If your floors are tight in the grooves, scrape them
Newest Instructions
(print on 8½ x 14)
The above gallery shows a build in which the dollhouse was pre-wallpapered but that is not my preferred technique.
Identify and label all of the parts
Paint everything* one coat
Option: Faux-wood floor finish on the floors
Sand everything until the paint is smooth, transparent,
and some of the wood is showing through
Build the housebody up to the Roof
Second-coat the Walls
Mark, paint, and attach the Roofs
(don’t glue on the Rear Roof yet)
Optional: Start the wiring
Foundation
Install the Dividers
Optional: Finish the wiring
Assemble and finish painting everything else
Finish the Attic - attach the Rear Roof
Finish the outside
Finish the inside
Taking things apart: Heat softens glue. If you have to take things apart, warm the part in the oven at 170 degrees for up to a half hour to let the heat get into the joint where the glue is. Don’t let it get hotter than you can touch or the paint may scorch. Don’t heat window panes.
Assembly Tips:
A large, clutter-free, well-lighted work area is helpful during assembly, but a flat work surface is essential.
Read the instructions carefully; look at each of the illustrations. !With the parts in your hands!, think the assembly through before you proceed.
Test fit each time you are ready to glue a piece in place...then you’ll know you have it right.
If more tape or a helper is needed, it’s good to know that before the parts have glue on them.
Don’t be stingy with glue or tape; use generous amounts. Always wipe off excess glue immediately.
Keep one damp rag and one dry rag handy all the time.
Have weights available for holding things tight as glue joints dry (stacks of books, gallons of pure Vermont Maple Syrup - anything heavy)
Glue the body of your dollhouse together with white, water clean-up glue that dries clear. Do not use instant-bond (super glue), fast-tack, rubber cement, silicone, or hot melt glues. They are all used in some wood applications, but they all have some characteristic that makes them un-desirable for the body of your dollhouse. Carpenter Glue works well, but glue-smear dries yellow or tan; many of the things you glue onto the house are pre-painted – extra glue will show.
I use Aleene’s Tacky Glue® for housebody assembly.
Make sure everything is straight and flat as glue dries... That’s the shape that will be permanent.
For Shingle Glue selection, go to "Shingles Home"
Q: Can I wallpaper before I assemble the doll house?
A: Yes you can (it’s your house!) Many experienced builders are advocates of papering before construction - I am not.
My biggest objection to papering first is that, during assembly, you are always too skimpy with glue so none will squeeze out and get on the paper. I try to use the amount of glue that fills the joint, so some will squeeze out in every joint and be wiped up. But wiping glue off of wallpaper leaves a streak, so the temptation is to go skimpy, and the joints aren’t as strong.
Second, I can always tell a house that was pre-papered because the corners show a void instead of being continuous (see the slideshows about how to crowd the papers together in the corner... you can’t do that with pre-papered walls).
Third, I have had to replace paper too often that has gotten damaged by glue or tape during construction... that wastes time and paper ($) and can make it so you are left deciding whether to replace a damaged paper or letting it slide because you don’t have any more of that pattern and you’ll have to order it and that takes too much time (running out but then needing another piece is a distressing moment).
Finally, I don’t find pre-papering to be faster. By the time I have done all of the extra planning that getting the papers in the right place requires, I have used up any potential advantage. I have great big blacksmith’s hands, and papering in a finished house is easy for me.
All that having been said, I do pre-cut the papers used in the attic before attaching the Roofs.