Make a 2 Storey House from a Free Kit

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Make a 2 Storey House from a Free Kit

Here’s an easy modification for you free download paper kit from American Paper Buildings Project that takes paper crafting to a whole new level. A second level!

The free download paper kit from American Paper Building Project makes a nice looking tract house from the 1960’s. It’s stylish and realistic, and quite easy to build. So how do you make it better?

One way is to add a second floor. Adding a second floor to an older tract house is a pretty common remodeling project. People are always looking for more room and more ways to add value to their tract house, and adding a second floor is cheaper than buying a bigger house.

There are several ways to accomplish this remodel. We could have built an addition over the garage, for example, or over the garage and one room. Fastest and easiest, however, was to simply add an entire second floor above the first.

Your first step is to visit the American Paper Buildings Project and download your free house kit. The people there suggest you try one of their $3.95 kits, in which you get two houses, but the free download is both free and easy.

Adding the second floor was pretty simple. Instead of printing just one set of walls from the downloaded kit, print three sets. The two extra sets of walls are required because the ground floor doors all need to be covered up on the second floor.

The ground floor cuts, scores, and assembles per the kit’s instructions with one major exception: cut the roof support tabs off of the tops of the walls. Glue the tabs to the back of the wall so that half of their height extends above it. This will give you something to which you can glue the second floor. Leave the bottom tabs on the walls to make it easier to attach the house to a base later.

You have a couple of options in building the second floor. You can cut, score and assemble the second floor as is and then glue on top of the first floor. This will yield the strongest structure. You could then simply glue panels over the doors printed on it. In retrospect, we rather wish that had been the route we’d taken.

The other option for building the second floor is to cut the other wall sections into panels and assemble them one-by-one on top of the first floor. It’s not difficult, but requires more finesse in measuring and cutting, and results in a flimsier structure.

Whichever method you choose, be sure to cut the bottom tabs off of each second floor wall panel but leave the roof support tabs on top. Remember to fold the roof supports out over the printed walls rather than inside.

The roof assembles and installs precisely as required in the paper kit’s instructions. It glues to the tops of the roof supports on the second floor and instantly strengthens the house, lending it shape and stability.

Installing the unusual “internal former” squares up the ground floor, too. Since we haven’t altered the house’s outline, the roof and internal former still fit perfectly.

The end result is surprising. Like a good remodeling design, it’s hard to tell that the house didn’t always have a second floor.

You can get for your paper kit for free download at APBP.

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