Wasn't Going to Post This One

Originally I wasn't planning a blog post about this customer project (a HOFCO Federal style front-opening dollhouse).  It was a straight-forward, simple paint job: change the white house with a grey/blue roof to be a white house with a very dark green roof.  Not very exciting; the before and after photos would probably be indistinguishable.  There were some repairs that needed to be done.  Front porch needed to be repaired with new railings attached, front door needed to be repaired or replaced, and exterior needed a general cleaning (there was a large fish sticker on the flat roof that needed to be removed).  But I did not anticipate any thing worthwhile to blog about.

Then two issues evolved which made me think it was worthy of a brief mention.

1. The interior flooring.  We were not asked to do any interior work on the final, approved, estimate.  But several wood strips were "popped" inside.

Some were barely noticeable, but others (especially behind the stairs) were ghastly.  So I gently pried some of them up and squirted glue under them and held them down to reattach them to the floor.  Overall it only took me about 30 or 45 minutes.  But I knew when it was donated the charity would appreciate a more presentable interior.  This is a common issue in dollhouses that have the veneer strip wood flooring.

All loose floorboards are glued back down

Floorboards are all in place and secure

2. The front door gap.  THIS IS WHY I HATE HINGES!!!!!  This front opening door has a very noticeable gap at the top where the door panel has dropped (weight sagging it down?), creating a gap.  Or maybe it was made this way and had nothing to do with gravity pulling on the door panel.  We built the porch area back up, putting shims under the left side, when we reinstalled/fixed it to help push the panel back up so the gap is not as noticeable.

Before

In Progress

Gap is not as obvious now.

Overall the house came out cute:

Before Interior

After Interior

After Interior with Bathroom door panel open

Even just having a new shutter and roof color and having a fixed porch and front door on the exterior did create a before/after effect that I was not expecting.

Before Exterior

After Exterior

After Exterior all Painted, Fixed, Ready to go!

Now I was glad I had kept the before photos once I saw how the porch and railing repair, new front door, new trim color, and a general clean up made such a difference.

Next up I'm finishing a customer's long overdue 1970s themed Ranch dollhouse and then (in July) we are getting in a dollhouse that has been in a family since about 1890 that needs some TLC!