Broccolianddip Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Hey everyone! My Orchid is coming along, but I've now decided that it needs an addition. I looked around Lowe's at different woods (as much as I could with an 11 week old baby who was fussing!) I found everything to be too big and heavy in comparison to the kit wood... So I got some foam boards from Micheals yesterday and I'm thinking of trying this since it's lightweight like the Orchid structure. Do you think this will be appropriate for building? What have you used to add on in the past? Also wondering about paint. What kind do you use for your house? I was thinking small samples of interior paint would be appropriate size for DH building? Im hesitating even painting the walls because we were thinking of maybe wiring but im not sure how you would hide wires in a painted house? I've heard about paper floor templates to hide wiring, as well as wallpaper ones, but what about paint? Stair building. Not only did I misplace half of kit stairs, but I find them to be quite ugly. I would like to make custom ones, but again, am unsure about what wood is appropriate weight, thickness, etc to make them. I'd also prefer to be able to purchase locally not online, if possible Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 You can actually find the wood your looking for at michaels in the model making section but foam core is excellent for making additions. No sanding, no sealing and it's easy to cut! Plain colored scrapbook paper is great for a paint effect. As long as your stairs are the right scale you can use whatever you want to build them. You can get stair kits at hobby lobby, acmoore or online. I would say her them online. Even paying for shipping you will save because those stores rob you with prices double what they should be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broccolianddip Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 You can actually find the wood your looking for at michaels in the model making section but foam core is excellent for making additions. No sanding, no sealing and it's easy to cut! Plain colored scrapbook paper is great for a paint effect. Foam board seemed appropriate since Im not doing anything too extravagant for the addition! N The no sanding, etc is what was most appealing I suppose plain scrapbooking paper would be appropriate but how can I make sure to avoid lines that make it look wallpaper-ish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Make all your seams in the corners. If that's not possible make sure you butt the 2 factory-cut edges of the paper up to each other tightly with no overlap and try to put them deeper into the house near the back wall (front of the house). That way they're not so front and center. Seams can also be hidden along the edges of doors and windows where they'll be hidden by trim and/or curtains or where you plan to put larger wall hangings like pictures or shelving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audra Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I just started using the foam board in my Glenwood for a new wall and a half wall. Very easy to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 all of the interior walls and the second floor of my Keystone house are foamcore, either in 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch thicknesses. Theres a member here who built an entire house out of foamcore, its beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I use foamcore for interior walls; for external additions DH got me a sheet of 1/8" thick plywood at Lowe's and cut it into manageable sized pieces for me. I prime with interior flat white latex paint; I've also used gesso. There's no reason not to make card templates of your walls and paint them to cover your wiring. You can make your stair stringers from basswood and your treads and risers from either basswood or craft sticks; you can buy mini turned balluster rails or use small diameter dowels and stripwood for the banister rail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 SallyG built this house completely of foamcore from dollhouse plans she ordered. I still drool over the pictures... http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=23564 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Your other alternative is to go to one of the home stores that sells lumber and buy a 4X8 foot piece of door skin. It is Luan Mahagony and the same 1/*" plywood that the Greenleaf and Corona kits are made from. I bought a piece several years ago and am still using it for all sorts of things. It is easy to cut with a handsaw. Some people even cut it with a utility knife. Also, if you want to do stairs easily, go and buy a length of 3/4" cove molding. It has two straight sides at a right angle and can be cut into lengths that you want as the width of your stairs and glued face down to another piece of wood. When you have that done, you can cover the ends with a number of different methods and you basically have your stairs done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broccolianddip Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 SallyG built this house completely of foamcore from dollhouse plans she ordered. I still drool over the pictures... http://www.greenleaf...ery&image=23564 I think I just spent about 30 minutes looking over, and over, and over, and over those pictures. LOL, SO BEAUTIFUL!! Your other alternative is to go to one of the home stores that sells lumber and buy a 4X8 foot piece of door skin. It is Luan Mahagony and the same 1/*" plywood that the Greenleaf and Corona kits are made from. I bought a piece several years ago and am still using it for all sorts of things. It is easy to cut with a handsaw. Some people even cut it with a utility knife. Also, if you want to do stairs easily, go and buy a length of 3/4" cove molding. It has two straight sides at a right angle and can be cut into lengths that you want as the width of your stairs and glued face down to another piece of wood. When you have that done, you can cover the ends with a number of different methods and you basically have your stairs done. So the wood does exisit! I knew it had to! I think I'd prefer working with wood over foam, but then again I haven't worked with the foam yet. I especially like the stairs idea! I remember I had seen this once, but I didn't remember until you reminded me, LOL, so thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judithfa Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Casey said: Also, if you want to do stairs easily, go and buy a length of 3/4" cove molding I never thought of that! What a great idea. Thanks, Casey B) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterine Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Yes, here's a great tutorial on that method: http://www.letsbuildadollhouse.com/page009BuildingaStaircase.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Brae, thanks for sending the url for that website. I have been doing stairs like that for about 20 years and love the method. I described it in my blog, but not in great detail. Now I will know where to send people for a good tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterine Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Sure thing! I ran into that website awhile ago but haven't had the chance to use it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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