Hofco house with no instructions.

[Just One More]

I just got a Hofco Charmingland house on ebay, new in box for $52.00. The box is factory sealed. One problem, no instructions. I built this same house about five years ago and remember it has the first and second floor assembled separately which was a bit tricky. Otherwise, it's a fairly simple all wood house. It's made by Hofco, no longer in business so can't just get instructions from the company. Does anyone have this house or know where I can get instructions for it? I let the seller know but since the box was sealed I don't think she would have them. If anyone has the instructions or knows how I can get them, please let me know. Thanks.

[Just One More]

Never mind. LOL I remembered how I did it before. The top and bottom floor walls are separate and just glue to the floors. Then wood strips are added in the exterior where the joins are, to hold it all together. Everything fits perfectly. I taped it together for now. It's a really nice all wood house with everything included, assembled windows, door, stairs, stained shingles and even the nails. I remembered it was different than most houses but only had finished house pictures to go by

[KathieB]

Hooray! I love a happy ending.

[Just One More]

I had to tape it together. I wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight 'til I figured it out. I'm still working on my Westville. Exterior is almost finished.

[havanaholly]

I love this Westville's color scheme. Has the Hofco told you anything about what it wants?

[Just One More]

When I built it before I did it in a pretty grey with black roof and stained porch floor. There's a picture in my gallery. I like grey because it blends in with any interior colors, wallpaper etc. I have an Arthur in a medium blue with red door, white gingerbread trim and a painted maple brown color roof. The shingles that came with the Charmingland house are stained a maple color. I'm going to paint it the medium blue with a red door like the Arthur. I love my little Arthur and always thought the colors were so pretty but being so small, haven't done much with it. I got the Hofco shell all assembled without instructions and it came out really nice. Hofco made a quality house. In the box since 1991 and the pieces fit exactly. All wood but not so heavy like MDF. It includes all the exterior trim, doors, windows, shingles and even a bag of nails which really aren't needed, and sandpaper. I may paint some of the walls. They are so smooth. It's just living room kitchen, bedroom and bath and a small attic space.

[Just One More]

Everything was going smoothly until I got to the porch. I think I'll just not build any more houses with porches no matter who makes the kit. I did this house before about five years ago and I don't remember it being this difficult. The porch roof is glued to a beveled piece you put under the second floor windows. The posts are just plain wood with the beveled tops. Trying to get the bevels to match the slant of the porch roof took several hours and I was ready to pitch it. If the slant matched up, the bottom part that connects to the porch floor didn't. Glue wasn't holding and no way could it be nailed. The two railings that go between the posts were OK. However, even though the box was factory sealed, the two smaller railing pieces that go on either end are missing. For being sealed in the box since 1991 there was only one piece with any warping. The back roof piece was slightly but not enough to show. I would have left the porch off but the house has a little higher foundation to accommodate the porch and it wouldn't look right without it. From now on if I build anymore, no porches.

[Just One More]

I just put a picture in my Picasa of my Hofco house. The house is finished on the outside except for the shingles. I haven't decided at all how to do the interior. There's only the four rooms with a center stairway. There's an attic but the highest point is only six inches so can't be used for a regular room. Lots of storage though. It looks brighter blue in the picture than it really is. The floors are stained and I'll have to make window trim for the interior windows. I will be moving the walls to the back edge and am making room for doors into the kitchen and bathroom. I have to cut a bit off each wall for doors to fit. The stairs are OK but have the solid piece instead of a spindled railing. I can decorate it somehow for the living room and put some nice spindled rails upstairs. I have to put pictures in my Picasa because I never got to figure out how to put them in my gallery here.

[kat57]

I don't even know how to put my photos from my digital camera onto my computer yet,Pat,so you are miles ahead of me!!lol The hofco house is very lovely,ornery porch and all,and I love the red door! ^_^

[KathieB]

Pat here's how to post from Picasa (or any website):

1. Open the photo in Picasa
2. Do a right click and choose Open Image in a New Tab
3. Click on the new tab
4. Click on the https:// address to highlight it
5. Do a right click and choose Copy
6. Come back to the Greenleaf, Reply to this topic message box
7. Click on the little photo image in the row of icons above
8. Do a Control-V to paste the https:// address in the box that opens
9. Click Okay

That's it! :thumb:

[havanaholly]

Oh, Pat, I LOVE the colors! And what a good job you did on the porch.

[GirlPiper]

Great build! Love the tricky porch and it looks worth your effort.

[Just One More]

KathieB - That's kind of how I put pics from Picasa in my doll club. I'll have to try it. Sometimes the little strip of icons are faded out and don't respond when I post here. One more thing to figure out. Thanks for the info.

The house porch came out better than I thought. I have a lot of the siding strips from GL and they are just thin enough to fit gaps in building. I put two under the loose posts on the porch floor and trimmed around them when the glue was dry. Now they are secure to the floor. I've also used the siding for floors and it looks really nice for wide board flooring.