Saturday, December 24, 2011

Oh, I just a-door you.

We recently got done installing new siding, and we also had the house painted (before the dead of winter sets in.)

Our old front door (atrium door), which was always intended as a temporary door, suddenly started looking quite shabby.  Turns out it was pretty rotted too.

I had recently read how well this project turned out over at Redneck Modern, so, I asked if Hunter would come do mine as well.  I liked the idea of just replacing the door, instead of having to mess with the glass around the doorframe.

There were a couple of challenges - like discovering that the doorpost 4x4 was no longer fastened to a wood pad in the slab, and was just loose.  I was tempted to replace the rotted wood with some PT, and fasten the 2x4 to it, but Hunter wisely suggested anchoring an L bracket to the post, then filling the hole with cement.  We dropped a tap con screw anchoring the bracket to the slab as well.

A nice surprise was discovering that the electric release for the door still works, and even better, fits and works perfectly with the new lock mechanism.  We now have an electric release for the atrium door (assuming the deadbolt is unlocked, of course).  The buzz it makes reminds me of visiting my grandfather in his Yonkers NY coop apartment.

Old door


New door in place

New locks



Curb appeal.  Or is that curb a peel (get it, orange?)


The door turned out great, the color is perfect, and Hunter is extremely meticulous in his work.  As he joked, he makes all the mistakes on his own house, so that he can do it perfectly for everyone else.