Confession: I hate unfinished studs. I don't know why it never bothered me as a kid, but as an adult, I can't stand to see bumpy studs all over my products, especially buildings. Maybe it's because building techniques have gotten so much more sophisticated. Look at the modular buildings: my recollection is that they're all pretty smooth structures thanks to clever use of tiles.

So I love the haunted house--it's pretty much on par with a modular building, although we all agree it's not quite the same kind of building. What's driving me nuts is all those unfinished floors. All I can see is studs all over the place.

Today I decided to experiment with cleaning it up a little. I have a whole bunch of 1 x 4 brown tiles, so I decided to redo the right attic floor. Here's the result.

And a more distant look, so you can see how the unfinished one below compares:

This is mostly 1 x 4 tiles arranged in a pattern that makes sense. It's not perfect. There's a few spots where I need some 1 x 1 or 1 x 2 tiles, but they're not obvious from the photos. I also have a few 1 x 2 plates hidden here or there to secure the various boxes and items. The ghost is actually standing on one. You can also see that the skull is on one, since there's a stud next to his head.

Your thoughts--is this better, or worse? I definitely think it makes the floor "cleaner" and more in line with the style of the modular buildings. It may be a little TOO clean--this is supposed to be a moldy old house, so perhaps it looks a little too nice to be appropriate. Doing the rest of the house is going to be tricky. The left attic is not as cleanly shaped, so I'm going to need to Bricklink a LOT of 1 x 1 and 1 x 2 tiles to make it look good. The bottom floors will also be tricky, as they're specifically designed to look like crumbling masonry and rotten wood--it may take me some time to figure out what I want to do with them. The middle floors, too--should they also be brown to suggest wood? I have some tan 2 x 2 tiles--maybe I could make it look like a stone-tiled floor?

Comments are appreciated!

I think your tiled attic looks much better. I don't think that open studs make a floor look more rustic, just unfinished. There are ways to make it look rustic and broken down, maybe add a tile of a differnt color to look like a repair job, or maybe a couple of exposed studs. For stone tile I would try grey or a combination of grey, dark grey maybe a black or two here and there, maybe even some sand green to look like mold.

You've got a good start, and I like your ideas.

I hope this helps

Andy D

My stance on tiles is that if a surface is supposed to be smooth (ie. Floorboards, ceramic tiles, concrete) it should be tiled. If it's supposed to be textured (such as carpet, gravel or grass) studs are fine. That said, it can get really expensive trying to tile everything so some concessions have to be made.

I agree that tiled finish should only be applied on areas that require a smooth finish...The more recent modulars look great with their floors tiled where applicable!

Covering up the studs makes it look a lot less old and "broken-down" to me.

Thanks for the feedback, I decided to try the other side of the attic just to see how it looks. Here we go...

The darker piece on the left is just a sub, because I needed something to fit in there. Here's both sides of the attic together:

I'm still not entirely sold in this, and I may go through the tedious process of popping out all the tiles. I like the regularity and the smoothness. However, because the floorboards are the same color as the other browns in the house, it feels like they all blend together--it's not very appealing to my eyes. If I had a whole bunch of tiles in the darker brown color, I think it might work better. Or if I had a ton of those 1 x 4 brown tiles with the wood pattern printed on them--like the ones on the windows out front--that might look more realistic.

I am curious what other tweaks people have done to their haunted houses. The only other significant changes I've done is to accessorize it. You can see my polybag clock where everybody else has put theirs, and I have a few extra ghosts floating around. Out front, I added a few jack-o'lanterns from the Monster 4 game. I also added in bits from the Monster Fighters Accessory Pack and the Halloween CMF pack around the house. (You can see a bit of white in the bedroom closet. I shoved a skeleton in there.) I would like to know what the rest of you are doing to make your houses better--do share!

Nice thread, have just recently got my Haunted House and have been tweaking mine too.

Must say I find the attic completly tiled goes against the broken down feel of the set, maybe try random boards like in the area by the front door perhaps- I've been thinking of doing this to mine.

I've added a few 1x1 and 1x2 tiles to the stairs to give them a broken down look like the steps out front. Apart from that just added on some more ghosts and other monsters. Added a skeleton under the stairs, and a 'hanging' skeleton up in the attic.

Also made a little table for the rather bare front area by the door- just a few telescopes, and a plate.

Also added the shrunken head from the Harry Potter bus set, in a jar- fits in nicely withnthe feel of the set :)

Will try and take a few shots to post my tweaks when I get a chance.

Edited February 24, 201312 yr by smokebelch

Few shots of my minor mods on the Haunted House- nothing major just more monsters added, and a few tweaks here and there.

Sorry bout the flash, only had time for a few quick snaps-

This makes me REALLY want to get the set.. Awesome pics.

Or if I had a ton of those 1 x 4 brown tiles with the wood pattern printed on them--like the ones on the windows out front--that might look more realistic.

With the printed wood grain tiles, I've been finding that in a lot of cases a little goes a long way. Just mixing a small number of the 1x4 printed wood grain tiles in with your brown tiled floor tricks the eye into seeing the whole floor as worn wood. Whereas tiling the whole floor with the wood grain ends up looking too busy in most cases.

That's pretty good! Here's some of mine.

Zombie Chauffer car parked out front.

Jack o' lanterns on the front porch, with a classic happy ghost to offset the spooky ones.

Cobweb out back (from the MF Accessory Pack):

Giant Spider from Monster 4 on the roof:

Lord Vampyre wants NO GARLIC in his snake stew.

LV has some skeletons in his closet.

The consequences of partying too hard. (Also, that top hat doesn't fit in the attic trunk as Lego envisioned.)

With the printed wood grain tiles, I've been finding that in a lot of cases a little goes a long way. Just mixing a small number of the 1x4 printed wood grain tiles in with your brown tiled floor tricks the eye into seeing the whole floor as worn wood. Whereas tiling the whole floor with the wood grain ends up looking too busy in most cases.

Hmmm, I'm intrigued. Do you have pictures?

Hmmm, I'm intrigued. Do you have pictures?

I'll have to dig through for some pictures when I get back to my desk. I used it a little bit in my comic corner MOC. I noticed the effect from building the Unexpected Gathering set. Lego only puts the wood grain on a few boards of the fence and it is enough to convey the illusion of the wooden fence.

With the printed wood grain tiles, I've been finding that in a lot of cases a little goes a long way. Just mixing a small number of the 1x4 printed wood grain tiles in with your brown tiled floor tricks the eye into seeing the whole floor as worn wood. Whereas tiling the whole floor with the wood grain ends up looking too busy in most cases.

Just got some spare printed tiles, gonna have a play round with the flooring on mine. Think I'll try for something like the entrance by the front door to give a broken floorboards look throughout the house. Just a few tiles here and there, will see how it turns out.

Edit- Added the tiles, was going for a look like the hallway in the set rather than a complete tiled look... Think I kinda like it though not 100% sure...

What do you guys think?

Edited February 28, 201312 yr by smokebelch

I wonder if Faefrost meant to say to tile the entire floor and add in just a couple of the wood grain tiles for the effect, and you have possibly interpreted what he said as put a few tiles on with a few wooden grain tiles?

Either way though, I love this thread! Never thought about putting the skeleton in the closet! (going to do that to mine now, love the idea )

I have just received my second haunted house. I loved the first one soooo much, I was wondering if it would be possible to get a second and make the first one wider adding more rooms (it needs a bathroom, they cant all go toilet in the kitchen sink!).

Has anyone else attempted this?

I shall be starting my extension this weekend, with the possibility of removing the ability to 'open' it with hinge bricks and turning it into modular floors.

What are peoples thoughts on changing its opening capabilities to the 'normal' way compared to hinge bricks?

Go for it, if you've got the cash to spend on two houses. I'd suggest adding some bricks with technic pin holes if you're going to make it a giant modular. That way, you'll be able to plug it into the Creator modular houses. Of course, it might look really out of place on a modular street, but who knows. Make sure to put the whole thing on a 32 x 32 base so it could connect with other modulars.

Also, I'd take advantage of all the zombie heads in your second house. If you don't plan to duplicate your front porch, you could get at least four minifigure bodies (six if you want to put the extra chef and butler heads on something different) and have a load of extra zombies about the house.

Oh, I'm not sure I will be making it connectable to the sides with other modulars, I'll keep the side porch as it is a nice feature. The chimney is getting moved round the back in the middle of the extension. Not quite sure what else Ill do but I aim to make it twice as wide. I also hope to try adding a basement of which Ill have the house raised 2 'brick' bricks high above ground with about 4 bricks high below ground... (yeah, scenery around it too) I'll just go with the flow =D Any ideas anyone can think, I'll give it a go!

Edited March 1, 201312 yr by Fuppylodders

Interesting ideas floating around and love seeing the pics of others HH's. I'm glad that others have figured out how to make the ghosts fly around the outside with the iron fencing on the upper floors. I have all mine floating around various floors and a black vampire bat too!

Edited March 1, 201312 yr by ETAV8R

I wonder if Faefrost meant to say to tile the entire floor and add in just a couple of the wood grain tiles for the effect, and you have possibly interpreted what he said as put a few tiles on with a few wooden grain tiles?

Yeah I know he meant mixing in with the completly tiled floor- I just like the broken floorboards sticking through effect already in the set with the front entrance. Just extended it across all the rooms, and added a few of the printed tiles. Personally I think it gives it a more 'broken down' feel than a completly tiled floor.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else has modded theirs- post up some pics!

Yeah I know he meant mixing in with the completly tiled floor- I just like the broken floorboards sticking through effect already in the set with the front entrance. Just extended it across all the rooms, and added a few of the printed tiles. Personally I think it gives it a more 'broken down' feel than a completly tiled floor.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else has modded theirs- post up some pics!

I'm jealous. I still need to get this one. Oh well maybe if the tax return comes this week.

And yeah, I find about 1 wood grain board to every 4 or 5 normal brown ones does a good job of giving it the feel. It also helps to force the visual trick a bit to put a couple off set close to the point where your eyes are looking in. So if your eyes pass over the wood grain tiles while looking at the rest they sort of auto complete the image in your head.