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Is the beacon hill sturdy?


SidneyDR

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Hi everyone :)

I am new here. I have been thinking about buying the beacon hill dollhouse kit.

 Now I only have experience with the Doll House Emporium houses so I don't really know what the quality is with the beacon hill.

Are the pieces strong ? ( I once had a house from china and the pieces kept breaking).

I just really want to know if the house will be strong and if the pieces are sturdy. 

Thanks for the help :) 

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All the Greenleaf kits are sturdy once they are built.  The wood is only 1/8" thick, so many people are tempted to think "flimsy" when they are merely light weight.  That said, I don't recommend letting a child climb on it or use it for a football unless first reinforcing the interior corners with 1/4" stripwood.

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Hi Mia, I am currently building one so lemme give you my two cents. 

As with other Greenleaf dollhouses the structure is made out of thin plywood sheets (around 4mm in thickness). This might not seam very sturdy for a 1:12 scale build... however, the way the parts fit and connect together make the structure very stable and it feels sturdy enough to me. I would however still advise caution when assembling it, specially some parts like the mid section long wall may be a bit hard to put in place so be careful when applying pressure on the plywood as it might break! After it's in place you can hammer the walls into the slots, sand and cut with no problems. Don't use nails, only glue. I haven't glued the siding yet but I imagine that will also help to reinforce the walls, and if you still don't feel it's sturdy enough you can cut templates for the interior walls out of wood and thicken them up a bit. 

These structures can feel a bit lightweight but I think that is a plus, overal they are very sturdy (after assembled) as long as you don't sit on them or anything like that. The pieces aren't very 'sturdy' on their own and require a bit of care during assembly, some might even come damaged out of the box (it happened to me) but it's not expensive to repair/replace them. They are probably better suited for adults or older children (many sharp edges), but as long as the house is well kept it will last long.

The Beacon Hill is not a very easy build and it might take you a long time to finish, but I do think it's a lovelly house and really worth the effort! I think you won't be disapointed with the choice ;)

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17 hours ago, wormwoodz said:

Hi Mia, I am currently building one so lemme give you my two cents. 

As with other Greenleaf dollhouses the structure is made out of thin plywood sheets (around 4mm in thickness). This might not seam very sturdy for a 1:12 scale build... however, the way the parts fit and connect together make the structure very stable and it feels sturdy enough to me. I would however still advise caution when assembling it, specially some parts like the mid section long wall may be a bit hard to put in place so be careful when applying pressure on the plywood as it might break! After it's in place you can hammer the walls into the slots, sand and cut with no problems. Don't use nails, only glue. I haven't glued the siding yet but I imagine that will also help to reinforce the walls, and if you still don't feel it's sturdy enough you can cut templates for the interior walls out of wood and thicken them up a bit. 

These structures can feel a bit lightweight but I think that is a plus, overal they are very sturdy (after assembled) as long as you don't sit on them or anything like that. The pieces aren't very 'sturdy' on their own and require a bit of care during assembly, some might even come damaged out of the box (it happened to me) but it's not expensive to repair/replace them. They are probably better suited for adults or older children (many sharp edges), but as long as the house is well kept it will last long.

The Beacon Hill is not a very easy build and it might take you a long time to finish, but I do think it's a lovelly house and really worth the effort! I think you won't be disapointed with the choice ;)

Hi, 

Thank you for the information, I am still a bit scared to buy this kit. I have cats so I will need to find a safe spot for this one. 

Is the texture of the wood rough ? Does it need a lot of sanding (and does sanding help to make the wood more smooth?). Are the small parts also around 3-4 mm thick or are they thinner?

I still have a bunch of Levis Acrylic paint and materials from my Holme Lodge house that I can use for this kit.

I see you are from Portugal, do you mind telling me where you bought your kit? I now a dutch site that sells them but maybe another store is a bit cheaper :) 

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I have a cat and a Beacon Hill, and she can't knock it over. It is not flimsy at all. And once you start getting it decorated and such, it can get some weight to it. Nothing like the RGT mdf monster I just finished, but you can't pick it up with one hand or anything.

The wood is not rough. The edges will need some sanding where it is punched from the sheets. I have a handheld power sander that zips through that in no time. And all the pieces are the same thickness, no matter the size.

It is a beautiful house.

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52 minutes ago, sparklepuppies said:

I have a cat and a Beacon Hill, and she can't knock it over. It is not flimsy at all. And once you start getting it decorated and such, it can get some weight to it. Nothing like the RGT mdf monster I just finished, but you can't pick it up with one hand or anything.

The wood is not rough. The edges will need some sanding where it is punched from the sheets. I have a handheld power sander that zips through that in no time. And all the pieces are the same thickness, no matter the size.

It is a beautiful house.

Hi,

Thank you :)

Are the pieces easy to punch out of the sheets? My other kit was so fragile that the pieces just broke so easily :S Or do I have to use a crafting knife to remove the pieces more easy?

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16 minutes ago, SidneyDR said:

Hi, 

Thank you for the information, I am still a bit scared to buy this kit. I have cats so I will need to find a safe spot for this one. 

Is the texture of the wood rough ? Does it need a lot of sanding (and does sanding help to make the wood more smooth?). Are the small parts also around 3-4 mm thick or are they thinner?

I still have a bunch of Levis Acrylic paint and materials from my Holme Lodge house that I can use for this kit.

I see you are from Portugal, do you mind telling me where you bought your kit? I now a dutch site that sells them but maybe another store is a bit cheaper :) 

I have cats as well, and the other day one sneaked into the craft room and sat on top of it ;) Don't worry thou, the worst thing they can do is get hair all over the place... a bit of a problem when you just applied a fresh coat of paint lol. 

The texture is a bit rough on one of the sides but it can be sanded. In my kit some of the boards had some very rough imperfections, which can happen with this kind of plywood. It wouldn't be much of a problem if those were on the walls surface alone, but in my case they were over some of the wooden doors that I wanted to stain. Here's a picture I took at the time with two of the affected pieces:

doors_damage.jpg.4e588df09ebcc50f1d93937

But this doesn't happen often and if the surface will be painted it's not a problem at all, just cover the spots with a bit of spackle or other filling material. It's best to prime the plywood, and sand in between coats if you want a smooth finish. I've used wood sandpapper on both my houses, it doesn't require a lot of effort even if you do it manually. All pieces are the same thickness except: the siding, shingles, the surface of the mansard roof and a few others - those are cut from thinner plywood sheets because they need to be more flexible, otherwise it would be a paint to bend them into that curved shape.

As for paint I've spent around 300 ml of acrylic paint so far just priming the walls, it's a lot of surface to cover so a half liter bucket will probably be the most economical option. Same for glue, get ready to use a lot of it ;) 

I imported my kit from the US, I found it for sale on Ebay with 40% off (140€). With shipping + import charges it cost me around half of what it normally would... in this country import fees are a rip off :S

 

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8 minutes ago, wormwoodz said:

I have cats as well, and the other day one sneaked into the craft room and sat on top of it ;) Don't worry thou, the worst thing they can do is get hair all over the place... a bit of a problem when you just applied a fresh coat of paint lol. 

The texture is a bit rough on one of the sides but it can be sanded. In my kit some of the boards had some very rough imperfections, which can happen with this kind of plywood. It wouldn't be much of a problem if those were on the walls surface alone, but in my case they were over some of the wooden doors that I wanted to stain. Here's a picture I took at the time with two of the affected pieces:

doors_damage.jpg.4e588df09ebcc50f1d93937

But this doesn't happen often and if the surface will be painted it's not a problem at all, just cover the spots with a bit of spackle or other filling material. It's best to prime the plywood, and sand in between coats if you want a smooth finish. I've used wood sandpapper on both my houses, it doesn't require a lot of effort even if you do it manually. All pieces are the same thickness except: the siding, shingles, the surface of the mansard roof and a few others - those are cut from thinner plywood sheets because they need to be more flexible, otherwise it would be a paint to bend them into that curved shape.

As for paint I've spent around 300 ml of acrylic paint so far just priming the walls, it's a lot of surface to cover so a half liter bucket will probably be the most economical option. Same for glue, get ready to use a lot of it ;) 

I imported my kit from the US, I found it for sale on Ebay with 40% off (140€). With shipping + import charges it cost me around half of what it normally would... in this country import fees are a rip off :S

 

I still have a lot of paint :) I just bought waaaaay to much for one house lol 2L of primer and about 5L of other paint colors. I can get the kit for about 260 euro from the dutch store which I find suprising. 

And I love a smooth finish, which is nearly impossible with all the cat hairs :D I sanded my other house until it was smooth as silk and then CAT HAIR in the paint e.e

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I can't help you with preventing cat hair (I'm violently allergic, so no cats), but if you want really smooth and are going to paint or paper, after a quick sanding apply a skim coat of spackling compound (polyfilla) and sand that smooth after it dries thoroughly.  I also spread a thin coat of spackle over the rough edges of my trim pieces before priming or painting them.  The trim bits are die cut into the same plywood sheets as the rest of the kit pieces.  The only wood parts that are thinner are siding strips and shingles.

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12 minutes ago, SidneyDR said:

I still have a lot of paint :) I just bought waaaaay to much for one house lol 2L of primer and about 5L of other paint colors. I can get the kit for about 260 euro from the dutch store which I find suprising. 

And I love a smooth finish, which is nearly impossible with all the cat hairs :D I sanded my other house until it was smooth as silk and then CAT HAIR in the paint e.e

With that much paint you are good to go! I wish I had tought of buying a larger bucket of white paint, always end up using a lot of it.

Hehe that's why I keep them out of the room where I work, as much as I enjoy their company they just can't help but rub themselves on any wood surface... doesn't matter if it's wet or dry lol. My older Maine Coon is ALWAYS trying to sneak in and follow me around... love the fluffy beast but it's just too much hair, drives me nuts! In any case it's best to stick to water based materials, is bad enough I always end up with paint or glue on my hair... if the little ones manage to slip in it's best the stuff there is not very toxic to them ;)

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