I added more walls to the dollhouse today, and once again the grooves helped hold them in place. However, no matter how carefully you square the dollhouse, it will never be perfect, even with the grooves assisting. MDF can have slight warps that affect how the parts fit together. There’s no need to stress, though — the kit includes exterior corner trim to hide imperfections, which is especially helpful since strip wood has become hard to find. I’ll worry about that when it’s time for baseboards and ceiling trim, as I’m nowhere near that stage yet.
I’ve been using a level, and although it shows the house as level and straight, I can still see some inconsistencies where certain walls aren’t as flush as they should be. This is a wood issue, not a skill issue. My kit spent a few days in a hot moving truck, so I’m sure the MDF warped a little.
The kit also includes “groove fills,” thin strips of wood designed to fill areas where walls meet at corners and create grooves, as well as spots near the staircase opening where grooves are visible. I haven’t used these yet because I plan to wallpaper the dollhouse first. Installing them now would cause unsightly bumps under the wallpaper. As mentioned, inconsistencies are inevitable, so some groove fills will sit perfectly flush while others may be slightly raised, affecting the wallpaper finish. For that reason, I’ll wait and use them later as interior trim pieces. That approach works best for me because I’m very particular about these details.
