Door Day, Part I

I woke up on Thursday at 6:00 AM but got up at 7:00 (that book was just too darn handy!) I had two cups of coffee for breakfast and putzed around a bit, straightening up. Finally I decided I had run out of excuses and it was time to replace the old wood back door. The new steel door has sat in the garage for at least 6 months. Why? Because I was always afraid I will get the project halfway done and then get stuck on something, so I'd have to go to work with the house unlocked. But, I have four days to accomplish this mission, and if that isn't enough time, I should be ashamed of myself!

But, wait! I found another excuse!! The breeze is light so it would be a perfect time to apply the herbicide to the driveway. So, I mixed up the stuff in the sprayer and head out to tackle that job, first. Alas, the wind picked up before I was halfway done, so I reluctantly stop (don't want to trash the real lawn) and go back to the accursed back door project at about 9:30 AM.

So, by 11:30 AM, I had the storm door and frame removed, the siding loose from the old door jam, the inside molding removed from around the door and me, I was covered with dirt, sweat and wood chips. I decided now would be a great time to shave and shower and go to the drug store to order refills on two prescriptions. So, I did.

Back home and back at it, I took off the molding on the outside of the door frame and cut it down to match the frame. (Pre-hung exterior doors are supposed to go into place from the outside, so they have a real nice molding on them. But this door has to go in from the inside, so the nice molding is only in the way. I used the table saw to cut it down, then glued it and used the nail gun to put it back on.

I was pretty sure at that point that it's gonna take two people to put this bad boy in place, so I called up Jake and asked about his availability over the weekend. He said they'd be over tonight! So, now I had a deadline!!

I decided I couldn't ask them to come over after work and not feed them. So, I made some meatballs and stuck a piece of provolone cheese in the middle of each one. I browned them on all sides, added them to a pot with store-bought pasta sauce, then turned the pot to simmer.

I got out the Sawzall and, after removing the pins from the hinges and the door from the frame, I cut out the frame. I was accumulating quite a bit of debris on the patio at that point!

It was about 3:30 PM, the door opening was ready, the door was ready and the meatballs and sauce were getting happy, so I decided I would cut the grass and stop when they got here. So, I did, but luckily, I got done before they got here.

Then, they got here. Jake double checked and verified my assumption that I needed to take the top board in the opening off (this door has a metal sill and the old one did not). So, I did and then we tried to put the door in. No way! So, I got my trusty Sawzall and cut away more of the header. This, of course, COVERED me in sawdust. But, we got the door in, leveled and at attached at the top.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Carla had boiled some spaghetti, drained it and added the sauce. So, we ate. The meatballs tasted great, BTW, but it was funny. The cheese had melted (probably since I had left them simmering for 3-4 hours) so each meatball had a little empty hole in the middle.

After eating, they headed home (thanks again, guys!) and I headed for the shower. Once the sawdust was washed off and I was clean, I was reluctant to do any more work. So, I didn't. Instead I watched the latest Rambo movie (I thought it might be a joke, but it was a pretty good action film).

When it was done, I turned off everything and gratefully went to sleep...