Sanborne Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 I have just started building the Beacon Hill dollhouse. I have never built a dollhouse before. I am doing the second sub-assembly. I am dry fitting pieces. I am trying to get tabs into slots- not easy My question is, in addition to gluing tabs into slots- should I run glue along wall that meets other wall to slots? I hope that makes sense. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 (edited) Debra, one of the purposes of the dry fit is to sand or shave the tabs & slots for a more perfect fit, and you want to use a good carpenter's wood glue like Titebond or Probond in a thin bead along the surfaces that will touch each other, not just on the tabs & slots. Put enough of the house into dry fit to see if you have any places you won't be able to paint/ decorate once the house is glued together. I have a heavy duty stapler and after I've glued the walls together I pop some steel staples along the edges where the walls abut, since I tend to manhandle my houses and I decorate as I go. Edited September 14, 2020 by havanaholly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 Thank you so much. I am using Aleene's tacky glue. I hope that is ok. Maybe I should buy one of the glues you suggested. The stapler sounds like a good idea too. The other problem I am worried about is trying to lift everything up to glue it. I had such a hard time interlocking the long slide in the second floor at the stair opening with the long slot in the right petition wall. After a number of tries it finally worked. thank you again for the reply I am new to the blog. I was not even sure how to use it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 (edited) Welcome Debra, Sometimes it feels more like wrestling than building...especially when you have to slide pieces. Shh, but I have been known to lop of offending tabs rather than risk splintering a piece. As long as the walls and corners are plumb and true, it can make a difficult piece easier to deal with. You can use a builders triangle in the gluing stage to make sure. I even clamp or tape the square in place until dry. Edited September 14, 2020 by Mid-life madness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 Thank you Mid-life madness and havanaholly for all of the info and support! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Carrie, I had to lop off the tabs on the bottom of my Lily's third floor walls to get the d**#! thing to line up square. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 I am working on the Beacon Hill right now. I had alot of problems understanding the instructions so I would like to give you a couple of sites to check out. The first one is JennsMinis.com...she has great pictures and instructions for pretty well everything you will be doing. I don't know where I would be if not for her. Another great one is moreminisblogspot.com. Good luck!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 18, 2020 Author Share Posted September 18, 2020 Thank you Inge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 Well it's me again..the newbie builder. I had a question regarding the foundation. I glued the foundation back on..actually I glued it a few times - took apart the ends a few times to make sure it is glued properly, the slits at the ends were not glued down properly. - hopefully this last time will do it. Anyway, I glued down the bottom support and was very happy because it seems nice and tight. Now I am looking at it and not sure it is exactly straight. I have included pictures. Does this look ok? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 Can someone tell me how to attach an image? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 At the bottom of the box where you type your reply there's a paper clip icon. Either drag your picture to that area, or click the "choose files" link to select your picture. If you're using a phone or tablet it might look a little different. Since you now have more than 5 posts, you can also start an album. Go to the Members Gallery and click Add Images. Then you can put a link to the picture in your gallery in your post here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryO Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Hi everyone! I am working on the Beacon Hill house, I am trying to figure out how to hinge the doors. Do I need to buy something? I have been trying to McGyver things but no luck. Any ideas? thanks, Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtcih Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Hi Mary, you can purchase tiny hinges. I recommend that you make your own doors instead of the ones provided. I made six panel doors. I followed a diy video I found on YouTube. That video suggested using tape for the hinge. It would be more authentic if you used real door hinges. Sorry about the second photo. I couldn’t get it to display properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryO Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 3 hours ago, Gtcih said: Hi Mary, you can purchase tiny hinges. I recommend that you make your own doors instead of the ones provided. I made six panel doors. I followed a diy video I found on YouTube. That video suggested using tape for the hinge. It would be more authentic if you used real door hinges. Sorry about the second photo. I couldn’t get it to display properly. Thanks! This is my first attempt at a dollhouse, I don’t have the skills or the tools to make my own doors. I will figure something out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FurMama Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Laurie Heisler did a whole series on YouTube on her BH build. There was one in particular that addressed hinges. Might be a help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 24, 2020 Author Share Posted September 24, 2020 Hi everyone: I am working on Beacon Hill dollhouse. My first ever dollhouse. There is a part of instructions I do not understand. It says: Interlock long slot in Right Wall with long slot in Second Floor until tabs on front edge of of right wall align with notches in edge of Front Wall/Right. I did that. However it says : GLUE just the section of this joint between First and Second floor(5). Nowhere else. I don't understand this part? Can anyone help? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Debra, wait to glue anything until you've done the dry fit to make sure ALL of it goes together properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Hi Debra, Do the dry fit of the major pieces like Holly suggested. As you get father along in the directions the glue this part and not that part might clear up. On one of my builds had a similar instruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 The first reason I started to dry fit all my builds was to try to understand the instructions by building the house using tape instead of glue. Along the way I discovered other benefits, like adjusting tabs & slots to fit better and start a "what do you want?" conversation with the house as we went along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted September 24, 2020 Author Share Posted September 24, 2020 Thank you everyone. This was very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted October 1, 2020 Author Share Posted October 1, 2020 Hi everyone: Well for a few days I was trying to send a picture of the foundation because I wasn't sure the bottom support was exactly straight. It kept saying File was too big. So I gave up on sending the picture. I decided to take off the bottom support and try again. It only took a little blow drying to remove back support. It felt like it was on pretty tight but I guess it was not. The second time I glued it on I used the Aileen's tacky glue -which I used before - but I also used gorilla glue. I wasn't sure about mixing two glues together but it did form a very strong bond the only problem was the front part of the back support did not seem like it was on that strong. So I decided to take it off again. but this time it took more elbow grease to take it off however the front end came off right away. MY QUESTION IS.. I decided to buy the Tite Bond translucent wood glue. the only problem is when I was reading the back for the instructions it said not recommended for structural or load-bearing applications. Can I Use This Glue for the foundation .. because it is all load-bearing. ?? Not sure what to do any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 3 minutes ago, Sanborne said: Can I Use This Glue for the foundation .. because it is all load-bearing. ?? They're referring to load bearing joints in a real life house, not the minimal weight of a doll house. This glue should be fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted October 2, 2020 Author Share Posted October 2, 2020 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanborne Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 Hi everyone:. I am working on the Beacon Hill Dollhouse and I am adding the third floor. I followed instructions beginning with right wall working my way to the left wall. For 3 days I have been trying to get it right. Everytime I put the tabs in slots for - bathroom ceiling - 3rd floor slots on the back and side I have a problem. If I put the back slots in and then line up the side slots the back comes forward and is not flush against the wall. I am starting to think I should cut off some of the tabs. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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