pats 77 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I spent a really frustrating Sunday trying to get the lights into the RGT Victorian Cottage. The MDF they used in this thing is like trying to get through cement. I swear I'll never do another RGT house if they keep using the MDF they are using now. I've built and wired several houses in the past, including a couple of theirs which were made of wood, and I never had so much trouble with the lights. I'm looking forward to trying a die-cut kit soon. True, they may need a lot of sanding and prep work, but hopefully the wood will be easier to work with, I hope, I hope. Thanks for listenin' !! Pats Quote Link to post Share on other sites
butlerestates 7 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 that is frustrating! Sorry :idea: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lmgervais 4 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Go for a laser cut GL house for your first one, and there will probably be hardly any sanding! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macduff 1 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Pats, I feel your pain! I have a RGT Newport, and the lights on the first floor work great, but there are 2 connections on the top floor where the little grommets always want to pop out, and I always have to run my hand over the wallpaper and try to push them back in. I just bought an Apple Blossom for my daughter for Xmas, and I hope I have better luck w/ that. I got RGT's little tool that they recommend for MDF, and I hope that helps. But I remember sweating through that MDF wiring on the Newport!!! I recently finished a 1/8 inch plywood Duracraft house, and the wiring was so easy in comparison. Try to do as many single tape runs as possible! Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
miniwendy 4 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 yeh, between the rock hardness and incredibly heavy weight of the mdf, I'm becoming less and less enthused about it as I go... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
justmesue 20 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I'd never tackle wirring the RGT MDF houses without the actual Ez electrification tool that they sell. You'll love the GL houses, you can make little holes in the wood, for the prongs, with no strenght at all! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NewAtThis 0 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 But don't give up! The lighting makes such a lovely difference. I've come to the conclusion that there are specific strengths and weaknesses, and the choice between MDF and other materials is all about purpose. The RGT houses are perfect for playthings... very sturdy and safe. The die-cut ones have many more options for modification, and much better detailing. Two tips: get the EZ electrification tool. I couldn't have done the job without it. And, use as many ceiling fixtures as you can, and run the tapewire for them across the floor above. It's so much easier to run the fixture wires up through the plywood floors, as you have more length to work with and can easily hide the extra under the carpet or other flooring finish. I destroyed at least two fixtures before I tried that! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jo Med 1,013 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 :idea: Getting worried now - my next house is MDF (still in the box) and I have ... er... had..... great plans for lighting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
miniwendy 4 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Don't give up yet Jo! I'm going to try the floor wiring and see what happens. The ceiling and wall wiring thing wasn't going to well for me at all, either- the sticky tape kept peeling off :idea: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nileke 0 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 My next project is a half scale MDF cottage. I plan to pre-drill holes with the tiniest drill bit I have first, and the appropriate diameter drill bit after that. In theory that should work fine. :idea: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
havanaholly 11,097 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Jo, go with hardwire and the routed baseboards and templates for your walls. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pats 77 Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 I thought I saw a house on the GL community site that was electrified by running the fixture wires down through the house and plugging them into an electrical strip that was hidden under the house. The house sat on a base, so there was plenty of room for the strip. Anyone know what house that was? I'd like to revisit it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tess11 2 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Pat, I totally feel your pain. What you are talking about in your last post is a hardwire system. You run the wires to a strip under the house (or hidden somehwere inside the house like a cabinet I made in my San Fran for that purpose) and plug them in. I nearly went crazy trying to tapewire my San Fran and I even had that electrification tool to push in the grommets. I gave up and went with hard wire (also known as round wire) and I'll never go back. I used to be the biggest proponent of tape wire but now I love the hard wire method. Do what works for you, but for me in an MDF house, I'd never attempt tapewire again. :idea: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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