lost in all this

[matttheclutz]

Hi folks. My best friend lost her father about four years ago. He was in the midst of building a beacon hill doll house for her. Its been in a garage for several years. She recently asked if I might take a shot at it. This is one of those...emotional things.

Its about 2/3 built. I have gotten to the point of building the tower roof. The roof pieces are curved but because of storage conditions im almost certain that they will crack if I "unroll" them to glue them on. Is there a technique to this? Steaming or something?

[WyckedWood]

Hi Matt, welcome to the forum.

So....do you have any box or instructions? When I did mine I dampened the wood and wrapped it around a large coffee can with rubberbands to get it to curve.

The roof pieces are supposed to curve. Its hard to help you unless we can see pics of exactly what youre dealing with. After you make 5 posts or just comments..then you can open a gallery and share pictures. This is a big site with lots of sections, stick around and youll get used to it and we'll do everything we can to help. If u don't want to, or cant share photos just be as descriptive as possible,so that you can receive the best answers.

[havanaholly]

Matt, if it helps, check out all the gallery pictures and blogs here for the Beacon Hill.

[WyckedWood]

Matt, I don't know if it would be of help, but this is the link to mine. We have many forum members building the Beacon Hill right now so youre in good company. Don't be afraid to ask ANY question...like Holly always says "there is no such thing as a stupid question"

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=3035

This blog might be of more help to you because the owner (gina) goes through the building process step by step on two different BHs. Google "MoreMinis Blog" and select Beacon Hill from the drop down menu.

[Dalesq]

Welcome Matt, and BTW I like your log in name

[Blondie]

You can do it!!!!! We're here to help. The ceiling pieces can be a bit tricky, so I cut the edge of mine off to make them bend easier. You might try that trick, too. And do look at Gina's blog for advice -- I follow her Beacon Hill posts closely. She has two different ways to build the BH -- I'm using the second version.

[matttheclutz]

ok ill have a look at the blog. they are curved they way they are supposed to be, but the directions call for them to be pushed into place with them bowing out, then snapping back to the original curve. im afraid these are so brittle and dried out they will just snap into unusable pieces. i know they will be covered by the shingles, so some cracking may not matter. is tehre a particular technique to making them damp, so they are more flexible?

[havanaholly]

...a particular technique to making them damp, so they are more flexible?

A) Seal them on both sides with a clear sealer

B) Wipe them (when the sealer is dry) with a damp cloth on both sides

[Blondie]

Yes sorry I mean roof pieces. Mine were brand new with bendy wood and they still snapped and cracked. I cut off about 1/4 inch all of them and they slid right in. You could also make new pieces using card stock or some thin cardboard since they will be covered. You could also order new sheets of the roof pieces from Greenleaf. If your existing pieces are really crackly, I would for sure use something else.

[havanaholly]

If you have any tablets of paper around the house the cardboard/ chipboard backing works very well for this.

[-defunct account-]

Yeah, rather than drive yourself nutty trying to force them to shape, use them as templates for cardstock or maybe matboard (any thick paper product really, cereal boxes even) to trace out the pattern. As you said, they'll be covered in shingles anyway. Cardboard is going to be much easier to cut to precision shape & size too.

[GirlPiper]

You learn to use odd things that happen to be considered waste by the "big" world. If you cut a pattern first, then followed the instructions from Holly to seal and moisten, if you wreck the wood pieces, you have your pattern made to do a replacement.

[matttheclutz]

thanks guys thats a great idea, ill do that. i have lots of extra "shoe box" style thin card board from where i work i could use. perfect! thank you!