I hung a door
Most of our interior doors are fairly nice, wooden, two-panel doors, with hardware that may not be “original” to our 100+ year-old house, but that looks fairly authentic to someone who isn’t an expert. Except for one of the doors leading out of our master bedroom. That one–for some strange reason–had been replaced with a cheap, hollow-core, veneer door, then painted white, with very basic, circa 1980s hardware. Yuck. It had always bugged me. But then the seasons changed and the house settled a bit, and it started to rub the floor too. And I had already decided that I didn’t like the side it was hinged on. So after I painted the bedroom a really fabulous red, I decided that I would replace the door too (I also want to purchase and install a new fan to really finish the room off nicely, but we haven’t gotten around to it yet). I found this place downtown, called Peter’s Design Works. Apparently this guy buys old doors and hardware and such from people who are renovating or tearing down old homes. So I was able to get a door that looks a whole lot like our other doors. It wasn’t cheap, but oh well (at least they trimmed a quarter inch off the bottom of it for me–to ensure that the new door wouldn’t rub the floor too). And then I went back the next weekend and got hinges and a doorknob and door plate. Then I washed and sanded the door, and one day while Rebecca was taking a flying lesson, I decided to try to hang it. By myself.
I wasn’t sure how that would go, but it ended up going fine. I had to use the new chisels I had bought to carve away some of the door frame in the shape of the hinge, so it would sit flush against the door frame. That was kind of a pain, but once I figured out I should actually hold the chisel opposite of the way it really seemed like I should hold it, things progressed more smoothly. Then I installed the hinges and lined up the door, propping the door up on shims and paint sticks to get it lined up just right. Then I installed the hinges on the door as well. And that’s when I started talking to myself, psyching myself up to be royally ticked off and have a mini-cursing tantrum when it didn’t line up exactly right. Then I closed the door. And it was perfect–completely and totally straight! I couldn’t believe it!
At this point, I’ve put two coats of paint on the door, and I think it will need one more. I also forgot to mention that I needed to fill in part of the doorknob hole with some wood filler before I painted the door, because I had not realized how important it was for older door hardware that you not have an inordinately large hole (most older doorknobs need a much smaller hole than modern doorknobs). Oh well. I’ll know for next time. Then I am going to need to sand or plane the door frame just a bit so that the door fits it it a bit better, and so that the door can latch once I install the doorknob. Then I will install the doorknob and strike plate, and I’ll be finished! When I’m all finished, I’ll add a picture.
November 14th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Do you do garage door openers?