Attaching Doors to Harrison

[Karen99]

Hi everyone,
I am back to rehabbing my 1970s Harrison, which was bought online, assembled, partially painted, not primed at all. I didn't know much about these houses at that point. I am currently working on the outside, cleaning up the previous guy's work. 

Once I became enchanted, I did buy another unassembled Harrison, also particularly painted, not primed, but still flat, for parts because mine has a good bit of damage.

@havanaholly posted some great instructions for affixing the front door with chamois, but the previous guy had already installed the interior molding, so that method will not work. In general, the molding will be my main challenge when painting the interior, as well as the stairs... I am not quite up to removing it...but maybe that will change...

The Door—so—hinges? Hinges with glued nails? Any recommendations are appreciated!

Task light—anyone recommend a good USB clip on task light? Amazon does have some.

The stairs—oh boy...I think I can do the bottom stairs through the door... any suggestions for accessing the stars? Maybe I will paint them all one color!

I can't move the house easily and I don't have a very good work area. But I find that if I stand above the house on a stool, I may have better access.

Thank you all for your advice.
Karen

[Karen99]

Hi Friends,
I was SO excited about adding the doors to my Harrison. In fact the doors, which were missing on the used house I bought, were the reason I found and bought an open partially started Harrison box, for parts. I am not up to making my own.

So, today when going to paint them, I positioned them at the door and found they are almost a quarter of an inch too high, and a bit too wide! WHAT??? At first I thought it was because they are from a different kit. BUT! I figured out it is because the previous guy installed a "brick" patio-like entrance and it is the height that is troubling the door.

The width I think I can sand a little.

But I need to cut these doors. I don't have many tools or a good workspace. But I have pretty steady hands. I think @havanaholly suggested a utility knife in another post.

All suggestions are welcome. I can't believe it!

Thank you all!
Karen

[fov]

Are you sure you need to cut them down? Exterior doors should swing in. If the bricks are the only problem, then set the door inside the house and hinge it so it swings in, and the bricks won't be a problem anymore. (They'll actually prevent the door from swinging out, which is a good thing!)

EDIT: I merged your two posts about the Harrison doors since there will be some overlap in the answers. Can you remove the interior door trim? I suggest doing that and then trying the chamois method. The hinges you can buy would also work, but can be hard to install when you have to reach your hands into the dollhouse.

Pin hinging is another option but you'd have to put some thought into how to achieve it. Here's a blog post that shows how I pin hinged a door: https://www.emilymorganti.com/blog/?p=20181

In your case, you could wedge the pins between the two pieces of door before gluing it together, and then insert the bottom pin into the floor and the top pin into a piece of basswood trim (to replace the kit trim that you removed).

The stairs are going to be tough if you can't pull them out. Painting is an option. Maybe you could pop off the treads, paint the risers white, and then replace the treads with stained basswood? You can wallpaper the side of the stairs, maybe making a template out of a spare part (if you have an extra stair wall from your second kit), or using the cutout from where the stair wall was punched out.

Good luck!

[Karen99]

Oh my! BRILLIANT!!!!! I knew there must be an answer.

Thank you so much. I believe this will work! This forum is fantastic!

There is so much to learn! I will go back to painting this afternoon!

Thanks again @fov!
Karen

[fov]

I think that looks great! Very natural.

What are you planning to do for the interior floors? Looking at your pictures made me realize that could be a problem if the flooring adds any height.

[Karen99]

Hi @fov!
Thanks so much for these great suggestions! Sorry for the delayed reply. I had preferences set poorly, and I changed them.

I think I am going to buy a piece of flooring for that room so I can see how much height it adds, and plan accordingly. I plan to use dark wood in the main large room (the living room for my house) and lighter wood in the other rooms. Very classic tile-like linoleum will be in the kitchen.

I did not buy this house to "build" or rehab it. As I mentioned it was a whim, to share with my granddaughter. (Although I did have a dollhouse, which I wired and all in my 20s). However, I do have a background in fine art and design, so... you know what happened! A handiwork challenge!

I read your blog and the pin idea is great. Your work is beautiful ! I love that wallpaper.

It's slow going here, the whole thing. Letting the paint dry. Waiting a day. I just bought fabulous orange sticks with emery paper on the end for sanding hard-to-reach places. After I get the floor for that room and test the door opening ability, I will figure out what to do. I am a bit afraid of pulling off molding...

But! I do like your idea of pulling off the stair treads! I can handle that!

I have to keep telling myself the story that this is an "old" house, (it actually is) and it will have some imperfections because I am not up to taking it apart and putting it back together. But I can definitely get to presentable or better.

Emily, do you have a task light you suggest. My workspace is not the best and I am jury-rigging clip-on lights.

I am posting a picture of my progress with the interior priming.

Many thanks for all! I will keep you updated. Love this site!
Karen

[havanaholly]

I totally loove the step ladder and paint bucket!  I grew up with a linoleum kitchen floor (in 1920s black, white & gray; the house was built with money from Leslie Chartaris), and I have reproduced linoleum (in much brighter colors) with paint; after I primed the floor I picked a base color to paint it and then took my old worn out toothbrush and dipped it it into one of the two other colors I chose, and ran my thumb over the bristles to spatter droplets of color over the base color.  Then I rinsed out the toothbrush and repeated with the second color.  It's the same technique I used to make some of the Chrysnbon cookware into bluestone spatter ware:

Edited March 11 by havanaholly

[Karen99]

Thanks @havanaholly! Yes, we are under construction! I will continue to post. Thanks for your kind comments and always, for your suggestions. Ypu are so creative and knowledgeable!

[Karen99]

Thanks @havanaholly! Yes, we are under construction! I will continue to post. Thanks for your kind comments and always, for your suggestions. Ypu are so creative and knowledgeable!

[Karen99]

Hi @fov, @havanaholly, @LoriLovesMiniatures and everyone,

I am having so much trouble with the doors on the old Harrison I am trying to rehab. I love the front door and I don't want to create a new one. BUT—the door does not fit in the frame! It's too wide and too tall.

I popped out the front door frame from the second set I own (for parts) and my Harriosn door, from that set, is too wide!

What do I do?

I know I should take off the inner and outer trim and use @havanaholly 's chamois method. I got brave enough to try to pop off the interior trim, but then I tested the door against the trim! Too wide! And too tall to allow for flooring... or swinging open and closed.

I must be missing something... (not a part, a concept lol)

I don't have a good workshop, and I did not buy this house to "build it". I wanted to decorate. But now I am into it, so I am looking for the most reasonable (read good workmanship, but not too complicated) way to fit that front door in.
Pictures of the problem are below.

Many thanks to all!
Karen

[havanaholly]

If it were me and I had to use that door (and not just make a new one) I would go to Harbor Freight when they're having one of their sales and invest in an inexpensive belt sander (you'll know expensive if you price them in a regular hardware store or on line).  Otherwise, check out thrift stores for a set of kids' building blocks and a few sheets of sandpaper and make yourself a sanding block.  Set the door centered in the door frame and trace the opening onto the door and then carefully and patiently sand the top and sides of the door to your pencil line.  Touch up the paint if you need to and hang it.

[Karen99]

I will do that @havanaholly! Thank you! All along I have felt that sanding is the key. You are a master builder. I likely have the skill, but not the patience. And I love that door!
I will post my progress. Thank you again!

[havanaholly]

Oh, you are very welcome.  IMO the main purpose this group serves is to help one another think of solutions to problems.  It occurred to me after I posted the above that you might want not to sand so much off the top of the door, but split the difference and measure halfway between the upper line and the top of the door, draw a new line (and erase the old one) and measure up from the bottom of the door so you're only sanding half as much from the top.

[Karen99]

I will do that @havanaholly! Thank you! All along I have felt that sanding is the key. You are a master builder. I likely have the skill, but not the patience. And I love that door!

I thought I sent this yesterday but it looks like I did not. Today I started. I saw someone on YouTube advise using a flat surface to keep a straight edge. So I used a piece of leftover board from the set. I will go very slowly and carefully.

One more question—what can I use to fill in parts of the wood that are splintering off? This has only been a problem on this door that I am so enamored with. Pix below. The edge on the right side of the door will likely face in and it's bad there (it's the last pix.).

Thanks again!

I will post my progress. Thank you again!

[havanaholly]

If you no longer have the pieces that came off you can invest in a small container of premixed spackle or joint compound and use an expired credit card to fill the gaps and even run a skim coat over the surface that looks so rough, and let it dry for a couple of days; then use a fairly fine grit sandpaper to get it uniformly flat and finish with a piece of crumpled brown paper bag to make it smooth as a baby's tush and repaint it.  I had that problem with the wood for the doors and windows of my Glencroft and I spent a lot of time and toothpicks laying minute traces of wood glue on the inner layers, carefully replacing the bits that sloughed off and clamping them to dry.

Harbour Freight has sales on these itty clamps from time to time:  https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/clamps-vises/spring-clamps/micro-spring-clamp-set-6-piece-69375.html  One of the first things my hubs said to me when I started this hobby and asked if he minded I kept buying so many clamps; "you cannot have too many clamps."

[MamaV]

5 hours ago, havanaholly said:

If you no longer have the pieces that came off you can invest in a small container of premixed spackle or joint compound and use an expired credit card to fill the gaps and even run a skim coat over the surface that looks so rough, and let it dry for a couple of days; then use a fairly fine grit sandpaper to get it uniformly flat and finish with a piece of crumpled brown paper bag to make it smooth as a baby's tush and repaint it.  I had that problem with the wood for the doors and windows of my Glencroft and I spent a lot of time and toothpicks laying minute traces of wood glue on the inner layers, carefully replacing the bits that sloughed off and clamping them to dry.

Harbour Freight has sales on these itty clamps from time to time:  https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/clamps-vises/spring-clamps/micro-spring-clamp-set-6-piece-69375.html  One of the first things my hubs said to me when I started this hobby and asked if he minded I kept buying so many clamps; "you cannot have too many clamps."

You're so right about the clamps! I just got a bushel from Dollar Tree...

[Karen99]

Hi Holly @havanaholly. Wow! Toothpicks for glue. Good idea. This whole thing is an unexpected (but fun) exercise in patience. Something I am not great at. A lot of waiting for things to dry...

I had a feeling you would recommend spackle!

I do have a few clamps but not as small as those on the link you provided. Evidently, Harbor Freight is a great resource. And your husband sounds like a very good man!

My sanding is going pretty well. I am being very mindful as I don't want to change the proportions of the design. I just want to get the door to fit. The tabletop method is cheap, easy and works!

Thanks again!
I will keep you updated on my progress.
karen

[havanaholly]

I used to pray for patience when my sons were little, and had the chance to attend a school for prayer shortly after, where the Franciscan brother teaching the course mentioned, right off the bat, that God ansers prayer by giving us opportunities to acquire whatever we pray for...  OOPS!  I now have LOTS of patience with most things.