Since I'm already working on the tower room, I've decided to start on the flat roofs. Instead of just painting them, I will use sandpaper. First, paint the edges of the roof, install the pre-painted roof trim, and prime the roof. I used the same dark brown paint for priming as I did for the trim. You might be tempted to add sandpaper before installing the trim, but I don’t recommend this. If you need to remove the sandpaper later, it will be glued under the trim, making it difficult to take off without damaging the trim. Additionally, you don’t want sandpaper between two areas that should be glued flush together. Therefore, cut the sandpaper around your trim instead. Priming with the same color as your trim helps camouflage any miscuts.
Start by making a paper template of your roof and then cut it out on the sandpaper. When joining pieces, try to keep joints confined to long, straight areas. I marked my joints in red in the photos below. Make sure to join edges without overlapping. Sandpaper does not overlap well, and overlapping will make joints more visible. Butt the edges together as closely as possible. If your sandpaper has a thick rubber backing, you can use tacky glue to adhere it. If it has a paper backing, I recommend hot melt glue. Avoid using glue that could warp the sandpaper with moisture; this will make joint lines more noticeable. Also, ensure that glue doesn’t seep through and stain the rough side of the sandpaper since it cannot be cleaned. If this happens, you'll need to remove it and start over, which is why I advise against gluing it under the trim.
Once the sandpaper is cut and positioned correctly at the joints, apply tacky glue sparingly to the back and glue it in place. Use clamps or weights to keep the joints flat until dry; I used square pieces from my dollhouse kit and placed weights on top until it dried overnight. Most flat roofs historically had gravel, and sandpaper provides a gravel-like appearance and texture. I chose brown sandpaper to match my dollhouse's exterior colors, but black sandpaper can create a more realistic gravel roof. Lighter color sandpapers may show markings from their backing paper through the front. Using a darker primer helps hide these markings. Since my roof trim is dark brown, it effectively camouflaged any potential marks. If you prefer not dealing with this issue, opt for black sandpaper; just ensure you purchase high-grit options since lighter grits can show scratches more easily and are more prone to damage.
Sandpapered Bay Roofs
Apply sandpaper to the porch roof in the same manner as for the large flat roof. For bay roofs, they must be installed on the dollhouse first. Create a paper template of each bay roof and transfer that shape onto your sandpaper once you achieve a perfect fit. Regardless of whether your sandpaper has a rubber or paper backing, use hot melt glue for adhesion. The curves of bay roofs prevent sandpaper from lying flat until the tacky glue dries, and clamping could shift or damage the sandpaper. If your sandpaper has a paper backing, using hot melt glue on a low setting is fine. For rubber-backed sandpaper, set your hot melt glue gun to high; otherwise, it may come loose over time.
Keep In Mind
For added realism, sprinkle tiny pieces of white glitter on your sandpaper to mimic glass in gravel. Use it sparingly; it doesn’t need adhesive since the rough texture will hold it in place. Be careful when touching up your roof trim — if paint gets on your sandpaper, you'll have to remove it entirely and start over since damaged sandpaper cannot be repaired or patched like wallpaper can. You can paint sandpaper before applying it but not after; painting applied sandpaper will cause warping. If painted sandpaper gets stained later, you can touch it up with matching paint without repainting everything — just make sure it's only touched up where necessary.
