The Tale of Two Projects: Trials and Tribulations

 Murphy's Law says if anything can go wrong it will, and so it is in dollhouse building. I set out today to get the wallpaper installed in the Manchester Country Home attic, the last step before the floor goes in. As life goes, I was plagued with phone calls and text messages all morning: A friend just wanting to chat as she started her day, a daughter with some minor catastrophe, and a museum committee member working our museum web site. Finally, all the chatter and clatter stopped and I was able to get on with. my goal for the day.

Last week, I had a light meltdown--just minor mental issue when lights that worked the day before suddenly didn't. 

The only light that worked was the lamp plugged on the addition first floor living room.That room has only 3 lights: the lamp and two wall sconces. There are 2 other lights on this line, the front porch lights.  I narrowed the problem down to that line and short, possibly somewhere--but where? I was not about to start tearing out wallpaper to inspect all the connections.

Then ALL the lights failed. 😧

I began by bypassing the original connection, using 3 plug-in extension that will connect to a new place.  Nothing.

Next I began bypassing the tape wiring by using round wire and plug-ins on my little test board. Pretty messy and pretty ugly. 

But I was able to add back on-line the hanging light in the addition second floor and got the lamp in that room to work again. That line runs across the roof to the power source on the attic floor. 

But I did tear out wallpaper on this wall. Really, we should take lots of photos so that we can back and see what's behind the wallpaper BEFORE we cover it

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Take a look at the light in the adjoining bedroom. It Never worked, so I took it down and replaced it. It's one that I made. Glue may have corrupted the wiring for it sort of fell apart when I tried to disassemble it. 

So  this long, sad saga it does have a happy ending. I just need to figure out how to hide my adjustments. 

The house looks pretty at night. I like the way the light comes through the skylight.

I replaced the bedroom light that failed with a little sconce that I made from a Bindel's Ornaments kit. I'm not very good at shaping the rounds on the end of the wires, but I decided to use it anyway because I like the bling.

BUT my lighting issues weren't over--this time, a not so mini meltdown.😖😣😩

What mess. I did conclude that because the house is made of MFD and not hard plywood, the brads are not held securely in place, especially on these exposed edge cuts because MFD is so porous.

Just by pushing on the pink connection, I was able to isolate the weak spot in this line. It wasn't a short, just a weak connection. To secure the connection, I cut a small pink square--copper--and pressed over the eyelet and wiring. Now the lights are no fail--fingers crossed, but who really knows?

Now, we move on to wallpapering.

We all agree that best time to  paper wall is before wood trim is installed. I generally wallpaper then add the doors and windows, so cutting a wall template of this odd shaped wall was a challenge.

But I eventually got a good fit.

Old wallpaper had to be cleaned off, so I used a mixture of about a cup of warm water with about a tablespoon of liquid fabric softer. Generally I spray it on, but given the small area, I dabbed it on with a foam paint brush and let it soak a bit and the glue dissolved nicely and released the scraps of paper. I secured the copper tape with Scotch tape to keep it from getting soaked.

I printed the sunflower paper in mat photo paper, making it a very thick paper, but it stands up well to the moisture from the glue, but it's not real pliable. 

For the attic wallpaper, I used scrapbook paper that is lignin and acid free. Generally I use a clear acrylic spray to protect the paper, but another disaster! The can of spay had sat for a long while in garage and when it sprayed out it spoiled the paper, so I had to reprint the sunflower paper and one of the odd triangles for the peak. 

It's a difficult cut and I was down the leftover scraps; fortunately, I had just enough to cut a new piece. The inset roof section was really had to access and Grandmother's wallpaper glue was really dense and didn't want to slip very well. On the larger flat surfaces, I used a wet foam brush to apply the dampened glue directly to the wall so that the wallpaper piece would slide into place. I didn't moisten the glue that went on the paper because I didn't trust it to hold up to the extra moisture.

 

 

The power strip on this floor supplies power to the bedroom lights (2) and the new ceiling light that I added to the bathroom. I cut the corner of the left wall so as not to paper over it. This junction, messy as it is will be hidden behind a roof piece and I'll build some sort of faux closet or storage to hid the mess. 

  

The attic is now ready for the floor.

As I prepare to stain the flooring, I use my test pieces to see which I like. Because the downstairs floors are stained with the one on the left, Puritan Pecan, I much prefer Golden Pecan, but to be consist with the other floors, I shopped for the Puritan Pecan and couldn't find it, so I had to use the Golden Pecan, which was my original choice but I used the wrong one on the first floors. UGH!

As well, this walnut wood is naturally darker than the first floors that were with an older kit.

There really isn't a lot of difference. Wood has such character that few other materials have. That's why I prefer it to all other types of flooring that are really are much easier to use than the real thing, but for me wood just makes the house feel warm and homey. 

Before applying the stain, I sanded the already thin planks with 120 course grit to take down any roughness in the grain then smoothed the planks with 320 fine grit sandpaper. 

After sanding, I wiped the floor down with rubbing alcohol to lift up the dust left from sanding, which revealed the character of the wood.

I applied the stain with a foam brush then wiped away the excess.

Look at that deep, rich color. Unfortunately as the stain dries, the glow will fade, but still the floor will be gorgeous--I think--especially I lay down a layer of Johnsons Wax.

The floor is now ready to attach to the 1.5 mm Circut brand chipboard. I still have to wax the floor, but will later. I am nervous about gluing it to the chipboard because in the paste the floors have buckled. Still I didn't trust double sticky tape because once something touches it, it is there. So tacky glue it is. I'll use the brayer to help encourage to two layers to adhere. 

There is plenty of tape to hold the chipboard pieces together. These are the 12x12 sheets that will make a sound backing for the floor that, as you remember, laid on scrapbook paper. 

In the moment of adding glue to the chipboard, I didn't want to stop to take photos. I drizzled plenty of glue on the chipboard, making sure to spread it well to the edges then I put the wood in place, and now it rests underneath some heavy reading.

A few hours later:

The floor meets all expectations. I had plans of using double stick tape to hold it in place, but at the moment it seem to lay flat and solid. I still need to stain the edge trim and will hold the edge trim pieces in place with sticky tape. 

So it took the the better part of the week to finish this project, so aside from some minor finishing touches, I declare the interior of the Manchester Country Home completed. 

To finish the house, the exterior trim needs to be glued in place, the electrical mess has to be concealed, and the roof in the back needs to be shingles then the entire roof needs paint or stain and then I can declare this house finished. 

I hope you have enjoyed this journey and learned a few things along the way. I will finish up posting on this house with a review of What Went Well and What Didn't, but I'll save that review for another time.

Enjoy Sunday and have a great week. Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers,  Ann