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help with how to measure for wallpaper, crown molding,etc.


Dollhouse Novice

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I am working on wallpapering individual pieces of a tower (Harrison) and am trying to figure out how much paper I need for the entire room. Math class was a really long time ago...I know I knew this at one time. Can anyone help? I do not need to know how to measure the tower walls because I know I have enough wallpaper to do them; as they are laid out side-by-side on a table in my family room. However, I do not know if I have enough wallpaper for the other walls and if I do not, then I need to know how much of another pattern to buy.

My other situation: I want to have a crown molding on my walls in my Harrison and in the Orchid I am making. How do I determine the amount of molding, chair railing etc. if I am using a miter to create the corners? Does the angle of the corner determine how much extra I need beyond the length of the wall. My Orchid just has square walls so the angle will be mitered at 45 degrees? Right? So if I am cutting crown molding for my Harrison tower which is 5 pieces the angle for the corners will be different and does that make the length of the molding different?

I am hoping that someone can understand my ramblings and possible run-on sentences!! Thanks for your patience.

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7 minutes ago, Dollhouse Novice said:

I am working on wallpapering individual pieces of a tower (Harrison) and am trying to figure out how much paper I need for the entire room. Math class was a really long time ago...I know I knew this at one time. Can anyone help? I do not need to know how to measure the tower walls because I know I have enough wallpaper to do them; as they are laid out side-by-side on a table in my family room. However, I do not know if I have enough wallpaper for the other walls and if I do not, then I need to know how much of another pattern to buy.

Here's a no-measuring option: cut pieces of plain paper to fit the areas you want to cover (templates). Copy paper can be pressed into the space, then mark the creases with a fingernail and cut them out. Mark them with the location in the room, right and wrong sides, and top and bottom with words, arrows ... whatever you need to remind yourself where they go and how they're oriented. Then arrange the pieces on top of the good wallpaper, keeping aware of any matching that needs to happen between pieces. That should tell you if you have enough to do the job or need to get more.

Hin 1t: allow for some overlap, so you won't have to butt the pieces. Sometimes there will be a little shrinkage, enough to be noticeable when it is dry. 

Hint 2: don't cut out the door and window sections. Leave the sections solid. After they are installed and are thoroughly dry, use a new sharp eXacto blade to cut away the paper over the doors and windows. This makes the paper easier to handle and assures good coverage right up to the window and door trim, which will be installed on top of the paper. 

My other situation: I want to have a crown molding on my walls in my Harrison and in the Orchid I am making. How do I determine the amount of molding, chair railing etc. if I am using a miter to create the corners? Does the angle of the corner determine how much extra I need beyond the length of the wall. My Orchid just has square walls so the angle will be mitered at 45 degrees? Right? So if I am cutting crown molding for my Harrison tower which is 5 pieces the angle for the corners will be different and does that make the length of the molding different?

I wouldn't try to calculate exact measurements for molding. I'd order at least half again more than the running total required. For one thing, with various lengths to be cut, there will be some waste in each strip of molding. And for another, you're bound to make some mistakes and have to recut.

There have been several posts dealing with cutting miters. Hopefully another member will be able to provide a link. 

I am hoping that someone can understand my ramblings and possible run-on sentences!! Thanks for your patience.

 

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A woman at the first dollhouse shop I was ever in said "one piece per wall for an averaged sized house. So a room with three walls equals three sheets of paper, three lengths of crown and baseboard.

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KathieB's no measure method is exactly how I do it and 100% how I would recommend. 

And Sable's "one sheet per wall" advice is also how I do wallpaper.

I cut all my mitered corners with a miter box and saw. *shrug* That's just how I learned to do it.

Good luck!

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I also use a miter box, but I wish I had one of those Miter Masters. Cheryl, the angles on your square walls will all be 45°, but I think in the tower your angles will probably be less and that's when a Miter Master comes in handy. As far as I know, the miter box will only cut 45° angles.

The way I do my trim is to start with the back of the room first (hopefully with the house on its back - that's so much easier). To start with, I cut one 45° angle first. Then I set it on the room and mark where the other wall is, to measure across. In this picture (in which the trim is upside down just because I wanted to show the best view of the trim), the widest part of the trim is the part that goes from side to side:

1.jpg.1f15c87c3bfc7a8fb1e4b05970281b12.j

 

After I cut the second angle on this piece of trim (this is the hardest piece to cut accurately and the only one you have to measure to cut), I put the trim in the back of the room (now the trim is right side up):

2.jpg.087b7a388b08444ce6d1e211cd0815e8.j

That's the most difficult part. Next, you want to cut another angle on another piece of trim. It doesn't matter which way you cut it because if you cut it wrong for one side, you can use it for the other side as long as you remember to cut your trim for the opposite wall in the other direction:

3.jpg.9a5bfd98890f09d4714bdaaf8072a45b.j

 

After that, all you have to do is put it against the trim in the back and then mark where your wall ends and make a straight cut:

4.jpg.8fdddf2faacc3342a232a36446d79f6d.j

 

Then repeat for the other side.

Baseboard tends to be a lot easier to cut (and you can do it in the same way) except for someone like me, who can cut ceiling molding just fine and has a horrible time cutting baseboard. But then, I never said I was normal. LOL

If you absolutely have to (and this goes for wallpaper, too), you can cut a little large and trim down if you have to. That's way better than cutting too short. It's pretty difficult taking slivers of wood off the trim till it fits, but it can be done, with patience, sweating, and swearing. Wallpaper is lots easier to trim "just a little" off if the paper is too big. At this point in my life, I do it by eye. Most of the time I get it right. And if you cut your wallpaper a little short from top to bottom, that's OK if you're going to cover the top and bottom with trim.

But I will cut wallpaper a little longer then the room is deep, though. For example, on your wallpaper, if your room is 10" deep, I'd cut the wallpaper maybe 10 1/8" deep and then fold that last 1/8" around the corner against the back wall. You have to be careful to take your wallpaper pattern into account, but I just think it's an assurance in case your wallpaper shrinks or something. This way, you won't have a corner where the wallpapers don't meet. That's just me. I don't know if anyone else does that or not.

By the way, you should get four sheets to cover a dollhouse room. Three to use and one in case you mess up, which you will do if you have just three sheets. If you have four, you'll never mess up and then you'll have one useless sheet of wallpaper left over. But that's better than needing an extra and having to wait for it and maybe have it not match the dye lot of the previous three sheets.

And for the Harrison, I'd definitely have four sheets ready, because it's going to be harder to wallpaper that tower.

Good luck!

 

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When I had to start cutting the crown molding and baseboard for the San Fran bay windows I decided I needed a better miter box.  There are a lot of miter cuts on this house inside and out and the bays are cut at 60 degrees not 45 so I bought this miter box.  It's really been a life saver for me.  I got it Micro Mark it's a Dobson Miter-Rite. I also have the one Holly has, but for thick crown molding I don't have the strength to cut it with Miter Master.

15215_R-1.jpg.e6e24c5354a156d4df882d3c30

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Yes, the saw comes with it.  I really like it a lot.  You can take the top board off it to cut thicker trim.  It's held on with double sided tape.  The saw blade is also replaceable with xacto saw blades.  The instructions tell you how to alter the xacto blades so they will work with it.  The bottom board can also be replaced if needed.  It's a little pricey compared to some other miter boxes, but it's a tool that you will have forever and get a lot of use out of it.

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Colleen - I like it! :cloud9:

If anyone is ambitious (not me) - here is a DIY from PBS's Woodsmith Shop: pdf

58de5f6699d56_miterbox.png.ec5efa43486ce

Check out the pdf just for the interesting info about the Dozuki saw & sawing technique! Pages 6-7dozuki08d.jpg

 

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On 3/30/2017, 8:22:50, 1martinimomma said:

When I had to start cutting the crown molding and baseboard for the San Fran bay windows I decided I needed a better miter box.  There are a lot of miter cuts on this house inside and out and the bays are cut at 60 degrees not 45 so I bought this miter box.  It's really been a life saver for me.  I got it Micro Mark it's a Dobson Miter-Rite. I also have the one Holly has, but for thick crown molding I don't have the strength to cut it with Miter Master.

15215_R-1.jpg.e6e24c5354a156d4df882d3c30

This is awesome! I had to cut some 22.5 angles for my gazebo and I had to mark them using the pattern on the kit instructions as a guide. I would have much rather used this. I will have to check it out!

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1 hour ago, MaryBethD said:

This is awesome! I had to cut some 22.5 angles for my gazebo and I had to mark them using the pattern on the kit instructions as a guide. I would have much rather used this. I will have to check it out!

I think you will find this miter box the perfect fit for what you need.  I can't believe the miter cuts I can now accurately make using this great little tool. I will be showing pictures or a newel post I made, that without the miter box would have never happened.  By the way, I am no way associated with the tool.  I just bought this miter box  because it looked the easiest for me and it is.

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OK, now I have to ask. In the picture, the piece of wood being sawn looks only about 1/4" high. What if you were to turn that piece of wood up on end. Could it be sawn with that miter box then? Because it looks like there might be a height limit to what you can saw.

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49 minutes ago, rodentraiser said:

OK, now I have to ask. In the picture, the piece of wood being sawn looks only about 1/4" high. What if you were to turn that piece of wood up on end. Could it be sawn with that miter box then? Because it looks like there might be a height limit to what you can saw.

The specs say 5/8" height and 2" wide.

http://www.micromark.com/Miter-Rite

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Thinking of all the trim needed for the Beacon Hill ... I just ordered the Miter-Rite and extra saw blades. :)  

The blade on my Easy Cutter (kin to Holly's Miter Master) is not quite perpendicular to the base, which results in hairline spaces in mitered joints that are annoying, to say the least. I long for a nice, clean mitered joint. (My needs are fairly simple. :D )

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