By the Light of the Silvery Moon

It seems that I have been going in circles with the San Franciscan. I have placed pieces and parts and taped and re taped to make sure that I understand how things will fit together, but I kept running into problems. Actually, I think I was getting ahead of myself. Let's look at the photos.

I was trying to see how to install the 3rd floor--a bit ahead of things, but I wanted to see how the house would go together.

I noticed this gap at the top where the floor rested on top of on the corner post.

And there was a gap at the bottom of the wall, too. I was wondering how that had happened. 

A closer look showed that I had missed my mark, so the only thing I could was to unglue the wall from the post in order to position it correctly.

There's more than one way to unglue mistakes. I've heard that you can put the item to be unglue in the microwave and heat on low, but the wall was too big to put in my microwave.

or

Real Good Toys must realize that builders make mistakes so in the company's  building tips they suggest placing the item in the oven at 170 degrees F. 

Instead of trying either, I located my heat gun and went to work.

 

 A heat gun is used to heat up old paint on furniture to make it easier to remove. It also works well to soften Aileen's Tacky glue enough that glued pieces can be pulled apart. 

Even when I but the outside wall back together and put it back into place, the floor was still uneven. It seemed that the three posts on the right side of the house were all too tall, causing the gap at the top of the wall. I am still not sure if the  3rd floor is supposed to rest on those pieces or not, so I reread the directions to learn that if the posts are too tall they can be trimmed back. Three of them need to cut back almost an inch and now I wondering how the floor will fit. So I decided to go ahead--get brave--and begin gluing in the windows to give the posts stability.

I began to dry fit again and pieces just were not fitting, so I took a closer look at post #6 and finally realized that it is crooked, so I had to remove it. This one was glued in at the corner.

                   

As I softened glue to remove post #6, the glue that held the corned to the foundation softened and the corner came off, too. But I got it removed and glued back in.

                   

So I had more gluing to do. I hope that it holds together.

  

                             

So I have one set of windows glued in. 

The inside view looks better than from the outside.

I am working in the garage, which limits the time when I can work because it has been so hot that I can only work in the morning because afternoon sun makes it too hot to stay out there, so at the end of the day as the sun begins to set, I go out and work on the house. 

As the sun sets on another day and the silverly slice of moon continues its own trek across the universe, glue dries.

Now, before I go any further on this side, I have to wait for lumber to arrive. Remember this kit was made 1996 and started by a lady who simply became overwhelmed by the the project, which I easily understand because the instructions are hard to understand, hard to read, hard to follow for a couple of reasons. First the labeling of parts is confusing, the drawings are confusing. For example, there is no drawing of how to install the floors. All of the drawings are of the front elevation or view of the house and there aren't any from the back, so I can see how one would be inclined to throw the pieces in a tub and put it on a garage sale. 

As I tried to dry fit the pieces for the tower, I realized that I didn't have enough wood. I was short the two pieces of lumber glued together to make the posts and I needed more siding. So I set about trying to find the pieces. I searched for Dura Craft parts and found several sources: eBay, Manchesterwoodworks.com. I have pieces coming from both sources, but I needed lap siding because the kit is short those pieces. Not sure why, but I guess it does not matter. I found them on a website that I have visited before: Fingertip Fantasies, A Dollhouse Miniature Shop in Delaware, a long way from my northern Colorado home.

I called to make sure that the store and the correct size lap siding that I needed and I talked to a very nice lady, Alice who was so kind and helpful 

I placed an order with Manchester Woodworks, but I also wanted to talk to them about the lap siding to make sure that I was ordering the correct item. I put the post lumber and the lap siding--wrong size by the way--in my cart, but unsure of the siding, I tried to call the store and got a busy signal after several tries, so I sent them an email and tried to call the next day. Then I emptied my cart.

The next day, my husband showed an email that he received from the company saying that I had received a refund of nearly $3. I am not sure why and the items that I ordered are on their way.

The good thing: I'll need the extra wood, but the lap siding is 3/8 inch and I need 1/2 inch. 

Tomorrow is another day. I'll work on the left side installing the windows. I won't be able to do much more until the pieces that I ordered arrive. 

I think I should apologize for my poor quality photos. I used my iPhone which really does take good photos, but I decreased the size of the photos when I uploaded them so that load more quickly, thus they look bit fuzzy. 

Thanks for stopping by. I enjoy your visits. 

An Addendum 

Today the postal lady delivered a package, my husband texted to say while I was at our daughter's making marmalade. Little Lily had seen the Paddington Bear movie, so I took my Paddington and we drove over to supervise the jelly making process. 

The package came from Manchester Woodworks. I will praise them with great and speedy service, and I am thankful that they processed the order so quickly because I will need the extra posts. The post pieces will replace the crooked post, so I still need the pieces that I ordered on eBay and I received the lap siding, but it is much thinner than the original kit pieces. I'll back the thin ones with bass wood. I'll show you next time. 

And, again thanks for visiting.