In over my head

[Mermaid84]

I bought a dollhouse from someone who was selling theirs on Facebook. The dollhouse is in great condition. I believe it’s a Real Good Toys dollhouse but I’m not too sure about that. I wasn’t able to find pictures of another one like it online. However, I don’t like where two of the walls were placed by the previous owner. The house has two dormer windows upstairs but you can only see one from the back view because the walls are blocking it.  There’s currently 3 rooms upstairs, but only one of those rooms has a window you could see. I’d like to remove those two walls and move them so that the window shows and there’s more natural light coming into the home. I’m currently building the Washington dollhouse from the kit, but I’ve never done a restoration or rehab. Does anyone have any tips on how to remove these walls without damaging the house? They were installed with a few nails and I’m not sure what kind of glue, but I have a feeling it was probably wood glue. It was built in the early 90’s. Thanks in advance. 

[amyole]

Annette: You can remove the walls but you will have to refinish the flooring and put in new wall covering. I would try by softening the glue and then carefully try to pry them out. Are the walls nailed from the ceiling below? Then you will have to refinish the ceiling, too. It does not sound impossible to do, you just have to go slowly.

[Mermaid84]

Thank you so much. Yes the walls are nailed from the floor beneath and from the roof above. Looks like there are about 5 nails in total. How would I soften the glue? I’m prepared to refinish the entire house. Thankfully, the previous owners never installed floors. 

[havanaholly]

3 hours ago, Mermaid84 said:

...How would I soften the glue?...

Blow dryer/ heat gun,  dampen with warm water + vinegar solution and wiggle a metal putty knife between; repeat until it comes apart.

[Sable]

The way I see it is that it will require some serious bashing. Saw the walls in the middle to cut out the center. Then whack the tops and bottoms with a hammer to loosen it from the nails. Then either cut the nails down with a hacksaw/Dremel diamond blade or pound them out through the floor and ceiling.

[Kells]

Those are all good suggestions for removing walls. Wish I'd thought of them! I once rehabbed a Shadows-on-the-Teche dollhouse. It was a beautiful house and the builder did a beautiful job, but there were walls everywhere you could think to put them! The rooms were all so small.

I took a rubber mallet and just whacked those buggers right out. It splintered the walls since, you know, the walls moved but the nails didn't, hahaha. I think I simply lucked out that my technique - or lack thereof - didn't splinter the ceilings or floors. Here's a Google search for that house so you can see some examples of the house (hope the link works). Just imagine it with dividing walls EVERYWHERE YOU COULD POSSIBLY PUT THEM! So I totally empathize with your dilemma.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&biw=1077&bih=569&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=487YXI70M8jm-gS9rIzQBQ&q=shadows-on-the-teche+dollhouse&oq=shadows-on-the-teche+dollhouse&gs_l=img.3...0.0..7842...0.0..0.0.0.......0......gws-wiz-img.Q2v_ZP2Y7is

[Mermaid84]

35 minutes ago, KellyA said:

Those are all good suggestions for removing walls. Wish I'd thought of them! I once rehabbed a Shadows-on-the-Teche dollhouse. It was a beautiful house and the builder did a beautiful job, but there were walls everywhere you could think to put them! The rooms were all so small.

I took a rubber mallet and just whacked those buggers right out. It splintered the walls since, you know, the walls moved but the nails didn't, hahaha. I think I simply lucked out that my technique - or lack thereof - didn't splinter the ceilings or floors. Here's a Google search for that house so you can see some examples of the house (hope the link works). Just imagine it with dividing walls EVERYWHERE YOU COULD POSSIBLY PUT THEM! So I totally empathize with your dilemma.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&biw=1077&bih=569&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=487YXI70M8jm-gS9rIzQBQ&q=shadows-on-the-teche+dollhouse&oq=shadows-on-the-teche+dollhouse&gs_l=img.3...0.0..7842...0.0..0.0.0.......0......gws-wiz-img.Q2v_ZP2Y7is