Dryfitting

Is this the house that has the siding panels that all fit together? I noticed that it looks like the one on the right is upside down. I hate to say anything but if it's still in dry fit, no problem. Maybe it's just the lighting. I love that house.

No it's just the lighting, but thanks for looking and keeping me on point. This house has been a real bear to put together. You would think from the look of it that it would be easy pesey, but the instructions are a nightmare. I had to disregard a lot of what it said to "do next" just to keep my sanity. The dry fit has really accentuated that for me, because now I can see all the parts that need to be done that didn't get done because they had me jumping to do something else. (Like painting the lower gable roof in the first picture. All the others are painted because they were all done at the same time, but that one was out of order, and I missed it all together.) But you keep looking, see if there's anything else that doesn't look right or looks out of order to you, I need all the help I can get ;). Gotta say, I'm not enjoying this house as much as my first. But I think that will change once I get the walls and floors glued in place and stable. Right now it feels like it's going to fall apart every time I touch it, and if that happens......hey I got a Willow just leaning against the wall waiting for me, and I will put this puppy in the closet!

Is this the house that has the siding panels that all fit together? I noticed that it looks like the one on the right is upside down. I hate to say anything but if it's still in dry fit, no problem. Maybe it's just the lighting. I love that house.

Pat...girl you have good eyes! You told me to look at the "right" side, and of course me, with my reverse thinking self, looked at the left side. You are absolutely right that piece IS upside down. Not only that but the left side that I looked at....it's upside down too. Add to that, the other short wall in the front of the house....it's upside down, and all three pieces with the gable piece glued to the wrong end! Girlfriend you keep right on throwing your eagle eyes on this house, maybe with some help from folks like you it will turn out looking like something after all! Great Catch!

I'm so glad to be of help. I bought this house several years ago when it was still available from HBS. When I opened the box and saw all those siding pieces and posts I totally freaked. I called HBS and told them I didn't think I could ever figure out how to put it together. They said to pick another house and didn't even ask me to send it back. For years I had all kinds of pieces to use in other houses. I've lost track of any pieces still left. I love the shape of the house but it is hard to make sure all the siding is going in the right direction. I'm working on my second Willow now. It's way easier but the Farmhouse is really a great house if you can figure it all out.

Are you ready for this one? When I started taking the pieces out to remove the small gable ends and get everything oriented correctly....I had a FOURTH WALL that was upside down as well! Now I can kinda understand how the three little walls ended up that way cause they were all done together, but the 4th big wall? I can't even begin to frame an excuse for that faux pas. And mind you now, those walls have been done for weeks. I've been picking them up and moving them, sanding them, painting them, gluing floor supports on them and never once noticed anything wrong.

I should know better. I'm a beta reader, and the first thing I tell any client is that you always need a second set of eyes on your work because the eye sees only what the brain tells it is there. If you have it in your head to write one thing, that's all your brain will see when you read it...you MUST get someone to proof your work.

You have saved me, not only from being monumentally embarrassed, but from hours of frustrated ungluing and pulling it apart once it was done - cause there's no way I would have left it like that. I zoomed right through my first house, but was really taking my time with this one because I wanted it to be as perfect and complete as possible, I see now that I need to slow down and not put in so many late night - too tired to see hours . Thank you so much, and you keep looking I'll be putting up more photos as I go along .

On some of the houses now that have siding already on them, with the big pieces it's still hard sometimes to get all the siding in the right direction if it's just a rectangular piece. What I do is make sure all the pieces with siding are going in the right direction and then put an arrow pointing down in pencil on each piece so I'll know for sure all the overlaps are going down toward the foundation. Another way is if they feel smooth going down, it's right. You can tell right away if you run your hand up, they will be rough. It's going to be a really pretty house with nice big rooms.