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Dollhouse Disaster


Hallowell

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I was re-arranging the diningroom and livingroom one day. I had to move stuff around. I decided to put my Orchid out on the front porch because I did not want it to get knocked over.

I forgot about it. :giggle: That evening we had a wind storm. I came out in the morning to get the paper and got the sad shock of my life. The Orchid was picked up and flown down the front steps. It was a pile of splinters on the front walkway.

You do not know how sad I felt having to put her in the trash.. I was :lol: about it.

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I had sold a dollhouse and while transporting it to the pack N ship place, The roof got dinged up cause the door closed too soon as I was bringing it through the door. I had to call the customer and explain and then let her see the pictures of my fixing it. It turned out well and the roof is still holding up. (I just got pictures of it again a couple of weeks ago and this happened 3 years ago :giggle: ).

So it felt good that I could fix it but it was damaged pretty good :lol:

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When DGD#1 got the SF555 I built her her dad put it in the rear seat of his Honda to take it back to Jacksonville with her when he took her back home, and they managed to have a couple of shakes, the tower roof finial and the rain downspout come off. The next time I saw the house her cousins had done a bit more damage to it.

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When I decided to get back into miniatures, and went digging through my mother's garage for my childhood dollhouse... I found it in a corner, covered with a tarp. Lifted the tarp, and... mouse poop on every floor, mouse urine soaked into the wood, and a beautiful Sonia Messer side table with tiny teeth marks on the leg.

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My biggest dollhouse disaster was my first house, the Willowcrest. Im still laughing about it to this day even though back then I was terribly sad. That house turned out unbelievably bad and everything I would try to do to make it better, only made it worse. It was just horrible. The construction didnt turn out wrong but I decided to leave all of the interior and exterior finishing for the end. I think that about says it all.

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Candace, my skin crawled reading your description, but when you described the table I wept.

Wolfie has the saddest story. Maybe she will add it here.
I think she hurts each time she thinks about it; maybe not; you can add a link for it.
The construction didnt turn out wrong but I decided to leave all of the interior and exterior finishing for the end. I think that about says it all.
Ooo, Gina! I feel your pain!
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My disaster would have to be the Laurel bash I started several months ago. The tile flooring job is just horrible. A first grader could have done a better job! I got so upset with the way it turned out I sat the house aside. Now I think I'm ready to tear out the tiles and start over. :giggle:

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When i built a foam core house, my nephew did a belly flop at it when he was mad if that doesn't count, when I moved the garf downstairs, porches, roof extensions, all broke off they are now removable, I guess we learn from our mistakes.

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My disaster would have to be the Laurel bash I started several months ago. The tile flooring job is just horrible. A first grader could have done a better job! I got so upset with the way it turned out I sat the house aside. Now I think I'm ready to tear out the tiles and start over. :)

I've done tiling on my house. I did have an advantage - I was a tile setter for almost two years before I built it. Let me know what went wrong and I can probably help.

Aside from the remodel that has taken me 2.5 years to finish (24 hours to go) the biggest disaster that I've had was having the wiring in my first house fail after two years without a problem. The real problem was that I was 2/3'rds of the way finished when the failure occured and all of the wiring was inside the walls, so I couldn't repair it. I had to research low-voltage wiring, soldering and then (GASP) run a 25" drill bit through the floor joists from each end of the house and meet in the middle. Next I drilled down the center of several walls, then snaked the wire through with a straightened out coat hanger. The last part was cutting out the lights, re-wiring them in and patching up the ceilings.

I guess the nail bighter was taking my house to Ocala, Florida (about 40 miles), then to Lakeland, FLorida (120 miles) a month later - with the house in the back of an open pickup truck driving down I-75 at speeds of 70 mph! Both times the house arrived in perfect condition. I guess I could advertise that my houses are hurricane proof. Of course for the trip to Lakeland we laid the house on its back to lower its profile.

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I had just finished my Heritage and had it landscaped and all, and it was on a low table in the living room. I had gone to bed and my daughter and her live-in boyfriend were out until quite late. Suddenly I was awakened by a very large crash, and went into the living room and turned on the lights and was met with a horrible picture! There was my Heritage in splinters and the table as well. The boyfriend had tripped in the dark and landed on top of the dollhouse and table. He was on drugs at the time. Needless to say I was shaken up and cried. The next day the boyfriend had to go. I had bricked that little house by cutting out individual bricks from wooden coffee stirrers and it was perfect right up to the chimney which had smoke coming out of it. The next morning I sadly carried the pieces to the dumpster......

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I've done tiling on my house. I did have an advantage - I was a tile setter for almost two years before I built it. Let me know what went wrong and I can probably help.

Thanks! I just done a terrible job at lying the tiles in straight and even. I did use the grout mix and when it dried I put several coats of polyurithane on and it turned the grout an ugly brownish yellow color. Lesson learned! I will need to chisel it all out and start over. I have used mortar mix for grout in the past and was happy with the way it turned out, so I'll use it instead of the white grout mix and hopefully I'll do a straighter job this time. :)

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Thanks! I just done a terrible job at lying the tiles in straight and even. I did use the grout mix and when it dried I put several coats of polyurithane on and it turned the grout an ugly brownish yellow color. Lesson learned! I will need to chisel it all out and start over. I have used mortar mix for grout in the past and was happy with the way it turned out, so I'll use it instead of the white grout mix and hopefully I'll do a straighter job this time. :)

First, you need to figure out how far apart you want your tiles. Next, use a little algebra to find your center point in the room. I used a 1/16" space for my grout joint, and insured that it would stay that way by drawing the grid with the 1/16" space on the base. I used Elmer's to glue the tiles in. For grout, I use the sand-free shower grout. It's smoother, which "scales it down" and is easier to use than regular grout. I masked off the surrounding area and used a spray can of glosscoat to finish it off. For doorways where you only want a narrow piece of tile, I cut and sanded basswood to the same size and used heavy coats of paint till it matched the rest of the room. Hope this helps.

Sorry for hijacking the thread!

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So far, so good(knock on wood-tapping head with closed fist here) I have not had any disasters that are worthy of mention. I have successfully moved my dh's, repeatedly, even from 1 RL house to another, and everything has gone O.k. I feel sad for all of you who have had horrible mishaps. My condolescence to those who's houses were injured beyond repair.

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I bought the Victorian Mansion from a man who listed it on "CraigsList.com." When I got it I saw there was hot glue everywhere. It was thick and nasty. I used blow dryers and heat guns and fingernails for weeks. I finally decided the only way to go was to reside the entire house. I did that, picked a color and painted the exterior. Next I removed all the broken windows and ordered all new windows. I gutted the interior while I waited for the windows to arrive. I also ordered new doors. I had the house set up in my garage where I was working on it. For the next few days it rained. That was no big deal because my garage does not leak anywhere and I have worked on many houses out there. The windows arrived and I then cut all the window openings to accomodate them which took me forever. More rain....I went out 2 days later and took one look at the house and cried. There must have been too much moisture, all the walls had buckled. The new siding looked like ribbon candy, it was waving every where. The floors had warped and the roof sagged. What was left of a hard wood floor lifted and cracked. Soo, I had a major melt down and tossed the whole house.

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Oh my, Gina and Ann's stories made me cringe!! :)

I thankfully haven't had any major disasters...YET. I'm still pretty new at this though, and given time - I'll mess something up beyond repair :o

(And I'm still waiting for the day I come home and my DS has used one of my houses in a fireworks display :( - he has asked repeatedly if he can "borrow" one :woohoo: )

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Such sad stories!

My disaster isn't quite the same - the dh wasn't damaged ... at least, I hope not. This particular dh was built for my mother by a great-uncle. It had real glass windows, brass curtain rods, a flickering fireplace, and a faux bookcase in the living room that folded down into a bed. It was given to me, and I cherished it. When we emigrated from England, my mother gave it to her cousin, for her daughter to play with. (It was so large and heavy, my parent's thought it would cost too much to ship it to Canada.) Mum felt it was staying in the family, and I felt like she'd given away my child! :woohoo: Some years later my Mum asked her cousin who (in the family) had it now - and was told, rather bluntly, that it had "gone". :) She was so shocked and upset, she didn't ask exactly how - but we imagine that it was sold. It was a family heirloom, and wasn't meant to be sold - but Mum didn't specify that when she gave it to her cousin. Mum thought that it was understood - couldn't imagine it would ever be "gone". I STILL yearn for that dh. (A partial "shelf of books" - a flat piece of wood, with slightly raised (gessoed?) and painted book spines on it - from the faux bookcase had come loose before it was given away, and I kept it. I still have it, and will incorporate it into one of my special dollhouses.)

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oh Rosalind, that really is so sad! It was something a family member had made from love. I know it would have been a wonderful treasure. Before my MIL died, she gave me all the handmade linens and laces that had been passed down from her gr aunt. She made me promise never to sell them, which I wouldn't dream of doing. She had no blood daughters, just 3 of us DIL's. She didn't offer them to the other two, but I thought they would be meaningful to them as well. When I offered some to one SIL, she said she couldn't wait to cut them up and sew them in to Bible covers! I have regretted that offer, but I did take her daughter aside and tell her if that happened, when I die I will haunt her forever!

I do hope if your dollhouse still exists that it's loved by someone who wonders about its 'story'.

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