Roof

[Robin Smith]

The roof to my Victorian Cottage isn't  going together right. The front roof  doesn't  mesh with the front of the house. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

[KathieB]

Hi Robin, and welcome to the forum. It's hard to assess the situation without a photo, but here are some workarounds. We try to avoid problems like this by dry fitting a build before gluing with a good wood glue, like Titebond or similar. If, by chance, you have used hot glue, you may want to take the house apart and reglue. (Hot glue will deteriorate over time and the house will fall apart.)

Dry fitting involves holding the parts together with painter's or masking tape to be sure the part fit together. Sometimes it takes a little sanding to get a smooth fit. Also, if the base pieces are the least bit off square, it will throw off the fit of the upper pieces. Also, take a hard look at the roof pieces -- might one of them be reversed?

If the house is already glued, you might look at using a utility knife and/or sandpaper to modify the tabs or slots (or both) to get the best fit you can. It may be that the entire tab needs to be removed; it is not the worst solution. An unsightly joint can be hidden with shingles or other roofing material, or a piece of strip wood trim can be added as an architectural feature. 

Let me share my dollhouse mantra: It is all smoke and mirrors.  Picture in your mind what you want it to look like and then do whatever it takes to make if look that way. There is no Mini OSHA inspector to judge how the house is built.  No one looking at the finished house will notice the "adjustments" that were made!

Edited December 7, 2022 by KathieB