My first house: The Beacon Hill

[marknyc]

Well, I figured out the best way to do the siding, for me. I glue and paint all the trim of the area I want to work on. Then I sand and paint the siding before putting it on (two coats of paint) and cut it to length. That way it goes on pretty fast and there's no masking tape needed for painting. I've just finished the area behind the porch, since I wanted to do that before I add the porch, and it looks great. I think the best way to do the window sills will be to make the notch big enough so that the siding can slide behind it. Cutting the siding around the sill is too much work!

I'm leaving off all the interior trim until I give it to Gerry so he can choose wallpaper. Hopefully it won't be too hard to paper around the window sills. I did paper the entire foyer and it looks great. By the way, I read that you can paper with double-sided tape instead of the wallpaper mucilage I bought. Sure sounds easier - has anyone tried that?

I'll try to take some more photos later in the week when I have more done.

Mark

[MiniMadWoman]

Hmmm . . . never heard of using double-sided tape on wallpaper, just on flooring. I don't see why it couldn't be done though. I wonder how it would be to remove though?

I've used the wallpaper mucilage before and had many, many problems with it bubbling and buckling and being just plain awful. That being said, lots of people have success with it! I use matte mod podge now and it works great for me.

Can't wait to see more progress pictures, Mark!! :o

[nuttiwebgal]

I also use the matte mod podge and has worked well for me.

my suggestion is if the sill stick out on the inside and cannot be removed

is that you apply the wallpaper as usual and very carefully cut a slit at the sill and put it through very carefully. do as little to the paper as you have to.

I really am looking forward to seeing your photos.

nutti

[havanaholly]

I've read about using doublesided tape, I believe that the people using that method made cardstock templates of each wall (acidfree cardstock so the paper won't discolor) and applied the wallpaper to the card, then used the doublesided tape to apply the templates. Facilitates "troubleshooting" electrics and changing decor later.

There's a long thread on Small Stuff Digest dealing with the acidfee topic, but another reason we seal/ prime the walls before applying dh wallpaper is that the acid used in processing lumber & most kinds of paper reacts chemically with it. Paper turns brown & brittle over years because the acid content is slowly "burning" it. Most dh wallpaper is acidfree, as is the scrapbooking paper (those of you who print your own might want to invest in acidfree copier paper to print it on ).

[marknyc]

Hi again,

I have a very specific question for people who have built the Beacon Hill.

I'm working on the porch, but I can't seem to locate the pieces that go on the tops of the posts. Can someone remember where those are? The instructions don't say!

Thanks,

Mark

[darrellandmelissa]

Mark,

Well I don't know where yours are NOW but they were at one time in the INSIDE parts of the kitchen window bay sash parts on sheet 23.

Hope this helps you find 'em.

Darrell

[marknyc]

Thanks - I've saved everything, so hopefully I still have them!

Mark

[Missymew]

Mark - sorry I can't help you locate missing pieces. My dad built my BH for me. I'm dying to see photos of yours as you put it together. You'll love the house when its built - it's a real beauty.

Susanne

[marknyc]

Darrell, I checked, but the pieces inside the 6 Kitchen Bay Window Sashes on sheet 23 are the squares with holes in the middle that slide down over the posts.

I'm looking for 9 pieces that would complete the very top of each post. The front side for each top is included on the porch roof assembly, but each post top should have 3 other sides that I can't find.

Help!

Mark

[MiniMadWoman]

Sorry, Mark, I didn't build mine either so don't know where the parts are located. I had to redo mine however, and I cut the pieces out of balsa wood. So if all else fails, you could do that!

Good luck in finding those parts!

[darrellandmelissa]

Mark,

The parts you're talking about do not exist. There are no sides or backs to those posts. So that makes them pretty hard to find. I don't have any on mine.

However, like Theresa said they're just basic rectangles. You could cut them out of the scraps from other window or door punchouts if you really gotta have 'em.

Darrell

[marknyc]

Okay, I guess I'm mistaken. In the pictures on the instruction sheet, it really looks like there are pieces that wrap around the posts at the top. But I could be wrong. I'll see how it looks once I add all the trim.

Thanks!

Mark

[wenlaine]

Hi Mark, I had to go and look to see what it might be you were talking about. The piece that fits on the underside of the porch roof has 4 almost square pieces that butt up against the front of the posts. Could that be what you see in the instructions? These 4 pieces are wider than the posts so could possibly look as though it's the actual posts.

Let us know, I'm really very curious.

Wendy

[marknyc]

Hi all,

Things are moving forward nicely - I've posted some pics, but the flash washed out the color. Will post some better ones soon.

I'm starting on the dormer windows, but I have two questions for those of you who have built a Beacon Hill:

1. The L-shaped pieces: the instructions refer to "wide" and "narrow" pieces, but mine are the same width. It appears that the top piece is supposed to overhang the bottom piece, but since they are the same width, that means they will not be flush on the interior side. Is that right? And which piece is the top piece? The long part of the L is the same width, but the short parts are different: one is thick and one is thin. Anyone know which goes on top?

2. The curved top piece: This was moved to the thin wood that is used for the mansard roofs, so it is now one piece rather than individual pieces as described in the instructions. Should I curve it inward so that I get a smooth top? If I do that, I'd have the cardboard backing on top - can I paint that? Or am I supposed to curve it so the wood side shows, and use plastic wood to smooth it out? That would be a lot of work...

Thanks for any help!

Mark

[MiniMadWoman]

Oh, Mark, your house is stunning! I absolutely love the blue color! Definitely gonna use it on my Willowcrest!

Sorry I can't help much with the L-shaped pieces. I've attached a couple pictures, so maybe that will help?!!

Hmm . . . about the curved roof. Mine is all wood. It does have strips of wood on the outside that seem pretty smooth. The inside though was hideous so I used birch veneer to cover it and then painted over that. Much better.

Don't know if I helped much.

Good luck!

[Missymew]

Mark - I love the blue colour that you've painted your Beacon Hill. You're doing an amazing job. Any estimate of how many hours you've put into your house so far?

Susanne

[darrellandmelissa]

Mark,

I don't have time for pictures but hopefully my description will help. The two piece of L shaped parts are indeed intended for the top one to stick out farther than the bottom one. If you position the pieces so that they ARE looking like an L shape the one with the fatter vertical part and thinner horizontal part is the one that will go on TOP of the other one. When you put these up against the curve of the dormer, so that both are up against it and back toward the mansard roof you'll see the top overhangs the bottom one on the sides AND it sticks out a little farther on the front and sticks out a small bit more to the side there as well.

This is a theme used throughout the house with larger portions on top and smaller ones below. Above and below windows, the square trim on the porch posts, and even the tops of the house itself as well as the roof line of the bays. I took this "theme" into mind when I built the custom shelf unit I added into the bath in ours. See Melissa's webshots for that one.

As for the curved top of the dormer I'd say it would depend on how you plan to finish it. And which side would be easier to hide. Mine was so old that it was not a single piece of wood to curve but the individual sticks. Which I then added a lot of wood putty to in order to make it a nice smooth curve. I worked more on the inside than the outside since I was covering the outside with copper anyway.

Hope this helps a bit.

Darrell

[marknyc]

Thanks for the nice comments - the blue color is actually not quite as intense as it appears in the photos. I went for a light grey-blue, to make sure it didn't appear too toy-like. I'm quite pleased with it!

Darrell, thanks for taking the time to explain. I definitely get the "theme" of pieces overhanging other pieces - but the thing I'm confused about is that the long section of each L piece is exactly the same width. Is that the way it's supposed to be? If so, it means that if I glue the top piece so it overhangs the bottom piece, the interior edge of the top piece (the edge that touches the curved dormer roof) will not be flush with the interior edge of the bottom piece - it will be indented.

If one of the L pieces had a long section that was wider, the overhang would happen easily, but they are definitely both the same width.

Sorry for how confusing this is...

Mark

[darrellandmelissa]

Ok, I went and grabbed a picture. You can see from this that the curve of the dormer is almost non-existant where these L pieces go. Practically straight up and down. So when butted against the dormer curve the wider long parts of the upper piece will indeed overhang the lower one a bit. And hopefully you can see that the upper part also overhangs in the front and the sides of the front, though the lower part does extend toward the back more. That's the only place there is no overhang.

Incidentally, when taking this picture I noticed this is the only place where I failed to paint the underside of the L shaped parts and this was the ONLY one I forgot it on. Just HAPPENED to be the ONE I decided to take a picture of. LOL!

Aren't digital cameras with Macro modes great?

Darrell

[Missymew]

Darrell:

What's "macro mode" on the digital cameras?

Ray and I will be looking at getting a new digital camera some time in the future ... ours is quite old and is only 2 pixels (whatever that is) ... Ray said that now they're 5 pixels and even 7.

Thanks.

Susanne

[darrellandmelissa]

Macro mode is the button you push to take pics of things close up. It is the mode where the little flower shows up instead of the tree. You would need to get a better description from Darrell.

The camera darrell used to take that pic is only a 1.3 pixel one.

Melissa

[MiniMadWoman]

I'm so glad you asked that question Susanne and that you answered Melissa!

I know hubby gave me a tutorial on the camera, but as always I 'fa la la la la'd' him out! Now when I take close up pictures maybe they won't be so fuzzy (unless of course the item I'm photographing is fuzzy!).

[Missymew]

I know hubby gave me a tutorial on the camera, but as always I 'fa la la la la'd' him out!    Now when I take close up pictures maybe they won't be so fuzzy (unless of course the item I'm photographing is fuzzy!). 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ray frequently gives me tutorials ... but I'm like just tell me what I need to know to take a picture right now ... without having to change any settings!!

He goes over and over the features of the camera. But all I hear is "hold the on button, move switch to red camera to take pictures, and to blue camera to view". And then I snap my pictures, remove the cartridge and download.

Susanne

[darrellandmelissa]

Having more megapixels isn't necessarily a better thing. I have a 3.2 Megapixel camera but the macro pictures from it aren't nearly as good as the ones from the 1.3 Megapixel older camera. We use the older camera to take all of our miniature pictures. With a 3+ Megapixel camera you can blow your picture up to an 8x10 inch picture and it will still look good. With a 4+ Megapixel camera you can go up to an 11x14 inch print.

So unless you are planning on a lot of enlargements or you want to get into pro photography you don't need to get over 3. Optical (not digital) zoom is a good thing. If you have digital zoom (and you probably do) you'll get better pictures if you DISABLE and TURN OFF that feature entirely. I could go into a long explanation of why this is, but it's truly better if you just trust me on this. Turn it OFF. LOL!

With some cameras they have a tendency to overexpose macro pictures if the flash is on. If that happens, disable flash and set the camera on a tripod or table so it won't move and shoot without flash.

Another way to get good mini pictures (if you have optical zoon on your camera) is to use a tripod, move farther back and ZOOM IN to the picture you want. Digital zoom is no good. has to be optical zoom.

A camera is a camera is a camera though. Digital really isn't different from taking pictures with a film camera. Just the way you get the pictures out of it is different.

Darrell

[LPCullen]

Yep. Darrell taught me about the macro mode too, LOL! I also learned that when you go into macro mode to get close up to your little mini projects, go ahead and put the camera on red eye reduction too. Seems to make a better picture that way.