captain tiny Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Ok, so when I was assembling the foundation for my house there were alot of pieces that didn't fit together the way that they should. There were gaps between boards and alot of the tabs or the grooves they fit into were too big and/or small. I used my dremmel to fix all of these so that everything was nice and flush before I glued, and I used masking tape to put it together dry first figuring it couldn't hurt to make sure it was the way I wanted it. My question is, how important to the finished product is doing this? If there is an 1/8th of an inch gap between two pieces somewhere, or something doesn't fit quite right is it going to make a big deal to the finished product? Doing all of these alterations was EXTREEMLY time consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 You may want to punch out the rest of the main house pieces and do a dry fit (put together with masking/painter's tape before you glue any more pieces. What happens next depends on exactly how the base pieces were altered. As you've already guessed, an eighth of an inch change in the foundation can translate to a much larger gap or overlap by the time you get to the attic. Generally, the pieces as stamped are as they should be. Sometimes the quality of a particular piece of plywood influences the slots and/or tabs, leaving them not as precise as they could be, and a little warping can also alter the fit. If you're having to make major adjustments, first look to see that all of the pieces wasn't inadvertently flipped or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 The foundation is very important to have squared correctly because it can cause gaps as you build. As Kathie mentioned, you really need to be sure your pieces are not flipped because they should fit correctly in place. I LOVE the Pierce house!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbytsdy Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Ok, so when I was assembling the foundation for my house there were alot of pieces that didn't fit together the way that they should. There were gaps between boards and alot of the tabs or the grooves they fit into were too big and/or small. I used my dremmel to fix all of these so that everything was nice and flush before I glued, and I used masking tape to put it together dry first figuring it couldn't hurt to make sure it was the way I wanted it. My question is, how important to the finished product is doing this? If there is an 1/8th of an inch gap between two pieces somewhere, or something doesn't fit quite right is it going to make a big deal to the finished product? Doing all of these alterations was EXTREEMLY time consuming. I had this same problem with my Pierce foundation. I plowed on, gaps and all, and it truly makes a difference as you get higher up in the building process... Let's just say that hubby made much fun of me for using so much wood paste and spackle...! It sounds as though you have optimized your situation though, having flushed all your pieces ahead of time; I wish I had done this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokkie Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 I totally understand your problem, I hade the same difficulties with the Pierce as I build it some 8 years ago. I do not quite understand the 1/8 measurement you mentioned, but try to make things fit as good as you can for stability, and what I had problems with was keeping all the second and third floors real straight/horizontal, that is important too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 The Pierce foundation is just a wee bit tricky because there are a couple of pieces that are almost identical in appearance, but it makes a huge difference in where they go. Double check your schematics and the numbers of each piece to make sure they're in the right place. I found that out the hard way and had to redo my foundation, but it was worth it. If the foundation is just the teeniest bit off, you'll have big gaps by the time you get to the third floor. You'll also want to double check the front piece of the foundation that has the slots for the porch steps. If it's upside down, it can throw off your foundation. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain tiny Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 Deb - this peice needs to have the two extra slots downward correct? This peice was the worst of them all - it came fully a quarter of an inch too small on both sides to fit against the other boards. I had to make supports for it and attach them to the inside of the base to get it to stand up at all. - fun fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleFox Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I assembled the foundation of my Pierce and didn't have that much trouble.... but then again mine isn't finished yet... and there could be a problem lurking that won't show up until I put the roof on. Good Luck with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Click this picture to see the album of me putting the foundation together: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain tiny Posted February 20, 2008 Author Share Posted February 20, 2008 Thnx for sharing your pics Minis On The Edge - it helps too see other peoples progress and ideas. I got my window upgrade today! How exciting!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 No problem, that is why I did this. Some of the pictures would not upload here in my blog so more of the pictures are in my webshots album than here in my blog. The window upgrades are really cool! They just did not fit the "castle" look we were going after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corwin Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 How abut wood glue to hide the gaps?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violet Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I assembled the foundation of my Pierce and didn't have that much trouble.... but then again mine isn't finished yet... and there could be a problem lurking that won't show up until I put the roof on. Good Luck with it! I have a question about putting the electricity in. I think I have the idea of how to do it. I just can't figure how to run it through the house. Any ideas on how I can get started. I have not put on the third floor yet, cause I can see that I need to decorate that area with the staircase. Where did you start the wire at? and where did you lead it up to the second floor. I quit building this years ago, because I got stumped with the electrical. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Gotta love spackle and wood filler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon-UK Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 I found the same thing with my Willowcrest: very small differences early on in the construction, can add up to big gaps / problems later on. When I finally came to put on the top piece that locked all the walls together, I literally had 3 inches to haul in with clamps and ties to pull the whole house back into square, enough that I could lock on the top piece. I've also found that my porch roof is not really level, and a few other pieces aren't entirely square. Luckily you can cover up a lot of sins with siding, and fill gaps inside. On my foundation, in addition to assembling with wood glue, I also glued in additional blocks of wood to strengthen joints (just make sure you don't block any tabs/holes) and also ran a few lines of hot glue to strengthen joins when it wasn't feasible to glue on an extra wood block. Sharon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Heavy duty staples spaced evenly along a glue line will also help to hold things together whilst the glue dries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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