I Did a Thing--or Two

Winter still has a strong grip on Northern Colorado. The snow that came just before Christmas slowly melts as the temperatures begin to rise above 0, so I've spent a lot of time inside in the basement diligently working to finish the Manchester. Friday, though, I did a thing that I had long put off doing: removing the balcony.

Now why would I want to do a thing like that? Gluing the balcony in place was perplexing, tedious, and so difficult. But even before attaching the balcony, the intricate porch work had to be assembled and glued in place because it supported the heavy balcony. I knew that day when I install the balcony exactly where it needed to be placed, but I blew it. 

The photo doesn't show how un-level the balcony was as it tilted to the back, probably 2 cm, quite noticeable. Since the wood glue had already set when I notice how off balcony was, I decided to leave it alone, knowing what an awful chore it would be to remove it. And no one would notice.

But I knew.

The photos really do not show how un-level it was, Every time I looked at the house from the side, I got that pang of disappointment, each time reminding myself that this one mistake ruined the value of the house--not that I would be selling it, but some day it would really matter. Finally Friday I broke down, gave in to my instincts and removed the darn thing. 

I began by using my embossing heat gun used to melt embossing powder in card making to soften the wood glue. I realized, too, that the left side of the balcony had never attached itself to the front of the house so I was able to wedge my old Cricut spatula into the crevice and slide it along as the heat softened the glue.

I knew when I originally installed the balcony that it had be positioned right at the bottom the door opening in order to be level.

The glue softened and released much easier that I had imagined.

 

The balconycame off quite easily. You can see the line where it pealed away from the house. In actuality, the wood glue did not soften, the paint did and the the balcony easily released. Nonetheless, the balcony removal was far less traumatic than I expected. 

I had a mother problem, too. I could not get the brass porch lights to adhere; I tried their adhesive backs, tacky glue and jeweler's glue, but nothing held them in place,  so I now that  I had easy access to them where I could remove the old glue and clean things up a bit; this time using Gorilla super glue which caught hold.

The scar left from removing the the balcony will be repaired, repainted, and won't show anyway, but here the question that builders face all the time: Do we glue pieces to unpainted surfaces or painted surfaces? Simple as it may sound, the decision isn't always an easy one to make, so what do you do?

If you glue pieces to a painted surface--like shutters, door casing, or balconies, you are gluing to the paint, so if you have to remove a piece it does release easily, so it really isn't a strong or permanent bond when you paint first and glue next.

Many builders will paint all the kit pieces before assembling, rather than paint the house once the main frame is assembled. When I built Lily's house, I assembled it then I taped off the windows when I painted the exterior pieces before assembling the house, so that I glued the window casings directly to the bare exterior surface. It was a chore then to do the touch-up work around the window casings.

I had to look back at my photos to see when I painted this house--after assembling it and I didn't leave any bare spots for gluing--was it an over sight? I think I just didn't think about gluing pieces to the outside of the house. 

 

As I said, the front of the Manchester is work intensive, so I concentrated on building the porch work and the balcony then I installed it. I had a major problem with the balcony. It was supposed to be supported by the frame work, but all of the support is in the front with no support for the back of the balcony. I taped it in place, but it slipped.

Next time I will attach a porch roof or balcony with house laying down. I was tempted to that when I put balcony back in place so that gravity will help hold it in the proper place, but the house is big and heavy and has the addition, so I'm back to square one: how to attach the balcony and support it while the glue sets? I've cut supports that will fit underneath the balcony and support it as the glue dries, hopefully keeping the piece in place. 

I spent the rest of Friday rebuilding part of the railing on the balcony since it was wonky and repairing other weak spots in the porch wood work. Since the glue really didn't soften when I applied the heat to remove the balcony, I used the heat gun to soften the glue on the back of the balcony so that I'd have a smooth, clean surface again. Along with a little sanding, the back of the balcony has a clean surface that hopefully will hold. Nor will it be glued to paint, rather to the scare in the MFD which will hopefully create a good bond.

I feel so much better with a level balcony. I haven 't glued it in place yet, I suppose because I nervous about it slipping again. 

The light are holding in place with the super glue. I'm winding why I didn't adds the second light the upper level? 

The lights are on and all are working. The curtains are up in the living room; the finishing touches are coming together. Yesterday I cut the rest of the trim work for the exterior corners and today I'll paint them, so then I can install of the exterior trim.

Yes, that is a Tesla. And the house will have a wind powered energy source, blending the traditional with the modern. 

The final major project is the roof. While it looks like a big roof, it really isn't. My choices: individual shingles from my stash; purchasing speed shingles from Green Leaf; or creating a faux tin roof that is so popular here--a region known for receiving the most hail in the world. The metal roof would be the easiest. Real Good Toys has a tutorial on how to create the look: paint the roof and use 3/8 or 1/4 inch lumber to give look of a metal roof. I really am leaning toward that. Inspired by a small farm not far from from here where both the house and the barn have the dark blue metal roofs. Quite showy. We will see. 

I did another thing: spruced up the bathroom. I've always felt that the black, gray, and white monochromatic pallet was somewhat boring, so the bathroom needed color. I've always wanted to add poppy art work to my own bathroom, just never got around to it, so here I'm living out my real decorating fantasy.

I found the poppy image on Raw Pixel.com, printed it on a 4x6 glossy photo paper and made a frame for it. 

 I made poppies last summer from kits, so I placed one in a little glass jar, adding a little more interest. The Caladium that I made a few weeks ago for the office is in the red pot, but you can't see it. It may not be permanent in the bathroom anyway. Red was my mom's favorite color, so she would love this. She'd love the dollhouse projects, too. I'm sad sometimes that she's not here to enjoy this.

And we finish with yet a 3rd thing: stabling hand crocheted rugs, which is really quite easy--if you crochet.

How to Crochet a Perfect Circle (https://thestitchvixen.com/crochet-a-perfect-circle/

I crocheted these little rugs a while back, but despite using a pattern that promised flat circles with edges that did not curl, the rugs still did not lay flat, so they needed stabilized. Easy to do, especially since I had fabric stabilizer in my sewing stash. It's an easy process, so if you want to make your own mini rugs, you will want to stabilize them, even if you print your rugs on fabric, the iron-on stabilizer gives a nice finish (which I'll be doing, too).

To crochet the tiny rugs, use the smallest crochet hook you can. I used the one on the right, a 5 mm, which is plenty small. I've tried the 8mm on the left, but I need more practice.

Use the smallest crochet thread possible to achieve the scale you want. This of a 10 size that I purchased at Hobby Lobby, but is a lot of thread. Shop thrift stores for some bargain prices on crochet supplies, especially if you don't do a lot crocheting. 

Follow package instructions

• Heat Bond Stabilizer 
• cut to fit the bottom of the rug. I began with a square then trimmed it to fit the rugs.
• hot iron set to Wool. The Heat Bond instructions say Low Wool heat for 15 seconds, but I had to increase the heat to High Wool (my iron has 3 settings for Wool) and the time to about 45 seconds. The stabilizer didn't bond at the lower temperature and time I think because of its crochet texture.

Cut Stabilizer to fit the back of rug

Place stabilizer shiny side on the rug. The directions so the 'rough', which I had a hard time determining. The shiny side has the heat activated adhesive.

Use a pressing cloth on top if the stabilizer. I used an old tea towel folded.

Apply heat

Let cool

My stabilizer shifted. Not a big deal. I trimmed away what hung over the edge.

Now my two round rugs lay flat and look very nice in place. 

The Manchester Country Home is nearly Show Home ready with a few more odds and ends to finish up--like knobs on the entertainment center cabinets, but Ziggy and Sabrina are enjoying the fire. 

I'm glad and thankful that you stopped by. If you are new, leave comment to say "Hi."👋