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Garfield - question about tabs and gluing


iwishtofish

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I'm just beginning a Garfield. I'm trying to figure out the function of the tabs on the foundation pieces (and others). Are they supposed to fit snugly? Are they just there as a placement guide, or are they meant to be points for gluing? Also, should they always be filed down to the point where the straight edges of the components are always completely flush (I can see an issue with that for the foundation parts)? Sorry for the long, jumbled question!

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Welcome to the concept of the dry fit. This is where you fit the pieces of the shell together and hold them in place with masking tape so you can see how the kit goes together. This is where you trim the tabs and slots to fit together and mask off the edges that will be glued together and identify the areas that will be impossible to decorate after the shell is glued together and stairs installed. Once the house is together you can sand the tbs flush and fill the slots with spackle or cover them up with whatever treatments the house wants.

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Ah, thanks, Holly. I've tried taping the initial foundation parts together...this obviously will take some practice, too! :) The instructions emphasize to glue only when told to do so, so I'm going to try to follow them as closely as possible, and plan ahead, like you said. The first step on the Garfield is really tricky, as they want the builder to fit the initial foundation pieces together, and then FLIP the whole thing without gluing - egads! - in order to attach the first floor pieces. It's going to have to be really well-taped to do that, as all the pieces flop all over the place. I'm up to this challenge, though, lol.

Is it important that all the wood edges are completely flush when gluing, or is it not necessary to worry about small gaps? Just asking because it seems like it will take a lot of careful sanding and filing to ensure that, if necessary.

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Here's an example of the common gaps I'm seeing so far, although this one is occurring partly because one or more tabs are hitting the table. Even when I slide the edge of the foundation off the table, I still get some gaps. Hopefully the picture is viewable.

flush2_zpsd28494f0.jpg

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Very small gaps that will be filled by carpenter's wood glue (not a foaming kind) and covered by wallpaper paint/ baseboards/ siding/ stucco are negligible, and sometimes gravity fter the house is sitting there with glue drying takes care of those problems. In the case of tabs not quite filling slots I find that spackle is very useful. If its an area that will show and you're using stain you can use a small bit of your stain with equal amounts of sawdust and wood glue to make your own wood putty.

If your kit's instructions recommend hot glue to assemble, please ignore that and hit the Titebond (or whatever your wood glue of choice may be)

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Im building my first house.... I grew impatient of wood glue's drying times and pulled out the hot glue gun. Careful in the amount you use. It can get in the way later with wallpaper, moulding as well as sliding walls into place. I piled it on in the cracks to hold the main walls together, only to find out that I had to scrape it off with a razor blade later :(

Good luck! Look forward to your progress!

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I have a garfied. Fitting the foundation so its squared and level is an absolute MUST in my book in order for the rest of the knooks and crannies to fit proprely as you build upwards later on.
It's not a race and I advise taking your time.
There are a lot of places in the front hall area on all three levels that you cannot reach later on that you will definitely want to wire, paint and wallpaper before gluing together.
It's a huge house and quite easily "bashed" (changed) to suit your tastes.
Looking forward to seeing pictures.
Oh and yes ~ NO hot glue ~ it doesn't hold up over time. A good wood glue for construction joints, white tacky glue for just about anything, clamps, books for weights to level unruly floors, lots of painters tape to hold things, sharp blades in your knives, spackle for filling irregularities~ those are a few of my favorite things.
If you are planning on staining anything, be super careful not to get glue on it or else plan to stain it first. Glue and stain don't play nicely.
Good luck.

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I have a garfied. Fitting the foundation so its squared and level is an absolute MUST in my book in order for the rest of the knooks and crannies to fit proprely as you build upwards later on.

It's not a race and I advise taking your time.

There are a lot of places in the front hall area on all three levels that you cannot reach later on that you will definitely want to wire, paint and wallpaper before gluing together.

It's a huge house and quite easily "bashed" (changed) to suit your tastes.

Looking forward to seeing pictures.

Oh and yes ~ NO hot glue ~ it doesn't hold up over time. A good wood glue for construction joints, white tacky glue for just about anything, clamps, books for weights to level unruly floors, lots of painters tape to hold things, sharp blades in your knives, spackle for filling irregularities~ those are a few of my favorite things.

If you are planning on staining anything, be super careful not to get glue on it or else plan to stain it first. Glue and stain don't play nicely.

Good luck.

Thanks for the great tips! I will try to take my time.

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Try using a few dots of super glue in combination with stretches of wood glue along an edge, like this: ------------------ ------------------ ------------------

It takes only a few minutes for the super glue to set up and hold while the wood glue is drying. It's not a perfect solution but can be helpful in some instances.

I'd recommend you go back and remove all of the pieces hot glued in place and redo it with wood glue. You won't be happy when the hot glue lets go in a few years and mini OSHA condemns the house to an extensive rehab.

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Try using a few dots of super glue in combination with stretches of wood glue along an edge, like this: ------------------ ------------------ ------------------

It takes only a few minutes for the super glue to set up and hold while the wood glue is drying. It's not a perfect solution but can be helpful in some instances.

I'd recommend you go back and remove all of the pieces hot glued in place and redo it with wood glue. You won't be happy when the hot glue lets go in a few years and mini OSHA condemns the house to an extensive rehab.

I was thinking of using tiny amounts of hot glue in conjunction with wood glue, but superglue is a great idea. Thanks! I'll do some experimenting.

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I have a garfied. Fitting the foundation so its squared and level is an absolute MUST in my book in order for the rest of the knooks and crannies to fit proprely as you build upwards later on.

(Tried to edit my last reply, but that wasn't possible)

Forgot to mention...and relevant to a true foundation - I found a foundation piece with a bad enough angle in the punchout that it was not going to be made to work. Greenleaf was very helpful over the phone and said a replacement would go out that day. So, good first customer service experience and slight delay, but I can try to work on stairs in the meantime.

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A blob or two of hot glue outside of the joint to hold it in place while the glue dries might also be a solution if you have the patience to scrape it off later. But masking tape or painter's tape will also hold the joint.

Don't look at glue drying time as time wasted. While you're waiting, work on some other part of the build.

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A blob or two of hot glue outside of the joint to hold it in place while the glue dries might also be a solution if you have the patience to scrape it off later. But masking tape or painter's tape will also hold the joint.

Don't look at glue drying time as time wasted. While you're waiting, work on some other part of the build.

Good points.

Consider staining or painting your stairs and railings before assembling.

Please don't ask me how I know this is such a great idea. sigh ....

Interesting...I know glue and stain don't mix, but can you glue parts that were previously stained, and just not stain parts where there is glue?

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If you leave a bead of wood uncovered, you're all set for the gluing.

Stain or paint first and then you just have a few touch ups later on, rather than some folks who have, to date, repainted their Garfield stairs no fewer than 4 times!

It's really hard to get around the railings w/o having boo-boos and hard to create straight enough lines if you are doing your risers one color and the treads a different color, i.e., white riser, wood stained tread.

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If you leave a bead of wood uncovered, you're all set for the gluing.

Stain or paint first and then you just have a few touch ups later on, rather than some folks who have, to date, repainted their Garfield stairs no fewer than 4 times!

It's really hard to get around the railings w/o having boo-boos and hard to create straight enough lines if you are doing your risers one color and the treads a different color, i.e., white riser, wood stained tread.

Hmmm. A lot to think about here. Would be so easy to just stain the treads and railings the same color, but maybe I'll decide that's too easy.

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A blob or two of hot glue outside of the joint to hold it in place while the glue dries might also be a solution if you have the patience to scrape it off later. But masking tape or painter's tape will also hold the joint.

Don't look at glue drying time as time wasted. While you're waiting, work on some other part of the build.

I use a heavy duty stapler to hold edges together whilst glue dries, since they'll get covered later by whatever I use for exterior treatments.

Good points.

Interesting...I know glue and stain don't mix, but can you glue parts that were previously stained, and just not stain parts where there is glue?

I have also learned the hard way to paint and stain stair parts before assembly. I don't stain both sides of the risers and only the backside of the front edge of the treads, and I don't paint the edges of the stringers where the treads and risers attach: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=13781 and http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=13782

Hmmm. A lot to think about here. Would be so easy to just stain the treads and railings the same color, but maybe I'll decide that's too easy.

Why would you stain them different colors? I haven't seen real life stairs stained different colors.

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Well, I must be really weird because every house I've lived in has had white risers and natutal wood grain treads and railings. Must be a regional thing.

I just typed in "white risers and wood treads" in image search and it brought up tons of them.

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I use a heavy duty stapler to hold edges together whilst glue dries, since they'll get covered later by whatever I use for exterior treatments.

I have also learned the hard way to paint and stain stair parts before assembly. I don't stain both sides of the risers and only the backside of the front edge of the treads, and I don't paint the edges of the stringers where the treads and risers attach: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=13781 and http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=13782

Why would you stain them different colors? I haven't seen real life stairs stained different colors.

The wood is pretty thin on this kit. A stapler would probably cause some damage, but I can definitely see that used on better material.

Thanks for the tips on the stairs with regard to staining and gluing. As far as finish on the stairs, I guess I was thinking I'd either stain everything (same color), or just stain the treads and hand rail and paint the rest (what are those railing posts called, pickets?).

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The wood is pretty thin on this kit. A stapler would probably cause some damage, but I can definitely see that used on better material.

Thanks for the tips on the stairs with regard to staining and gluing. As far as finish on the stairs, I guess I was thinking I'd either stain everything (same color), or just stain the treads and hand rail and paint the rest (what are those railing posts called, pickets?).

Holly is using the stapler effectively on Greenleaf kits, so the wood is the same as in your Garfield.

Pickets are on fences, balusters are on railings. :)

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"Consider staining or painting your stairs and railings before assembling.

Please don't ask me how I know this is such a great idea. sigh ...."

I think a lot of us know why you said that. Thanks for the laugh.

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