Wiring Outside the Box

Seems to be a trend with the bulk of my writing focused on wiring, but it is always an issue and generates the greatest number of questions. This past month I have encountered two very different yet similar wiring situations, which lead me to "wiring outside the box." The basic similarity between the two houses is that they are both front-opening.

The first house is constructed of a very hard, dense composite material that was all but impossible to penetrate with the brads and eyelets. Compounded by the sizes of the rooms (including low ceilings) and finished interior, I thought I would never be able to complete the task. Did I mention that the house was screwed together rather than nailed and glued? That provided another issue that I'll explain later. I spoke with the owners and they agreed that I could wire the house like I would any other, and they would just wallpaper and carpet over the already finished interior.

I thought I would save them some time and expense by running the tapewire lower than I normally do so that they could cover most of it with tall baseboard. Good idea in theory, but awful in reality. The density of the wood, and apparent slickness of the finishes resulted in numerous slips and bends. Never a good thing for brass brads or pound-in receptacles. Yes, I did drill pilot holes for the pound-in receptacles first, but in this case, it didn't matter. If I drilled the hole too small the brass fitting just broke off when I tried to hammer it in place. If I drilled the hole to large, the contact was compromised. I didn't have a bit sized in between. Furthermore, I couldn't get a good angle for drilling or nailing since the installation point was only about 1/2" from the floor. In addition to the density and slippage, I found a issue of "bounce" to be a problem. That is probably not exactly the term, but with dollhouses assembled using glue and nails, I don't generally feel the walls move as I hammer. As for the brads, they just bent every time. Didn't matter what approach or tool I used, the brads were not the answer.

Finally, I resorted to installing large eyelets in various spots along in the tapewire. This way I was able to first drill the pilot hole and then install the eyelets. Even this method took some finessing, but proved to be the answer in the end. I did have one lamp to install that I connected from the outside of the back of the house. I drilled a hole where it would be placed, threaded the wire to the outside, installed two small brads, wrapped the wires around the brads, then gingerly tapped the brads further into the wood. Finally, I applied a piece of Scotch tape over the connection. That was by far the easiest of all installations in the house. I could easily reach the connection spot and the rear wall of the house was supported by the interior walls and floors making hammering easier. Only then did it occur to me that I should have wired the house from the outside by laying out the tape wire along the back like a circuit board then drilling holes and running the fixture wiring outside.

The end result would be the same. Since it was so difficult to install the receptacles and even the eyelets (although they provided slightly easier), the lamps are now permanently connected to whatever spots I was able to install. The same could have been accomplished by wiring on the outside. Actually, I could have avoided all the tapewire on the inside of the house and the owner's house would not need to be wallpapered. Carpeting would have been the only requirement since any way I installed the ceiling fixtures, tape or wires would need to cross the floors to their connection points.

This brings me to the final issue with wiring this particular house. As I mentioned previously, the ceiling heights were slightly lower than a typical 1" scale dollhouse. After I installed one of the larger ceiling fixtures, we noticed that it hung far too low for the house. It now needs to be shortened almost to the point of removing all of the chain. My point here is to double check ceiling and fixture heights be confirm that they do indeed fit before installation. You will save yourself the added work after installation.

As I mentioned earlier, I had a second house with similar yet slightly different issues. Its similarities include finishes (such as permanently affixed doors and decorative molding) and front opening design. Its differences include size and construction materials. This particular house has extremely high ceilings for a 1" scale house and several extremely small rooms. Unfortunately, the architect/builder did not properly design the house, which now has 14" ceilings, but several rooms as small as hallways (less than 5" wide) running over 12" deep. Fortunately, it is constructed of plywood using generous amounts of glue and nails.

This house arrived for wiring during my struggle with the first house. Again, I first thought about this house like I would most typical wiring jobs. Then I really studied the house, considering its characteristics and challenges. After several discussions with the owner, we agreed that I would wire the house on the outside back like a circuit board. The wiring would not be obvious and I could avoid many issues of access. Thankfully, it is plywood, making drilling and nailing much easier. I can install brads, eyelets, or receptacles without bending or breakage. Our only real challenge here is the unusual room sizes and appropriate lamp sizes.

I have said this many times before: plan your layout, search for the challenges and obstacles before you begin, test the wood/finishes to how receptive it is to brads, eyelets and receptacles, and now I add "think outside the box" at least for front opening houses.