New, Working On Orchid..Clueless

[DestinySara]

Thank you for the welcomes and advice. I'm really glad to have met you all. I got all of my halloween decor put up this afternoon and I finished transplanting a tree so I can move forward with the house fully now and devout all my time to it. 

[DestinySara]

ok on the dormer casings for the house on pages 3, 6 and 7. It says to use only the interior but they all look alike. By my count, there are 5 casings not four and all are identical but one which is much much larger, or is it a throw away piece?

[DestinySara]

Got the windows figured out now i'm stumped by the door. There's the front door which is a big door that has 2 punch outs on top and two on bottom. the top punch outs are for the windows of course. Also, it has a door frame attached to it. The next piece is a door trim which is a simple rectangle with the punch outs at the top.

the instructions say" remove front door window  from plastic sheet. position front door trim(large door overlay) face down and center window sheet. glue.  Large door trim piece with windows attached and front door can be assembled. lay front door face down and position large trim piece over it. glue The two rectangular panels are centered in the lower half of the front door rectangular cut outs. glue. set aside door."

the instructions call both pieces of the door trim so I'm confused as to which one gets the window glued on it. Also, do I leave the door frame attached because mine wants to come off badly and with the picture, I can't tell if the frame is on the outside of the house or the inside. It looks like both. on the photo, it looks like the door is glued onto the frame so it's standing in front of it. On the inside photo, it looks like the frame was glued to the inside of the house.

 

 

 

[DestinySara]

31 minutes ago, DestinySara said:

Got the windows figured out now i'm stumped by the door. There's the front door which is a big door that has 2 punch outs on top and two on bottom. the top punch outs are for the windows of course. Also, it has a door frame attached to it. The next piece is a door trim which is a simple rectangle with the punch outs at the top.

the instructions say" remove front door window  from plastic sheet. position front door trim(large door overlay) face down and center window sheet. glue.  Large door trim piece with windows attached and front door can be assembled. lay front door face down and position large trim piece over it. glue The two rectangular panels are centered in the lower half of the front door rectangular cut outs. glue. set aside door."

the instructions call both pieces of the door trim so I'm confused as to which one gets the window glued on it. Also, do I leave the door frame attached because mine wants to come off badly and with the picture, I can't tell if the frame is on the outside of the house or the inside. It looks like both. on the photo, it looks like the door is glued onto the frame so it's standing in front of it. On the inside photo, it looks like the frame was glued to the inside of the house.

 

31 minutes ago, DestinySara said:

Also, do I use white glue or the wood glue/glue gun?

 

 

[kathi17]

Alicia, you probably should download this set of enhanced instructions They have much better diagrams. Also, Gina has a wonderful blog about building the Orchid. With those two resources, your questions will probably be answered!

On Gina's blog, click "newer" at the bottom of each post, below the comments, to see the next step.

Door

[havanaholly]

9 hours ago, DestinySara said:

ok on the dormer casings for the house on pages 3, 6 and 7. It says to use only the interior but they all look alike. By my count, there are 5 casings not four and all are identical but one which is much much larger, or is it a throw away piece?

The interior dormer window trims are very slightly narrower than those for the exterior:

7 hours ago, DestinySara said:

Got the windows figured out now i'm stumped by the door. There's the front door which is a big door that has 2 punch outs on top and two on bottom. the top punch outs are for the windows of course. Also, it has a door frame attached to it. The next piece is a door trim which is a simple rectangle with the punch outs at the top.

the instructions say" remove front door window  from plastic sheet. position front door trim(large door overlay) face down and center window sheet. glue.  Large door trim piece with windows attached and front door can be assembled. lay front door face down and position large trim piece over it. glue The two rectangular panels are centered in the lower half of the front door rectangular cut outs. glue. set aside door."

the instructions call both pieces of the door trim so I'm confused as to which one gets the window glued on it. Also, do I leave the door frame attached because mine wants to come off badly and with the picture, I can't tell if the frame is on the outside of the house or the inside. It looks like both. on the photo, it looks like the door is glued onto the frame so it's standing in front of it. On the inside photo, it looks like the frame was glued to the inside of the house.

 

 

 

Paint both pieces of the door before gluing the window acetate.  I use Elmer's all-purpose white glue to glue the acetate pieces, and carpenters wood glue to glue the wood pieces.  I glue whatever material I'm using for hinges (chamois, in my case) with the wood glue.  The front door trim piece is the piece with four punch outs.  Paint that whatever color you want your front door.  When the paint is dry, lay the trim piece face down on a small piece of waxed paper and run a thin bead of white glue around each of the upper punch outs (the pointy topped ones) and carefully lay the window acetate over the openings so that the edges of the acetate touch the glue.  Gently press the acetate piece down onto the glue, trying not to squish glue beyond the edge of the trim onto the window.  Whilst the glue is drying (or before, if you wish) you can paint the door piece.  After the paint has dried on the right side you will probably want to decide if you want the bottom part of the door to be the same or a contrasting color to the trim, and paint that.  I usually lay the two door pieces together before painting and gluing and trace the bottom openings of the trim piece onto the wrong side of the door piece, and when I paint those parts I let the paint extend just a bit outside of my pencil lines so that when I glue the two pieces together no unpainted wood shows, but I have some bare wood to adhere to the bare wood of the back of the trim.  I run a small bead of carpenter; wood glue around the back of the trim piece as well as between the punchouts, in a cross.  I put the door piece and trim pieces wrong sides together nd clamp the bejeezis out of them until the glue dries.  Once the clamps are removed and the glue is dry I hang the door.  If I want it to open inwards, like the front door on my 1:1 house, I lue the hinge strips to the interior edge of th door opening and cover it with the interior doorway trim.  Here is how it looks from the outside:

 

[DestinySara]

Ok, so in short, door with the 4 cut outs and trim goes on the outside of the house, rough side facing out. the door piece with only two windows is on the inside of the house, glued to the other side of the door, smooth side facing on the out towards the interior of the home.. window plastic is glued in between two doors. I think wood glue would work better to glue them together.

 

seems i got the dormer casings glued correctly without the instructions specifying which is which. one thing went right. yay!

 

Does anyone know how long it usually takes to build the whole house?

 

I was hoping to have this and another built by christmas but seeing as it took me 5 hours to paint and glue just the windows and the door, I'm not very optimistic.

[havanaholly]

The smooth side is the "right" side.  Paint the lower rough side of the two punch out door half and all of the smooth side.  Glue the acetate inserts to the upper rough side of the four punch out half (after painting the smooth side) and glue the rough sides together.

[DestinySara]

48 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

The smooth side is the "right" side.  Paint the lower rough side of the two punch out door half and all of the smooth side.  Glue the acetate inserts to the upper rough side of the four punch out half (after painting the smooth side) and glue the rough sides together.

Thank you!

[DestinySara]

Alright, It wants me to put the casings and windows onto the walls of the house. probably a good idea to paint the house first or should I wait?

[Sable]

I put Windows, doors and final trim on last after everything else is finished.

[havanaholly]

Sara, I spend a lot of time on prep work, dry fitting and sanding and masking, and I cut a lot of masking or painter's tape into 1/4' wide strips  to mask off around door and window openings until after I have primed and painted or stained the wooden walls & trims, siding, stucco, whatever; and then install trims, windows, doors, bays, etc.

Those downstairs double hung windows are a tad tricky.  What I generally do with them is to prime & paint all of the frame pieces and when they are dry, install the surrounds, apply the acetate pieces to the upper & lower panes, and then install the upper pane within the upper exterior surround frame, and the lower one to the interior surround frame, like the windows in my 1:1 house.

[DestinySara]

*mimics Lion king pose* 

 

It finally resembles a house. I'm so proud

[kathi17]

It's always so much more fun when it starts to look like something more than just a a bunch of wood with holes in it! :-D

Are you electrifying the house? You also might want to think about painting/wallpapering, and whether or not you want to add the stairs, or leave them out and have more room for furniture. Since the house is now beginning to take shape, a lot of those things, as well as where the dividers are going to be should be decided on now.

Some people put the larger rooms where the stairs are, and others use the smaller rooms as stairway rooms. I left my stairs out completely because I wanted the extra room.

You can also do a large room downstairs with a hall where the stairs are, and have it come up to a large room upstairs, with a small bathroom on the side away from the stairs. There are lots of possibilities for room layouts!

 

[havanaholly]

And you're off!

8 minutes ago, kathi17 said:

...You can also do a large room downstairs with a hall where the stairs are, and have it come up to a large room upstairs, with a small bathroom on the side away from the stairs. There are lots of possibilities for room layouts!

Like this:

[kathi17]

That's a great example of what I was talking abut Holly! There are so many ways of arranging the Orchid that it's worth experimenting before adding the inside dividers!

[havanaholly]

I must have moved those divider walls 20 times during the dry fit before deciding.  In the end the Orchid wanted to be a store, and that settled that.

[DestinySara]

I bought some wallpaper today along with a second orchid kit on sale. I'm still searching through the instructions for the dividers to add but I'm debating on how to do it. Without wanting to sound cheap, I'd like as few rooms as possible because those dollhouse furniture kits are expensive indeed. Plus, it's going to some roughhouse kids anyways so I doubt if it lasts a year.

I'm going to have a hard time parting with them though, I put alot of blood, sweat and tears into it(literally).

 

I am thinking on doing more houses now (If and when I find room)that I know more about piecing them together. Depending on my sis-in law, I could always do the big fun ones at a later age, or If I ever get a house on my own, I'd love to try the beach bungalow kit.

[kathi17]

Actually Alicia, the dividing walls will add strength to the houses. How old are the kids?

When I built my first San Franciscan, it was for my 1 1/2 year old granddaughter. I knew she would be too young for good furniture, so I bought a collection of someone else's castoffs on ebay, and it worked fine. I also picked up those 5 or 6 inch Disney princess and Tinkerbell character sets that were popular at the time. The dolls and furniture that came with them were the perfect size, and worked well until she was old enough to have better things.

For the boys, their 5 or 6 inch action figure stuff worked well, and they used their imagination to make tables out of upside down bathroom sized paper cups, Legos and other things to make furniture. If they are quite young and rough, check out ebay or the toy sections in the stores and buy cheaper things.

[havanaholly]

Another thing to make the houses a tad stronger is to cut pieces of 1/4" square stripwood to fit the interior corners of the rooms and glue them in.  I paint the two exposed sides first and butt wallpaper up to them, or else paint them to match the walls.  I also pop a few steel staples in from outside before doing whatever exterior treatment the house wants.  I actually do the stapling even when I'm building for myself, as I tend to flip the house around a lot whilst priming/ papering/ painting; plus it allows me to work on the build whilst the glue is drying.

[kathi17]

I do what Holly does too. I don't do the staples, but I do add 1/4" basswood strips in the corners, (and if the kids are very rough, add them to the ceilings like molding around the walls). I also add wood under the floor and porch steps. (Against the bottom of the floor against the walls underneath). It really does add a lot of strength.

[DestinySara]

On 10/29/2016, 7:19:30, kathi17 said:

Actually Alicia, the dividing walls will add strength to the houses. How old are the kids?

When I built my first San Franciscan, it was for my 1 1/2 year old granddaughter. I knew she would be too young for good furniture, so I bought a collection of someone else's castoffs on ebay, and it worked fine. I also picked up those 5 or 6 inch Disney princess and Tinkerbell character sets that were popular at the time. The dolls and furniture that came with them were the perfect size, and worked well until she was old enough to have better things.

For the boys, their 5 or 6 inch action figure stuff worked well, and they used their imagination to make tables out of upside down bathroom sized paper cups, Legos and other things to make furniture. If they are quite young and rough, check out ebay or the toy sections in the stores and buy cheaper things.

The oldest is 6 years and the younger will be 5 at the beginning of january.

I do like the idea of strengthening the houses but I am unsure of how much I can "fix" it up. I am willing to try some of it out.

I have the outside of the house painted now and I am trying to attach wallpaper. I should have done that before I put the walls together but I "know better" for when I do the second orchid.

Also, I bought furniture today. toys r us had sets of furniture for the "you and me, happy together" family that is a good size for the dollhouse.I bought a parent's bedroom(link below) a dining room set, bathroom set, nursery, and living room. each "room" set was $15- $20 a piece which was sooo much better than the hobby lobby brand that is $40-$60 per room set. I should have enough furniture for the two houses if I use the Div. walls right Also, I got a doll family(link below) of 7 for $12 online that is a great size. I finally managed to find the 40% off coupon for hobby lobby so my second orchid was practically free. That made my day.

Now I just have to kick my own butt to finish the first house so I can work on the second. On the plus though the popsicle barn only lacks a roof and paint job and I'm nearly done with the popsicle stable for the younger two kids.

 

I'm just debating on whether or not to stain the shingles.

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Together-Deluxe-Parents-Bedroom/dp/B00OABPEOW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1478408545&sr=8-2&keywords=happy+together+furniture

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LU6RL4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[havanaholly]

Some houses are actually easier to paper once they're put together.  The Orchid is one I prime and paper after it's together, although I do like to fool with the underside of that gable roof before installing it into place.  Whatever works for you is the way to go.  When I'm building a tab & slot it for a small child with siblings I use at least 1/4" square wood strips cut to length and glued into the interior corners of each room, so if the child sits on it, it will probably hold up.  I do use a heavy duty Stanley stapler on the edges of the corners because I tend to flip the carcase of the house around as I prime, paper, etc., so I might also pop a couple of staples into the wall where the strip is glued, since I later cover that wall with siding strip or spackle.

[Minis On The Edge]

Welcome to the forum Alicia! The Orchid is a nice house to build! Welcome to the neighborhood! I've built that house several times and I believe I have blogged it. I'll post the link. Just remember to read the instructions more than once before you start. It may not make complete sense at first but it will help more when you open the box. When's you get frustrated, take a break. When you come back to it'll, most times, the "aha" moment happens and you'll be happy till the next thing pops up. This is such a fun and rewarding hobby. Your story reminds me of how I got into minis as an adult! My uncle and his wife were adopting a child (was supposed to be a girl) so as a welcome into the family gift, I built a dollhouse kit. They ended up getting a 5 year old boy instead,so he go some batsman action figures instead but I let my aunt keep the house. That got me hooked on minis though. I've been going strong every since! :)

[Minis On The Edge]

Welcome to the forum Alicia! The Orchid is a nice house to build! Welcome to the neighborhood! I've built that house several times and I believe I have blogged it. I'll post the link. Just remember to read the instructions more than once before you start. It may not make complete sense at first but it will help more when you open the box. When's you get frustrated, take a break. When you come back to it'll, most times, the "aha" moment happens and you'll be happy till the next thing pops up. This is such a fun and rewarding hobby. Your story reminds me of how I got into minis as an adult! My uncle and his wife were adopting a child (was supposed to be a girl) so as a welcome into the family gift, I built a dollhouse kit. They ended up getting a 5 year old boy instead,so he go some batsman action figures instead but I let my aunt keep the house. That got me hooked on minis though. I've been going strong every since!  here's the link to my orchid build blog http://minisontheedge.blogspot.com/2011/06/orchid-dollhouse-building-blog-days-1-3.html