peggyquade Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 I am going to be building the Dura Craft Farmhouse for someone. Has anyone had any experience with this kit that they could share with me? I'm not going to be electrifying it but I will be painting it as I assemble it. Thanks! Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharon Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Which farmhouse are you building? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 I have built the Farmhouse 505 and I loved it though it was VERY hard for me. This was the only house my husband helped me with actually. It was my first duracraft house too. Read the instructions over and over again. If you get stuck somewhere, I may remember how I did it but it has been over 10 years since I built that baby. It's a BEAUTIFUL house though!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peggyquade Posted October 24, 2006 Author Share Posted October 24, 2006 It is the 505 Farmhouse. The Linfield was a Dura Craft and the instructions were the worst I'd ever worked with. So I guess I wouldn't be surprised if the instructions for this one were just as bad. Fortunately, I've put together a few dollhouses so I figured out what weren't in the instructions but I know for a new person, they would have given up, not knowing what the heck to do. Like, to put the roof assembly on, you HAD to angle cut the corner posts but the instructions never told you to angle cut the corner posts! How lame is that! So, minis on the edge, I may hollering for help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Go ahead and Holler cause I remember many nights doing the same. I wish I had great support online like there is now! I also wish I would have kept that house. I did better with the Heritage house later on because I had done more houses by then but sheesh, the Farmhouse 505 had me Hollering too. Say my name if you need me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnieEP Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Peggy, I have the Farmhouse 505 kit and have had it for over 10 years now. I did crack the box open and pulled out the instructions. From what I read it seems a little complicated but I'll know better once I get started. I have heard from some folks that the house can be a bit frustrating to build but I'm not going to shy away from a challenge. I'm just hoping that the parts aren't dry-rot after all these years! :thumb: Right now I'm working on my second Pierce which I could practically build blindfolded. Once I'm done with it I'll start FH505 and pray all the way through building it. Lynnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peggyquade Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 Lynnie: I'll try to blog my progress so that when you start yours, you have some reference if you need assistance and I'm sure I'll be learning from Minis on the Edge as I work on it so I'll pass on anything I learn. Good luck to both of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnieEP Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Peggy, that would be great if you could blog your progress. The more I look at the instructions, the more I'm scratching my head. I keep a copy here at the office as well as home, and I read them over from time-to-time. Yup, they're clear as mud I am actually looking forward to starting on it in 2007. Not that the Pierce is so easy to put together but I enjoy a challenge. And I have a feeling that FH505 is a challenge :thumb: I'm kind of glad I didn't build it when I bought it in 1996/97. I don't think I would have had the patience then that I do now. Can't wait 'til ya get started! Lynnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry from Ct Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 I need help too on a kit that is similar to the Duracraft farmhouse. I've just started to put an old dollhouse kit together for the annual Christmas raffle at our church. Another group helped me identify the kit which was donated without pictures or directions as maybe an Artply farmhouse from the 70's. Not surprisingly no one came forward with directions, but now I have pictures! I have all the walls, the windows and the base laid out and the kit bears a close resemblance to Duracraft's Farmhouse - just a smaller version I think. The kit has pre-milled clapboard in two inch strips that have to be glued together to make up the walls and slotted corner boards that hold the walls up - anyone who has made a Duracraft kit probably knows what I mean. I have made the Duracraft San Franciscan about three times but not recently and I hope someone who has worked with this construction method can tell me the basics before I start gluing. I need hints on technique - I think I remember gluing the clapboard strips together with carpenter's glue/yellow wood glue and weighting them down between waxed paper. Is this right? Gluing the walls of clapboard into the slotted corner boards next, then paint and measure for wallpaper, and then I'm lost - how do the floors go in? Do I have to trim them in the corners to fit the inside of the corner boards? There's nothing to support the floors other than one single, skinny masonite wall divider (about a quarter of an inch thick) for each of the two floors. I can add crown molding to support the floors but I wonder if I'm missing something? (I forgot my camera today, but I'm definitely taking pictures of this for a blog.) Thanks for any help you can give me. Terry from CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Terry, you remember the method correctly. Do you have pictures of your house (Maybe someone here can help you too). The milled wood is also the inside walls and I used wood glue to create them and then layed them down flat on wax paper till they dried. Te corner posts is what the walls fit into to give the walls stability and to help them stand. Seems like there was an openeing for the corner wood strips to fit into also so before you glue the walls in check to be sure there is enough space to fit through the corner hole where the trim goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peggyquade Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 If I remember correctly, you'll be gluing 1/4" square strips of wood to the insides of the walls where the floors will need to be supported...the outside edges of the floors rest on the strips of wood so make sure the strips are all at the same level. You do the strips for each floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnilad Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 I am in the process of building a 505 and I have a couple suggestions. I cut 1/4" plywood for the room partitions. Also either use 1/8" plywood on the interior of the outside walls or use posterboard to compensate for the irregularities in gluing up the siding. I need help getting the chimney glued in as there isn't much surface to glue to. Would appreciate hearing how others have done it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peggyquade Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 'I cut 1/4" plywood for the room partitions' Did the kit not come with room partitions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnilad Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Yes the kit came with 1/8" partitions but they seemed so flimsy and warped out of shape so easily. Beside if you want to electrify and use plugs they won't go through to the other side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I remember gluing the clapboard strips together with carpenter's glue/yellow wood glue and weighting them down between waxed paper. Is this right?Yes, and you'll also want to run strips of masking tape along the length of the finished wall segments after you glue them, before you weight them down, to keep them tight together. if you want to electrify and use plugs they won't go through to the other side Also if you want to use Houseworks interior doors you don't have to make shims for the frames to fit. I have built the San Franciscan & the Cambridge and I have acquired an extensive repertoire of *magic* words that make biker gangs blush like little schoolgirls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I have acquired an extensive repertoire of *magic* words that make biker gangs blush like little schoolgirls. GOOD to see you HOLLY welcome home! Im so sorry I didnt great you earlier. I been tied up :yes: you always make me smile! and teach me so much! thanks! :thumb: nutti :Jumpy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carleen Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Are you building the Dura Craft Farmhouse 505? I am asking because I purchased the kit from someone and it has NO DIRTECTIONS!!!!!!! If you have the directions might I get a copy from you? I opened the box and realized that I am lost without instructions. Upon research I found that the Dura Craft company was sold and the new owners web site is down. If you or some one else could help me that would be great. Thanks so much, Carleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mini Man Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 I think you can find the instructions for this house in this post. There is a PDF file that you can download. Good luck! Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 the Dura Craft company was sold and the new owners web site is down. That's interesting, I had heard the company just struck its tents & disappeared into the night... I think Dollhouse Properties bought out whatever was left & when it's all sold there'll be no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnieEP Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 Carleen, I downloaded the instructions but for some reason you can't see them. Dean, do you remember when I asked you before about the problems with that PDF? Anyway, Carleen HavanaHolly is right. Doll Properties is the only dealer that carries FH505. I bought my 505 ten years and I have a copy of the instructions and I will gladly give them to you if Dean can help me figure out what the problem is with my PDF. Or I can mail you a hard copy. Lynnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carleen Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Thank you all so much! I was ready to cry, all of those pieces and no clue. The PDF file opens up just fine for me. I am so happy!! The base of the dollhouse was completed ten years ago when it was first purchased. The thin strips of flooring were never urethayned after they were glued down So I am in the process of lifting them with an exacto knife and getting a thin layer of glue down then weighing them down with books. Thank you all so much, I'll keep you posted on my progress. I may be crying for help also! Carleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovecats Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Caleen! Please post pictures of your progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I am in the process of lifting them with an exacto knife and getting a thin layer of glue down then weighing them down with books When I laid the floors in the Dura-Craft houses I've built I spread rubber cement thinly all over the floor, then on each strip of wood and laid it down. Every couple of rows I burnished the strips flat with the back of an old spoon and when all the strips were laid & burnished I set stacks of old nursing textbooks on them for a couple of days before staining, sanding & varnishing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnieEP Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Carleen, the PDF opened for you??? That's great!!! Now I'm wondering why I can't see the document and I am the one who downloaded it! Glad I could be of some help! Lynnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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