles? Or siding then shingles and doors and windows last?

Any guidance would be appreciated!

Thanks

[Dalesq]

Do you know which house you got? The reason I ask is some have more exterior details than others and this might effect the sequence for installation. You could add a photo to your next post if you don't know the house name.

On priming, many of us use interior latex paint, some use other things, but first you need to decide if you are going to stain anything, like the floors, or if you plan to use a floor covering.

I suggest you browse the forum under first dollhouse and the general topics to get more ideas about what you will need to do first.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

[havanaholly]

Bill, do introduce yourself in the Newcomers' Forum.

When I first got started (21 years ago! it doesn't seem like it; I still get newbie shakes when I open a new box...) I used clear sanding sealer; now I either use matte white interior latex to prime with or stain, if that's what I want. If your house was built with hot glue, either use your wife's hair dryer (with her permission) or your heat gun to take the house apart and remove the hot glue and then start over with carpenter's wood glue. I first put the house together with painter's tape or masking tape (what we call the dry fit) to see what I need to decorate before assembly with glue, that will be unreachable by human hands afterwards. I tend to decorate the interior as I build (hard-to-reach places first), then the exterior (siding or whatever), then the windows, doors, porches and trim.

You and your wife are going to have SO much fun working on this house, whichever one it is. IMO the main purpose of this forum is to share info, so do ask any & all questions. Also, the Search feature is pretty good if your key words have four or more letters.

[WyckedWood]

Ask 10 miniaturists their finishing sequence, you may get 10 answers...the one thing I will recommend is that you pick up a little container/jar of Tacky Wax or some other product (even double sided tape if you cant find Tacky Wax ) and don't glue anything until you absolutely have to as far as windows and doors are concerned. If you can temporarily hold a window frame in place then you will continue to keep your options open as far as paint etc.. and avoid making mistakes that would otherwise be hard to move backwards from.

This is from the website Earth and Tree Miniatures...they have a wealth of info on their site, theyre professional builders and its a great online shop too.

Finishing Sequence

1. Read ALL of the instructions before beginning assembly.

2. Assemble shell

3. Install basic wiring.

4. Apply siding to house. (See Tom's siding and glue tips)

5. Paint siding and porch floors - if you have them.

6. Pain trim, windows, and doors. Some people like to install the windows and doors at this time for appearance; this may be done temporarily by using Mini-Hold^tm to secure them.

7. Install trim (trim around roof needs to be installed before shingling).

8. Shingle roof. (See Tom's shingling tips)

9. Paint and install posts and railings. (if applicable)

10. Stain and varnish plywood floor. You can skip this step if you're going to cover the floors with carpet, tile, or hardwood.

11. Paint or paper ceilings (see Wallpapering tips)

12. Paint or paper the walls. If you temporarily installed windows and doors, remove them to facilitate papering.

13. Install carpeting, hardwood or tile flooring.

14. Install electrical outlets.

15. Paint or stain any interior trim such as baseboards, chair rails, window and door casings, and crown mouldings. Paint or stain staircases.

16. Install staircases

17. Install windows and doors and all interior trim and mouldings.

18. Install ceiling fixtures and outlets.

19. Furnish the house and have fun.

[GirlPiper]

The knowledgeable ladies above usually mention that you do not prime anything that you plan to stain. (Welcome aboard.)

[fov]

Like Karin said, everyone has their own process. There's no right or wrong way to finish a dollhouse. (Well, maybe there are some wrong ways. But there's more than one right way!) Personally, I don't bother with sealing or priming the wood. I don't like painting (so why do more than I need to?!) and I've had some bad experiences with sanding sealer, so I don't bother with it anymore. My unsealed walls have held up just fine so far!

Electricity slows me down every time. You have to think about where you'll run the tapewire and how to cover it up. For wall sconces, you need to do wallpaper before installing the light but have the wall on the other side unfinished so you can drill a hole and pull the wire through it. Figuring out where to run the tapewire, where the lights will go, and where the wires will go takes some planning. I've electrified four or five houses now and it still drives me a little nuts. So as far as what to do first, that's the part of it that I would caution you to think about before you go too far.

If it were me tackling this build, I would probably add the siding and paint the exterior first (to reduce the likelihood of getting paint on my wallpaper!), then figure out the electricity and work on that at the same time as wallpaper (papering the rooms as needed based on what types of lights you're using), then install the windows, porch rails, etc. I wait to add windows until after the paint is on and the room is finished inside, because it's much easier to cut wallpaper while the window holes are still empty. Shingles, you can do whenever. (Or start them, then move onto something else and come back to the shingles later - they're sort of tedious so it helps to break up the shingling!)