Cladding Tips.

 Hello Followers,
Today I thought I would write down one or two tips I discovered whilst attaching the cedar cladding to my Victorian Dollhouse. Remember you are using cutting equipment so be incredibly careful. Safety First!!!!









Things You will need:
- Cladding (and lots of it...more than you think you need!)
- PVA (wood glue)
-Small brush (not your best...but not your worst either)
- Metal ruler
-Easy Cutter (honestly the best tool I have ever purchased...definitely got my money's worth)
- Stanley knife
-Small cutting board
-Pencil
-Masking tape

Step 1:
Start at the bottom of your house and line up your piece so that it is level with the base of the house. I would stay away from too much overlap as I can see future accidents occurring with it, it could easily be ripped off.

TIP: If you can place your house face up it is easier to clad!

Step 2:
I started from the left side of my house and move across to the right of my house with the cladding. If your piece is not long enough. Don't stress. Start your new piece and cut when necessary. I place the new piece on (dry fit) and place a small pencil line on where it needs to be cut.

TIP: I used a small brush to place the glue on each piece, I do not place glue on the rebate! Too much glue will stop the rebate keeping your cladding straight.


You will have joins. But as long as both pieces are straight you will get a tight join.


TIP: Make sure your joins are staggered and that you don't have a join above a join!

 This picture shows the indent in the cladding, it faces towards the house and down. It will help to accurately place your next piece above.

TIP: Use the easy cutter with the claddings rebate away from you. (This tip may work for you as I found with 90% of my cuts, it stopped the cladding from cracking.)

TIP: Masking tape is your friend...you will use it heaps! It allows you to secure your cladding and keep it flush against your house. 

TIP: When cutting the cladding try to avoid cutting anything under an inch...in some cases this is unavoidable but most of my smaller cuts split the cladding. (Sometimes...turning the cladding over and cutting from the rebate side is worth a try on pieces prone to splitting)

Step 3:
Window openings require a little maths, but nothing too hard. I place the new piece across the window.

Step 4:
Mark where the piece crosses the window on the actual house first. Then place a small mark on cladding to show spot where window starts.


Step 5:
Remove the piece and measure on your house how far it is from the window mark to the bottom of the window sill. Transfer this measurement to the top of your cladding piece and cut. I use the easy cutter for the vertical cuts and a Stanley knife for the horizontal. Use your metal ruler as a guide...but be careful !!!! (Don't forget that these pictures show what to do with the bottom of a window but you use the same sort of method for the top)

TIP: The rebate is great, make sure you have no gaps between it and your next piece. It only takes one piece being crooked for the whole lot to be wonky. (trust me....I had this happen a couple of times)

Step 6:
Glue and tape.

 Step 7:
If your lucky you wont have many splits but if you do. Place a small amount of glue in the crack, wipe it gently and tape ensuring it is straight first.

Step 8:
Continue cladding until your reach the top!

TIP: Some kits come with corner covers (not quite sure what their actual name is.) I would still encourage cladding to the corners. It would be extremely frustrating to find at the end that your corners didn't quite cover.

TIP: I'm planning on painting the house before attaching the corner components as it will be tricky to get a nice finish.

Here is a shot of the tower...notice all the tape? It is extremely useful for those teeny pieces that just won't sit. I used painters tape and found it was very easily removed.

So friends...be prepared. What I have done so far has taken hours (really probably days) and I still haven't finished. Take your time and if you are tired, stop!!!!!! A tired crafter is an accident waiting to happen! I managed to cut my hand on a drill that was not working....just sitting on the bench!

I'd love to hear from you about your experiences with cladding....any tips or trick you would like to share would be great!

IndyPoppy