Queries, questions, quests, and such

[newt]

Hello again,

Thank you all very much for your encouragement. Since you've invited questions, here are the top ten openers from a very new newbie.

The house i'm working on is a Pierce and it is mostly-built, mostly-wallpapered. The wallpapering is nice so i'd like to keep it in place if possible. The top or attic floor is not wallpapered.

There is no flooring installed above the subfloor, and there is no wiring. The infamous stairway is installed from the first floor to the second level. There is no stair to the third floor. There is no exterior trim added to the eaves or roof tops or tower. Windows and doors are original to the kit.

Question Group One: So far as i can tell from what I've read here, i should wire the house, then install flooring and baseboards, and then wallpaper. Is that right?

In the rooms that already have wallpaper, would it be wise to use the sort of wiring that can be placed in baseboards?

Question Group Two: Do folks have any recommendations about how many feet of wiring tape I will need to have power in each room and outside? Do i just triple or quadruple the measurements and hope for the best?

Three: Are there any wiring kits, transformers, etc., that anyone might please recommend, or recommend against?

I've found the tutorial information about wiring and hope i'll be able to figure out what to do, based on that.

An aside: My sole experience with wiring was when i tried to make a lamp, years ago. I followed the manufacturer's instructions exactly as written, and plugged it in. The thing flamed, gave off a puff of smoke, and blew every fuse in the house -- and every fuse next door, at my landlord's place across the driveway -- so i am just a bit hesitant. My landlord agreed that i'd followed the instructions .... so I plan to try with some scrap first, and keep my fire extinguisher at the ready.

Four: I understand that when i get wallpaper then i should seal it with krylon or something similar before installing it, and i read about the templates .. but heaven help me with that attic!!

ANYway, what sort of wallpaper is easiest for a novice to use?? Is there some peel-and-stick type? Or is it better to use something that is applied with some kind of paste ???

Five: Might people please offer recommendations about US vendors of supplies? There is a Joann's near here and a Walmart (of course), but most of my shopping will have to be online.

Six: About that missing stairway up to the third level ... i'd like to use a spiral stair to save space. I looked at what is available on eBay and at the spiral stair on miniatures.com but the one there seems to have a big diameter. Any asuggestions are gratefully accepted.

Seven: What do we call the railing and balusters (sp?) that go around the stair opening on the third floor, that has to be there to prevent tiny people from falling from the attic and tumbling to the living room?

Where does one find such things?

Eight: The original builder of the house added a deck off the dining room. It is way cool but it is hanging in space. I think i should add some lattice, or some little beams beneath it to support it. Does anyone have any ideas about that?

Nine: The house does not have siding. What is the name for a vinyl or plastic siding i might use, and where do i find it? How do i paint that?

Ten: Some of the gray stone-like material has fallen off the chimney stucco-ish material. I've saved the gray pieces. Might somebody please tell me what to use to reattach those? Or ... what do i do now?

Thanking you all in advance for your help and patience,

newtominis

[nuttiwebgal]

Question Group One: So far as i can tell from what I've read here, i should wire the house, then install flooring and baseboards, and then wallpaper. Is that right? no

it is build, wire, paint any wall or ceiling, wallpaper and if you are putting in flooring,last is the trims-windows and baseboards

In the rooms that already have wallpaper, would it be wise to use the sort of wiring that can be placed in baseboards?

yes, this is where hard wiring and groved base boards come in handy

Question Group Two: Do folks have any recommendations about how many feet of wiring tape I will need to have power in each room and outside? Do i just triple or quadruple the measurements and hope for the best?

the Pirece is a large house I would buy a large wiring kit and a large transformer.

Three: Are there any wiring kits, transformers, etc., that anyone might please recommend, or recommend against?

all 3 of my transformers have been from Hobby Lobby but I imagine anything you order from HBS would work great

I've found the tutorial information about wiring and hope i'll be able to figure out what to do, based on that.

you should do fine with Darrles instructions!

An aside: My sole experience with wiring was when i tried to make a lamp, years ago. I followed the manufacturer's instructions exactly as written, and plugged it in. The thing flamed, gave off a puff of smoke, and blew every fuse in the house -- and every fuse next door, at my landlord's place across the driveway -- so i am just a bit hesitant. My landlord agreed that i'd followed the instructions .... so I plan to try with some scrap first, and keep my fire extinguisher at the ready.

Darrel assures us that you cannot do this with dollhouse wiring. take one step at a time and check each time you make a new connection.

Four: I understand that when i get wallpaper then i should seal it with krylon or something similar before installing it, and i read about the templates .. but heaven help me with that attic!! I havent sealed any of the dollhouse paper I have bought. or the scrapbooking papers...but I have sealed the ones I printed myself

ANYway, what sort of wallpaper is easiest for a novice to use?? Is there some peel-and-stick type? Or is it better to use something that is applied with some kind of paste ??? well some patterns of the sticky back plastic makes nice wallpaper but I dont think I would use it. although I do use the black marble stuff for some of my floors.

Five: Might people please offer recommendations about US vendors of supplies? There is a Joann's near here and a Walmart (of course), but most of my shopping will have to be online. I recomend

minitures.com you can order a free catolog from them and order online as well.

Six: About that missing stairway up to the third level ... i'd like to use a spiral stair to save space. I looked at what is available on eBay and at the spiral stair on miniatures.com but the one there seems to have a big diameter. Any asuggestions are gratefully accepted. you could make your own...somewhere around here is a tutorial on stair making

Seven: What do we call the railing and balusters (sp?) that go around the stair opening on the third floor, that has to be there to prevent tiny people from falling from the attic and tumbling to the living room?

dunno

Where does one find such things?

miniatures ,com

Eight: The original builder of the house added a deck off the dining room. It is way cool but it is hanging in space. I think i should add some lattice, or some little beams beneath it to support it. Does anyone have any ideas about that?porch post would work great as well as bridal collums

Nine: The house does not have siding. What is the name for a vinyl or plastic siding i might use, and where do i find it? How do i paint that?dunno

Ten: Some of the gray stone-like material has fallen off the chimney stucco-ish material. I've saved the gray pieces. Might somebody please tell me what to use to reattach those? Or ... what do i do now?

hhhhmmmmmm I have no idea...Id try aileens tacky glue and if it looked ok good and if not I would be tempted to scrape it all off and do something else.

any pictures of this house? I answere yer questions..now play nice and gimme some candy. :whistle:

nutti :wub: :wub:

[newt]

thanks!

ps:

i'm too new to be able/enabled to send photos, so far,

and

i don't know how to do it, yet.

honest, i would if i could, and i'll learn soon.

i need all the help you all can offer :whistle: , can't you tell?

newtominis

[Blondie]

Good luck with your house--that one is a beauty!

I don't have much experience yet, but here are some thoughts....

I am working on the Beacon Hill, which is also a large house. I thought about wiring, but for me, I would rather spend my money on decorating, etc. right now. Since I'm not selling the house (and no one little will be playing with it), I'm going to skip wiring. I am also bad with electrical, so I thought this would probably save me hours and hours of hardship. Houses with lighting are beautiful and I love them, but I'm going to pass right now. You can install nonworking lights instead if it gets too frustrating. I realized it would cost a pretty penny to wire up my house, so I'm skipping it. It's OK to skip it if you want to. (But you don't need my permission :whistle: )

I have purchased from miniatures.com. I got all my flooring from them and it came quickly and nicely packages. Everyone here seems to love Ernie, so I went for it and was very happy with my experience. I've also been snooping around other online vendors like Mott's Miniatures. I've never bought from them yet, so I can't say too much there. I bought my house from Dollhouses Galore, but I think they just sell houses. Here are some links:

http://www.dhminiatures.com/links/

http://www.imaginationmall.com/index2.htm

About Ebay--I love it, but sometimes I have found that I can get the items brand-new and cheaper somewhere else. I recommend keeping another browser window open to check prices elsewhere.

I am painting all my rooms. I know I would mess up wallpaper on my first try, so I'm going to save that experience for a smaller house. I've seen a few people put up "attic" material on the walls in their Pierces or other houses on this forum--like newspaper. Very cute! Or they just leave them plain.

That's about all I can think of right now. Good luck and be sure to post pics!! :wub:

[Shakyshaky]

Have you thought of doing a texture or just painting the attic walls. The tissue paper/stucco is very easy and could be done onthe walls and ceiling so you woul dnot have to worry about gettting it on places it should not go.

The thing to remember about spiral stairs is that they are big. In real life a stair case it should be atleast 3 feet wide for people to be able to get up. That means true scale of a spiral stair would 6 inches across. I have yet to find a true scale spiral stair. If you do not ever plan on your people ever actually using the stairs you can make them smaller. This is why I finailly decided to leave out stairs in my Country Victorian. I just could not make them fit and have enough head room for the people to to go under, the hall is just not wide enough.

As for the siding. You can just paint the wood, use wood siding, or put a texture on it. There are lots of other exterior options as well. Brick, stone or stucco. There are lots of options with any of these too. Some are more expensive than others. Look in some of the blogs if you need ideas or just want to see other options.

[KathieB]

To add to the comments above:

Question Group Two: Do folks have any recommendations about how many feet of wiring tape I will need to have power in each room and outside? Do i just triple or quadruple the measurements and hope for the best?

I use narrow masking tape and actually tape out the way the wiring will run. You can measure it when it's finished, and you'll know how much electrical tape you will need.

Three: Are there any wiring kits, transformers, etc., that anyone might please recommend, or recommend against?

Someplace on line I saw a table that shows how many lights can be run from a specific size transformer. Having a CRS moment, but maybe someone else will know where that is. At any rate, the number of lights is counted by individual bulb, not by the lamp. So, for instance, a chandelier with 6 bulbs counts as 6 in the total.

Six: About that missing stairway up to the third level ... i'd like to use a spiral stair to save space. I looked at what is available on eBay and at the spiral stair on miniatures.com but the one there seems to have a big diameter. Any asuggestions are gratefully accepted.

HBS carries a drop-down attic stairway that may work for you. I agree about the scale of spiral stairways: it's difficult to get it to look right.

Seven: What do we call the railing and balusters (sp?) that go around the stair opening on the third floor, that has to be there to prevent tiny people from falling from the attic and tumbling to the living room

Where does one find such things?

HBS has all kinds of railings and balusters. Get acquainted with the catalog. Ernie is your friend! :whistle:

Eight: The original builder of the house added a deck off the dining room. It is way cool but it is hanging in space. I think i should add some lattice, or some little beams beneath it to support it. Does anyone have any ideas about that?

Oooh, oooh ... you MUST get that camera going! Starting a gallery is a piece of cake ... click on the My Controls link, click on My Gallery, click on Create a New Album, and follow the directions from there!

Nine: The house does not have siding. What is the name for a vinyl or plastic siding i might use, and where do i find it? How do i paint that?

HBS has siding, but for a house that large you might want to be kind to your wallet and try an alternative, like upholsterer's paper tape. Someone here has talked about it -- Havannah Holly? -- and it seems to me to be a thrifty, yet realistic, alternative.

Good luck with your project! Please don't feel overwhelmed. All of your questions and concerns are good one, but they don't need to be dealt with all at once. Setting up priorities of what needs to be done when is essential ... then just learn each step as you need it. None of us were "experts" when we started, and even the folks who have been doing minis for eons learn new things almost daily. The important thing to remember is that there is no "wrong" way ... just sometimes we need to .... uhhh, .... make adjustments to the PLAN. :wub:

Welcome!

[CJEP]

Question Group One: So far as i can tell from what I've read here, i should wire the house, then install flooring and baseboards, and then wallpaper. Is that right?

In the rooms that already have wallpaper, would it be wise to use the sort of wiring that can be placed in baseboards?

Question Group Two: Do folks have any recommendations about how many feet of wiring tape I will need to have power in each room and outside? Do i just triple or quadruple the measurements and hope for the best?

Three: Are there any wiring kits, transformers, etc., that anyone might please recommend, or recommend against?

I've found the tutorial information about wiring and hope i'll be able to figure out what to do, based on that.

An aside: My sole experience with wiring was when i tried to make a lamp, years ago. I followed the manufacturer's instructions exactly as written, and plugged it in. The thing flamed, gave off a puff of smoke, and blew every fuse in the house -- and every fuse next door, at my landlord's place across the driveway -- so i am just a bit hesitant. My landlord agreed that i'd followed the instructions .... so I plan to try with some scrap first, and keep my fire extinguisher at the ready.

Four: I understand that when i get wallpaper then i should seal it with krylon or something similar before installing it, and i read about the templates .. but heaven help me with that attic!!

ANYway, what sort of wallpaper is easiest for a novice to use?? Is there some peel-and-stick type? Or is it better to use something that is applied with some kind of paste ???

Five: Might people please offer recommendations about US vendors of supplies? There is a Joann's near here and a Walmart (of course), but most of my shopping will have to be online.

Six: About that missing stairway up to the third level ... i'd like to use a spiral stair to save space. I looked at what is available on eBay and at the spiral stair on miniatures.com but the one there seems to have a big diameter. Any asuggestions are gratefully accepted.

Seven: What do we call the railing and balusters (sp?) that go around the stair opening on the third floor, that has to be there to prevent tiny people from falling from the attic and tumbling to the living room?

Where does one find such things?

Eight: The original builder of the house added a deck off the dining room. It is way cool but it is hanging in space. I think i should add some lattice, or some little beams beneath it to support it. Does anyone have any ideas about that?

Nine: The house does not have siding. What is the name for a vinyl or plastic siding i might use, and where do i find it? How do i paint that?

Ten: Some of the gray stone-like material has fallen off the chimney stucco-ish material. I've saved the gray pieces. Might somebody please tell me what to use to reattach those? Or ... what do i do now?

Thanking you all in advance for your help and patience,

newtominis

Ok, I'm going to let those with more experience answer some of your questions. The Pierce was my first dollhouse (my mother built it for me when I was young). The stairs to the third floor was just a ladder if I remember correctly.

As for wiring, it is really, really easy. Do not worry. I figured it out with the instructions that came with a small kit and I had no experience with it before.

Supplies can be bought at stores like AC Moore or Hobby Lobby (Joann's doesn't carry most dollhouse supplies in the store but has some on-line and Michaels has gotten rid of their dollhouse supplies). Better choices (but more expensive) are on line. Go with Nutti's suggestion to start. If you read through some of the posts you will find more. You can buy the railings and baullsters at one of the supply shops as well as wood siding (which you can paint).

In my Pierce we used contact paper as wallpaper and it was pretty easy. We also used wrapping paper. You can see what is left of my pictures--bad story-- of the house in my gallery. In my newer houses I have bought dollhouse wallpaper or painted. My next one I'm going to use scrapbook paper for wallpaper and some floors. I would suggest painting the attic if it will be hard to paper. Let's face it, most people do not paper their attic anyway.

Just remember you can do what you want with the house because it is your house. If you don't want lights or something, just don't do it. Hope that helps. Good luck!

Carrie

[Color Me Holly]

Question Group One: So far as i can tell from what I've read here, i should wire the house, then install flooring and baseboards, and then wallpaper. Is that right?

In the rooms that already have wallpaper, would it be wise to use the sort of wiring that can be placed in baseboards?

I believe once the house is built those who wire install it, paper or paint, flooring and then trim (baseboard, crown and chair moulding and windows) Atleast that is the steps I would follow. They do sell a round wireing kit for houses that have already been papered. I have seen battery boxes, too, in the form of dressers

Question Group Two: Do folks have any recommendations about how many feet of wiring tape I will need to have power in each room and outside? Do i just triple or quadruple the measurements and hope for the best?

Three: Are there any wiring kits, transformers, etc., that anyone might please recommend, or recommend against?

I don't know for sure, I haven't wired a house yet.

ANYway, what sort of wallpaper is easiest for a novice to use?? Is there some peel-and-stick type? Or is it better to use something that is applied with some kind of paste ???

I mostly use scrapbook paper for wallpaper. Some use modpodge, yes glue, regular white or spray glue. There are some scrapbook papers that come peel and stick. I do seal it.

Five: Might people please offer recommendations about US vendors of supplies? There is a Joann's near here and a Walmart (of course), but most of my shopping will have to be online.

Six: About that missing stairway up to the third level ... i'd like to use a spiral stair to save space. I looked at what is available on eBay and at the spiral stair on miniatures.com but the one there seems to have a big diameter. Any asuggestions are gratefully accepted.

I mainly order from miniatures.com and there is a tutorial for sprial stairs here.

Nine: The house does not have siding. What is the name for a vinyl or plastic siding i might use, and where do i find it? How do i paint that?

They sell plastic veneers here. . Oakridge hobbies carries this to.

Ten: Some of the gray stone-like material has fallen off the chimney stucco-ish material. I've saved the gray pieces. Might somebody please tell me what to use to reattach those? Or ... what do i do now?

Thanking you all in advance for your help and patience,

newtominis

I'm not sure, but I am interested to find out what does work. Sorry I didn't answer all, but hope it helps.

[havanaholly]

Question Group One: So far as i can tell from what I've read here, i should wire the house, then install flooring and baseboards, and then wallpaper. Is that right?

In the rooms that already have wallpaper, would it be wise to use the sort of wiring that can be placed in baseboards?

If you were building the house yourself the order would be: build, wire, decorate, install. If it's already decorated rip out any baseboards and get the grooved kind and wire with round wire.

Question Group Two: Do folks have any recommendations about how many feet of wiring tape I will need to have power in each room and outside? Do i just triple or quadruple the measurements and hope for the best?

If it's not in Darrell's tutorial here check the archives on the "old" forum. I like the strips of masking tape solution!

Three: Are there any wiring kits, transformers, etc., that anyone might please recommend, or recommend against?

I believe all the wiring, bulbs, etc, are required to meet the underwriter's specs.

Four: I understand that when i get wallpaper then i should seal it with krylon or something similar before installing it, and i read about the templates .. but heaven help me with that attic!!

ANYway, what sort of wallpaper is easiest for a novice to use?? Is there some peel-and-stick type? Or is it better to use something that is applied with some kind of paste ?

I use regular premixed wallpaper paste that I buy in a small bucket from the hardware store. for attics you can use the legal ads from your newspaper (If you MUST seal it, use matte varnish to give it a nice aged look), or you can simulate the Owens-Corning fiberglas insulation with ppink craft felt and wood strips for beams.

If I think about it I seal scrapbook papers with aacrylic aerosol sealer. I would definitely seal any paper I printed myself.

Five: Might people please offer recommendations about US vendors of supplies? There is a Joann's near here and a Walmart (of course), but most of my shopping will have to be online.

If you MUST use dh-specific stuff, HBS is probably your best all-round source. In addition to scrapbook papers & dh wallpaper I've found at HL I have been known to cover walls with the self-adhesive vinyl Contac shelf-liner (I still use glue to stick it down, the self-adhesive stuff isn't) and giftwrap, as well as 1:1 scale wallpaper with appropriately tiny designs.

Six: About that missing stairway up to the third level ... i'd like to use a spiral stair to save space. I looked at what is available on eBay and at the spiral stair on miniatures.com but the one there seems to have a big diameter. Any asuggestions are gratefully accepted.

Dr Bob has kindly posted a wonderfully simple spiral stairway tute at www.smallstuff-digest.com/archives

Seven: What do we call the railing and balusters (sp?) that go around the stair opening on the third floor, that has to be there to prevent tiny people from falling from the attic and tumbling to the living room?

Where does one find such things?

I would call them the railing and balusters that go around the stair opening to keep people from falling to their death. You could always make your own by cutting craft sticks to fit the edge of your stair opening and cutting a railing, too. You can buy a package of el cheapo wooden spindles at one of the hobby stores in their "woodsies" section and have at it!

Eight: The original builder of the house added a deck off the dining room. It is way cool but it is hanging in space. I think i should add some lattice, or some little beams beneath it to support it. Does anyone have any ideas about that?

The wedding cake column(s) is a good idea, or you can cut and glue some brackets beneath the deck/ balcony (I see a chamber group of three or four musicians to play during dinner, or at least one rather seedy violinist who dropped by with a sad story for the cook...)

Nine: The house does not have siding. What is the name for a vinyl or plastic siding i might use, and where do i find it? How do i paint that?

PLASTIC siding? As in polystyrene? I use the wood siding that Greenleaf has, but if you use polystyrene peime it with a matte aerosol primer and just about any latex or acrylic paint ought to stick to it. I have also read that siding strips can be cut from posterboard and Sherise Landry described in a copy of AM how she made a "comb" and carved siding into the drywall mud she plastered the sides of a house with (IMO that would look better for a haunted house...)

Ten: Some of the gray stone-like material has fallen off the chimney stucco-ish material. I've saved the gray pieces. Might somebody please tell me what to use to reattach those? Or ... what do i do now?

If the gray stuff is spackling compound or paper clay a tacky glue ought to stick it back on just fine. If it were me & the stuff chips off easily I'd take it all off, sand it down & start over (with paperclay, spackling compound or whatever you like to play with).

what do i do now?

You stand up, go in the next room, close the door, fix yourself a stiff drink and RELAX!!! The next time you go in to play with your Pierce you have FUN.

[Marlene]

Another option for the third floor staircase is the disappearing attic staircase by Timberbrook that folds up and isn't sticking out in the middle of your room on the third floor. Also, then you don't have to have the stairguard on the third floor as well.

[ouchouch]

Hello again,

Question Group One: So far as i can tell from what I've read here, i should wire the house, then install flooring and baseboards, and then wallpaper. Is that right?

I'm building the Beacon Hill. It's a big house. I'd wire it up first, then wallpaper, flooring then baseboards and trims. Doing the baseboards before the floor was my mistake. I have a lot of gaps.

I've found the tutorial information about wiring and hope i'll be able to figure out what to do, based on that.

An aside: My sole experience with wiring was when i tried to make a lamp, years ago. I followed the manufacturer's instructions exactly as written, and plugged it in. The thing flamed, gave off a puff of smoke, and blew every fuse in the house -- and every fuse next door, at my landlord's place across the driveway -- so i am just a bit hesitant. My landlord agreed that i'd followed the instructions .... so I plan to try with some scrap first, and keep my fire extinguisher at the ready.

I read that tutorial before I did anything also. It was very helpful. I'll tell you my experience. Midway through the house some of my lights gave off some sparks, even smoked everytime I turned it on. It was scarey. Then one unfortunate day the junction splice that came with the cir-kit kit came off. I bought a new junction splice that had that screw where you can attach it securely to the house. WOW what a difference. The junction splice was the root of the problem. So what became an unfortunate event, became a lucky one.

[newt]

just amaaaazing,

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!