The Garfield... just beginning

[mininecessities]

With my Garfield I am working on I wrote the slab number and what it was on each piece before I punched anything out. so glad I did too!

[hsouthard]

Heather, I too struggled with the wiring, but in the end it was far easier than I had imagined it would be.Since the walls and floors are so thin, there is not much room for wires. I used the Dremel and routed grooves from the point where I wanted the light to the outside walls. I wallpapered the living/dining/entry ceilings to make it look like tin, so I was able to paper over the wires. If you wish to paint the ceilings, just use spackle to cover the grooves once the wiring is in place. I recommend using spackle on any bare wood surface as a filler anyway. It gives you a nice smooth finished look.

Once the wires were run to the outside wall, I drilled a small hole so the wire would go through to the exterior, then I created the same groove down the face of the outside wall to the foundation. The wire can travel down that groove and go through a small hole in the foundation and then to whatever location you want for the power strip.

I ran several wires to the exterior and down into the void that will be under the porch roof, then over to the corner where the dining room wall meets the small kitchen wall with the door. I used small wood pieces for trim, leaving a channel large enough to run everything down below the ground floor and into the foundation.

I will create a small gallery and upload a couple of photos of the wiring that I did.

Thanks, I'll look out for the gallery. What you wrote makes sense as well. Helps me get closer to making my decision about the wiring. My only thing is I'm painting all the walls. I'm not using any wallpaper.

[mininecessities]

Just noticed about gluing boards down. I used Skinny Stiks also called Woodsies for floor boards. Walmart and Joanne's usually have them.So I could get them to lay flat without taking forever for glue to dry, I used both tacky glue and a glue called Zap a Gap.it grabs almost instantly. I think I got mine on eBay. I spread a line of white glue then added a drop on each end and one in the middle of Zap A Gap. Then quickly turned it over and yes I still held it down maybe 30 second until it grabbed.

You can see my wood floors in my gallery in the Garfield house. . Yes there are gaps etc but that to me looks more real. If you want a more finished look you can buy wood look flooring for dollhouses.

You won't be able to use all the skinny sticks. The faulty ones I cut out the good part and used it for short places. I also cut them so ends would be at different locations ...I mean scattered.

Zap A Gap is wonderful. I am really nuts about it. You will get it on your fingers . If you leave it too long it WILL glue your fingers together. Try to make sure your fingers aren't touching each other or another article when it's grabbing. I had to let it wear off so not sure how safe it is. You could also try super glue but I think Zap a Gap gives you a tad more time to work but when it grabs it GRABS!

[mininecessities]

Thanks, I'll look out for the gallery. What you wrote makes sense as well. Helps me get closer to making my decision about the wiring. My only thing is I'm painting all the walls. I'm not using any wallpaper.

I just drilled out the canal for the wire in the floors then ran the wire to outside edge of house and will put channeling to hide it. For ceiling lights, I drilled the channel in the floor above it. For plug ins I used baseboard that has a Chanel in the back to run your wire. Go to my profile and gallery and Garfield construction album. Heather has some great ideas also!

I was just assuming we are talking about round wire and not tape wire...I like the round wire though haven't tried the tape wire. I just skimmed through the post for now. But will read more later!

[IAK]

The insturctions are not helpful what so ever. I've had to go off of other people's blogs to help me figure out the foundation. Such as #14 through #18 aren't labeled were to go on the foundation piece. They have labels for #1 through #13 but not the rest. I've had to go off the picture and what fit best. Thank goodness for masking tape!

This is exactly how I found this Greenleaf forum many years ago when building my Garfield! Was stuck on the side stair on the porch because the instructions were not clear. This forum, pictures and blog has helped me many times. You can check out my Garfield also in my Gallery if you need to. Good luck and happy building!

[IAK]

Popsicle sticks and skinny sticks both work well for hardwood flooring. Both look nice when done.

Coffee stirrer sticks are the best for this. If you can find them. Thinner then skinny sticks

[mininecessities]

Here is URL for my Garfield album. Page 4 shows some of the channeling work. In case it might help someone

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=5445

[mininecessities]

This is exactly how I found this Greenleaf forum many years ago when building my Garfield! Was stuck on the side stair on the porch because the instructions were not clear. This forum, pictures and blog has helped me many times. You can check out my Garfield also in my Gallery if you need to. Good luck and happy building!

Irene your Garfield is beautiful! So well done! I too have really been helped by looking at everyone's Garfield's. It's been a lifesaver for sure! Anyway I love your house!

[IAK]

Irene your Garfield is beautiful! So well done! I too have really been helped by looking at everyone's Garfield's. It's been a lifesaver for sure! Anyway I love your house!

thank you so much

[havanaholly]

For flooring I rally like to use the iron-on wood veneer; it splits easily lengthwise with a utility knife and can be cut into "board" lengths with either knife or scissors.

[mininecessities]

By the way...follow Irene's steps of construction not mine ...OMG ....I built the house BEFORE putting wallpaper, trim etc. Do not do that unless it's an easy to reach place which the Garfield has none lol You have NO idea how I struggled! Especially that 2nd floor landing. While it's nice to be able to just follow around an in corners with wallpaper the Garfield is not one to do that. I was actually doing war dances trying to get my Heidi Ott dolls to come alive and get in there and help me!

[mininecessities]

Holly I think I used that same thing in my dining room! It's wonderful to work with. I didn't read directions lol glued it down. Maybe could have ironed it? Well still that wouldn't work as my house was put together. My Iron won't fit in there ...another good reason to do as much as you can before hand!

I would have used that in more rooms but wanted some shabby chic in this house. Plus it was good therapy laying all those skinny sticks down!

Cheryl

[KathieB]

 My only thing is I'm painting all the walls. I'm not using any wallpaper.

 

Heather, you can cut the channel, hide the wire in it, then run a skim coat of Spackle or wallboard mud/joint compound over the entire wall. It will fill in the channel and give you a beautiful surface for painting -- like a vintage house finished with lath and plaster. None of the wood grain will show, which it might if you use just paint.

[havanaholly]

Irene, set the iron on high.  I decorate as I build (no help for your Garfield) so I lay & iron the floors pretty soon after installing the painted/ papered walls (or at least painted; I sometimes paper after the build,, if the house doesn't let me know beforehand).

[denkyem]

For flooring I rally like to use the iron-on wood veneer; it splits easily lengthwise with a utility knife and can be cut into "board" lengths with either knife or scissors.

Holly, I want to try your method!  How does it handle staining?  And what do you use to split the roll in to plank size?  

Are we talking about this product? (or some variant thereof): http://www.amazon.com/Cloverdale-34210-Band--Veneer-Banding/dp/B000KLTU6O/

[havanaholly]

That's the stuff, Emily, although I bet you could find it at a big box hardware store like Maynard's.  It stains like any other unfinished wood.  I use a Stanley retractable utility knife for all my hand cutting and a cork-backed steel ruler for straight cuts.  A tiny bead of tacky glue long the underside and weight the strips down will set the first few courses and when dry go back over those with your iron and then add your strips.  I start by cutting the strips 6" long and then stagger the rows so none of the "board" ends line up from one row to the next.  I have dedicated scissors for cutting wood & plastic.

[hsouthard]

I sanded the floor, drew lines with a hard pencil - not just marking but pressing hard enough to create a groove (always WITH the grain), then stained using Minwax Polyshades Mission Oak and then a coat of amber shellac. You can do all of the floors in a couple hours and for about $0.75 worth of stain.

 

 

Just noticed about gluing boards down. I used Skinny Stiks also called Woodsies for floor boards. Walmart and Joanne's usually have them.So I could get them to lay flat without taking forever for glue to dry, I used both tacky glue and a glue called Zap a Gap.it grabs almost instantly. I think I got mine on eBay. I spread a line of white glue then added a drop on each end and one in the middle of Zap A Gap. Then quickly turned it over and yes I still held it down maybe 30 second until it grabbed.

You can see my wood floors in my gallery in the Garfield house. . Yes there are gaps etc but that to me looks more real. If you want a more finished look you can buy wood look flooring for dollhouses.

You won't be able to use all the skinny sticks. The faulty ones I cut out the good part and used it for short places. I also cut them so ends would be at different locations ...I mean scattered.

Zap A Gap is wonderful. I am really nuts about it. You will get it on your fingers . If you leave it too long it WILL glue your fingers together. Try to make sure your fingers aren't touching each other or another article when it's grabbing. I had to let it wear off so not sure how safe it is. You could also try super glue but I think Zap a Gap gives you a tad more time to work but when it grabs it GRABS!

 

I'm actually going to pass on the idea of popsicle or skinny sticks. I like weezah's idea of indenting or scribbing the floors to make it look like hardwood floors.

 

I just like knowing the floors won't come up or warp once glued.

[Selkie]

They do make tiny irons with inter-changeable heads. I got mine in the quilting section. Mine has several tup sized. The original had only one size. Only thing I'm not sure if it heats up as hot as a regular iron because it does use steam. Works perfectly for cloth projects and iron-on interfacing so I'd guess it might work in small dh floor areas.

[hsouthard]

I just drilled out the canal for the wire in the floors then ran the wire to outside edge of house and will put channeling to hide it. For ceiling lights, I drilled the channel in the floor above it. For plug ins I used baseboard that has a Chanel in the back to run your wire. Go to my profile and gallery and Garfield construction album. Heather has some great ideas also!

I was just assuming we are talking about round wire and not tape wire...I like the round wire though haven't tried the tape wire. I just skimmed through the post for now. But will read more later!

 

I was looking into tape wire because it seemed easy but now knowing I'm not doing wallpaper or flooring, I plan on doing round wire and doing what weezah suggested about using a dremel to make ditches to run the wire through and spackling over so that I can paint all the walls. Also using baseboards to hide the wire behind.

[hsouthard]

This is exactly how I found this Greenleaf forum many years ago when building my Garfield! Was stuck on the side stair on the porch because the instructions were not clear. This forum, pictures and blog has helped me many times. You can check out my Garfield also in my Gallery if you need to. Good luck and happy building!

 

Thank you! I will certainly check out your gallery. I've used several people's galleries as instructions to help build the Garfield so far. This forum is a lot of help and filled with a lot of nice people to help guide you through the build. I can't thank these people enough for their help and opinions.

[hsouthard]

Here is URL for my Garfield album. Page 4 shows some of the channeling work. In case it might help someone

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=5445

 

Thank you! I will definietly look at this for help when I get to the wiring.

[hsouthard]

By the way...follow Irene's steps of construction not mine ...OMG ....I built the house BEFORE putting wallpaper, trim etc. Do not do that unless it's an easy to reach place which the Garfield has none lol You have NO idea how I struggled! Especially that 2nd floor landing. While it's nice to be able to just follow around an in corners with wallpaper the Garfield is not one to do that. I was actually doing war dances trying to get my Heidi Ott dolls to come alive and get in there and help me!

 

It certainly is beautiful. After reading all of this.... I plan on decorating all the walls, floors and ceilings before finalizing the build.

[hsouthard]

Heather, you can cut the channel, hide the wire in it, then run a skim coat of Spackle or wallboard mud/joint compound over the entire wall. It will fill in the channel and give you a beautiful surface for painting -- like a vintage house finished with lath and plaster. None of the wood grain will show, which it might if you use just paint.

 

That's what I plan on doing. Dremeling a channel into the walls/ceiling to hide the wires and also using the baseboards for hiding wires. Thanks!

[havanaholly]

When I scribe wood floors I use a cork-backed steel ruler and turn my utility knife upside down and use the back edge of the blade.

[hsouthard]

When I scribe wood floors I use a cork-backed steel ruler and turn my utility knife upside down and use the back edge of the blade.

I didn't think about the ruler but that's a great idea to keep straight lines. Thanks