Tess11 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I asked a question yesterday and had an answer in under 5 minutes, so I'm appealing to the vast experience of you wonderful folks again! My dollhouse is about 30 years old and was built by my Dad and me when I was a child. My parents had it in storage and gave it back to me at Christmas and I'm remodeling it. I think we just used regular old Elmers white glue on it and wow- does that stuff stick! As I pulled some pieces off, the glue held and the wood under actually came off. Nothing a little sanding and patching can't fix. Anyway, my question today is two fold. First, I want to extend the front porch (the floor part). It is less than 2 inches and I'd like to make it come further out from the front of the house. I can't figure out how to accomplish this. My thought is that I make a foundation larger than the house and then just add a piece of wood to the front, patch the seam and then finish it. That sounds like a plan to me. . .Except that I have no clue how to go about creating the foundation. So, question 1 is how to extend the porch and question 2 is how to create a foundation. I will try to post pictures of my renovation project this evening. It's looking pretty gutted right now, but has tons of potential! Thanks for your help- I love this forum! -Tiffany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shy Spirit Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I'm by no means an expert on this, but if you put the house on an extended base - rectangle of plywood, or something similar - you should be able to add wood more easily (by attaching it to the base). I'm sure that pictures would help our more experienced members to offer you some detailed advice. Good luck! :welcome: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minilinda2001 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hi tiffany! I'm not quite sure this is what you want, but here goes anyway... I use pink builders foam for foundations. It is about 1" thick, VERY light, and you can cut it in the shape you want and paint anyway you want. I used it for my gazebo and the BC. On the BC, I glued tissue paper onto the surface and then painted it. This made it much more resistant to knocks and scrapes. The foam can be carved, scraped, and formed into any shape you want, and is relatively cheap. I also search garage sales for those Rubbermaid turntables, take 'em apart and use the turntable on the bottom of the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 How about attaching pieces to the sides of the existing porch to the extent you want the new one and a piece across the front for a face and put a new porch floor on top of the existing one. Or tear off the old one and make a new one just like it only bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Minilinda, I love your Buttecup and Gazebo, thanks for sharing. Your landscaping has helped me with some ideas I've been toying with. Tess, which house are you wanting to extend the porch on? Pics would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallowell Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Hi Tiffany, I'm dying to see your remodel. I have a true love for remodeling old dollhouses and I'm looking forward to what you do with yours. Dive in and have fun. :welcome: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I'm with Peggi, it'd help to know which house you want to do this to. Does the porch already have a foundation? Are there posts & railings to be dealt with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess11 Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Ok, here is a picture: The porch is soooooo tiny. I don't have the porch roof on or the posts, etc put in. I'll do that once I decide how to handle extending it out. Thanks for all of your ideas so far! -Tiffany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Aha! If it were me, I would get some 1/8" plywood and cut strips 2" or 3" wide, two the length across the front of the house (one for in front & one for the back) to go under the foundation, and two more the length of the sides + however much you want to extend your porch, and glue the back and two side pieces under the edges of the house, and the front piece across the ends of the two side pieces. then you can either cut off the existing porch flush with the front of the house and go with a solid piece you can lay over the foundation and cut to fit ( or overhang just a hair) and make a set of two steps up to the porch. You can put your posts & railings where they would normally go & have the rest of the porch open, or else bash the roof to cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Color Me Holly Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I have that house. I started to redo before the holidays came along. I have been collecting paper mache drink carriers and egg flats to do a stone finish. Mine didn't have a porch either. I found it at a thrift store for $4. There are some pictures in my blog under Arrow restoration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess11 Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Holly, how nice to see someone else with this house! So it's called the Arrow? Who is it made by? My Dad thinks he paid about $7 for the whole kit back in the 70's. You are so ambitious with your projects! I'm not sure I have the confidence to add additions like you are doing to the Primrose, so I'm starting with my childhood house and seeing where it takes me. :thumb: I don't feel like I have any idea what I'm doing- even the shingles I did aren't perfect, but that's OK. It's how we learn, right? I'll keep watching for updates on your Arrow- hopefully you will give me inspiration. I'm planning on making mine look more like a farmhouse, like the Vermont, I think it's called, but who knows what will strike me. -Tiffany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess11 Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Ooops, nevermind. :thumb: A few minutes on the Net and I found out Arrow IS the manuacturer. Well, good to know anyway. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Color Me Holly Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 I don't feel like I have any idea what I'm doing- even the shingles I did aren't perfect, but that's OK. It's how we learn, right? I'll keep watching for updates on your Arrow- hopefully you will give me inspiration. -Tiffany Updates may be a while in coming as I work at the speed of slow. :o By the time all the needs to be done are done they day is over. Arrow was the manufacture, but I would like to know if the house had a name. Haven't found it yet. For the base and porch I bought 1x2x24" Pine craft wood from Lowes and I have some 1/4" plywood hanging around. I also have 3/8" Square dowels for porch posts. I don't have any idea what thickness or kind or wood I am going to use for the porch roof. Haven't gotten that far yet. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess11 Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 Holly, I'm not speeding along either. I totally know what you mean about the day being over before everything that needs to be done is done. I've decided that I am just too busy to work. But that would cause other problems. . . Anyway, my house does actually still have the porch roof, it just came off over the years but my parents kept it. I ordered posts but I'm still playing around with how to extend the porch, and I have some good ideas from this post. Once I figure it out, my plan is to take extra pieces of siding and use them as planks for the front porch, then stain the porch the same color as the shingles. I whitewashed (or stained them white oak) the shingles but I'm not overly impressed with the effect. I'm thinking of making them a charcoal grey. The nice thing is that a can of stain is not an expensive investment, so I can change my mind without feeling too bad. I have another question- do popsicle sticks work OK for floor planking? WalMart has a huge box of them for like $3. I was thinking that cutting off the ends and staining them would work pretty well. Any thoughts? -Tiffany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shy Spirit Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 I have another question- do popsicle sticks work OK for floor planking? WalMart has a huge box of them for like $3. I was thinking that cutting off the ends and staining them would work pretty well. Any thoughts? -Tiffany Lots of members have done beautiful floors using popsicle sticks - there are pics in the gallery - I have seen some friend's houses with these floors, and they look great! (I've bought some to try myself - another project on my "to-do" pile.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I have another question- do popsicle sticks work OK for floor planking? WalMart has a huge box of them for like $3. I was thinking that cutting off the ends and staining them would work pretty well. Any thoughts? -Tiffany I used skinny sticks that I picked up at Walmart, you don't have to cut the ends off, they are already square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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