Building the Beachside Bungalow part 08

 

Watch the video here.

 

 

First I just want to say I am really happy with how well this house kit is coming together. I really expected to have more problems along the way. 

 

This week we put the porch beam in place.

 

 The first step was to get the base caps and porch posts in place. These really need to be in straight so I spent the extra time with my level and sandpaper to get the bases ready. The center base was enough off that I decided to put a shim in between the base and cap. A piece of one of the shingles was just the right thickness for this and works perfectly. You can't even see it's there now that everything is in place.

Next is the actual beam placement. I have to admit I was more than a bit nervous about this step. If this goes in incorrectly it can make the entire roof go wrong. This has to be straight and parallel to the house front in order to it hold the roof correctly. I did dry fit it several times before I turned the camera on. In the end it was really easy you just have to be really careful with your measuring. This is not the spot to “eyeball” it.

I did tackle a spot on the porch railings that were bugging me. My preference would have been to make the porch railings from a different material but I went with what the kit provided. You really can't paint the opening where the balusters go into the rails before hand because that could change the fit. And I don't think just painting the area would have made much difference. I had thought about filling all those little holes between the balusters before I installed the railings and I really wish I would have. I didn't do a perfect job on the fill and I might go back at a later time and make it better but I am so much happier now than I was before. It didn't take too much time, I just turned on some music and lost my self in the task for a while.

The last step today was to cut the side trim boards for the dollhouse. I am not going to trim my house out exactly like the kit directions say to but I will still need these pieces. They are way easier to cut now than it will be once the roof goes on. Getting that angle at the top is so important and relatively easy without the roof in place/in the way.

Now I am going to back on my soapbox so to speak. I see so many crafters on YouTube using regular scissors to cut wood strips and craft sticks. Please don't do this. It is just plain dangerous. Those regular scissors are not made to cut wood and can case a really bad injury. I've seen it happen and it was horrid. You don't want to spend your time or money going to the ER to get patched back up. Get the proper tools and use them safely.