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Beacon Hill: a Garden District Mansion


KathieB

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Found them! The ceiling medallions have been drilled, painted, and glued to the ceilings of the living room and dining rooms. The little buggers were hiding in the box of light fixtures, clear down at the bottom. They are resin, easy to drill a hole for the wires of the chandeliers that will hang beneath them. They are glued in place and the holes drilled through the ceiling.  The pistol grip Dremel did the job easily. Tomorrow the house will get flipped right side up. Let the electrification begin!

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6 hours ago, Sable said:

Good luck with the tapewire. If you need my favorite YouTube video as a refresher, let me know.

Thanks, Sable. I'm planning to watch it again before I begin.

6 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Kathie's a dab hand at wiring her mini homes.

Thanks, Holly, but I'm trying a new method, using a power supply rather than a transformer. The suggestions for placing and connecting tape runs in the video are well worth reviewing.

The beginning of the week is going to be busy. I'll probably start on this toward the end of the week.

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Well, shoot! I got out all of the light fixtures and placed them where they will be installed to help guide where the tape wire runs should go. I got out the power source, cranked up the video for a quick review, and hit a brick wall. <SPLAT!!!> The first step is to insert the white and black wires into the power  connector. Ha! No white and black wires came with the power source and power connector. The wires in the video appear to be more robust than the wires on the light fixtures. There is no mention of what size the connecting wires are.

So, I printed out a picture of the wires from the video, including some fingers for scale, and hied off to Home Depot. Had a hard time finding small wires and smallest spools were 50 feet. So, for $12, I bought a spool of what looked like the right size diameter. The outside diameter may have been okay, but when I got it home, snipped off the pieces I'd need and stripped the ends, I discovered the bundle of copper wires inside are too big to fit into the power connector sockets.

Grrrrrrr.   I am about to search out the box of dead electronic equipment that I know is around here someplace in hopes of cannibalizing usable wire from something.

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18 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I guess Radio Shack no longer sells the spools of mini wires.

Don't know why they wouldn't sell them. The trick is to find a Radio Shack that's still open.  Meanwhile, I found an old AC/DC adapter that looks as if it might fill the bill.

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13 minutes ago, Sable said:

Good idea. It's after 6 pm now, no answer. Will try tomorrow.

The AC/Adapter cord had two skinny wires inside, about the size of the miniature fixture wire.  It's a no go.

Meanwhile, I think I'll hit Walmart and see if they have any lamp repair stuff. It's about 30 miles closer than Cedartown. :) 

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While I was in Walmart I got a call from Carl at CR2. I hadn't left a message, but he saw my number and called me back. It's too late tonight to act on what he said. Will report in the morning. :) 

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24 minutes ago, KathieB said:

I've blogged the outcome of the wire conundrum.

I know you've been waiting for it ... :D As the man said, some day's you're the statue, some days you're the pigeon. *sigh*

Deep dark depression.........I feel your agony. Junction splices are God forsaken. I just bought one of CR2scale's set ups.

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1 hour ago, Sable said:

Kathie, could you hide everything under the house and cut out a notch so the power cord can come through the bottom of your foundation? I find this eliminates the ugly connection parts.

I thought about doing something like this, but  tipping a 3-story house with several dangling ceiling lights to get at the underside if something needs attention (like replacing a fuse) would be daunting. Unless I buy the compatible cord with the on/off switch, the power cord will have to be unplugged when the house is unlighted, so relatively easy access to the power connector is a must. :hmm: The power connector could be under the house and the short switch cord could come out through a notch, but it would still mean a hassle to replace a fuse, and the switch cord is no beauty itself. 

I think hiding the power connector under the bay window overhang and using artfully placed shrubbery will do the trick.

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Kathie, hard boiled egg gave a wonderful brown patina to my copper sink. No green though.  I have to look up if it was the yolks or the whites tented with the sink for about two hours.  Don’t know how you would do a roof though. 

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4 minutes ago, Sable said:

Kathie, hard boiled egg gave a wonderful brown patina to my copper sink. No green though.  I have to look up if it was the yolks or the whites tented with the sink for about two hours.  Don’t know how you would do a roof though. 

Maybe the yolks because of the sulfur content?

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14 hours ago, Sable said:

Imbedded way down in this article past the scientific jargon is the How To:

https://www.worldcoppersmith.com/copper-patina-guide/

Miracle Gro! Who'd a thunk it? This is great information, Denise. Thank you. I think with all the messing about I've done already with the tower roof, any modifications will have to be color brushed on. The roof is sitting over to one side while the electrification happens.

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  • 3 months later...

Wow ... 3 months since I've visited this topic. There has been some progress, although not with the electrical system. I'm still thinking about where to hide the power source. The answer will come when I'm ready, I'm sure. :) 

I've been thinking about the exterior. Rather than the wood siding that came with the kit, I think I'd like to use egg carton quoins and stucco on the walls. The bays may be sided and painted the same color as the stucco. Light gray, I think, with black and white trim. The light green shingled sections of the mansard roof, which are not yet glued in place, will get a coat of black. I think I'll like the aged copper tower roof better. Better coordinated, less contrast.

When friend NJ was here a few weeks ago, we visited Miniature Designs, where I bought wallpaper for nearly the entire house. We paid a visit to Sherwin Williams a day before to collect paint chips. I had a paint chip stapled to a sheet of paper for each room with a list of what items were needed. It made shopping a breeze. An expen$ive breeze, especially since I came across a few unanticipated must-have items. I'm not convinced I like the paper bought for the dining room. And of course that's the first room in the wiring sequence. The paper needs to go up before the wall sconce can be installed.

Meanwhile, an email announcement of a sale of doors from HBS prompted me to look at the interior doorways. I'm awaiting delivery of four doors, one each for the bathroom, master bedroom, maid's room, and study. Of course the doors I ordered are a half inch wider than the openings. Widening them will be a challenge, but on the up side, I'm glad I won't have to worry about damaging the electrical lines.

I ordered what was described as a single bed with a white wire frame for the maid's room, but it turned out to be much too large. It is about the same width as the double bed in the master bedroom. It takes up 2/3 of the room!

Now that cooler weather is here, I'm hoping to spend more time on this house. I have two others I'm itching to get to work on, but I'm holding my self back until this one is finished.

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40 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I see whatever device you were typing on decided to play keyboard hopscotch.

 

40 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I see whatever device you were typing on decided to play keyboard hopscotch.

Yikes! I unscrambled my original post, then the system quoted your post twice.

<walking away from keyboard - far away> 

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