After the paint was dry on both assemblies, I glued them in place. I put the porch foundation in because it will stabilize the porch floor when the trim goes in. Very simple as well to do. And then came the porch itself. It is confusing and difficult to assemble, so follow the instructions carefully and notice my pictures.
The long pieces with the squares on top go on the front. The notched pieces go in the back. Dry fit the side pieces to this assembly, so you can see the notches are there to fit these side pieces in. I suggest you build the front assembly first. It will be your guide to the side assemblies. They are all supposed to look the same.
If you're painting them different colors, you have to paint each piece before you glue it together. I didn’t have to do that because it's all one color so I put it together and then painted it.
The instructions want you to build the assembly in its entirety, away from the dollhouse. I’m not doing that. If I do that, I run the risk the assembly will not fit right on the dollhouse. The porch is a tight squeeze, it's best to build it in parts so that you can fit each part flush to the dollhouse walls.
You have to paint the assemblies before they go in because it's very difficult to reach the back side of this assembly once it's on there. Don’t paint the bottom of the posts of your front assembly, so that it can slide better into the porch floor squares. You will need a mallet to get it in there. Before you clamp it, dry fit your side assemblies to it so that you can straighten it so everything fits flush and squares once in. Once it's straightened up, clamp it in place and begin painting and putting together the sides.
Since the front is done, it's reduced the amount of parts and I can more easily make out how the sides go. After everything is dry, you need to spackle any gaps or rough edges and touch up paint. I went ahead and painted the porch foundation and installed the steps.
