Beta reading for two different authors, plus trying to write on Rimworld #4, plus a little home improvement project…
There is a REASON to buy prehung doors… Grrrr…
This sumbitch took a half day to get installed… Of course the @*(*&#)@! frame was crooked… And tearing off all the crap to get to the frame itself was a non-starter, which is why I didn’t get a prehung one to start with.
Soooo, I ended up using a trick I was taught 50 years ago by an old master carpenter I helped out when I was a teenager. I had to chisel out and inset the top hinge on both the door and the frame, and leave the bottom hinge proud on both the frame to get the door to ‘pull’ in far enough in to actually fit on the other side.
And I proved once again that chisels are sharp… sigh
Yes, I know it ‘opens’ the wrong way, but the entry to that bath is ‘small’, and having the door open in would reduce that space even more, so I made it open out, since I don’t have to get into the linen closet to the right all that often.
And then cooked burgers and brats for a few folks that came over to remember those we’ve lost. It was a long day, but a good day, and time spent with friends is always special, especially when everyone kicks in and helps get things ready.
Light posting and commenting today, lots of reading to do, y’all go read the folks on the sidebar.
I like the Noren in the other doorway
FT: caught my eye, too. Though my first half-baked thought was Singapore for some reason.
ONFO: Good job on the door. Sounds like you ensured success by making a blood sacrifice to the god Workman. Moar Rimworld, please!
Ah, yes, the joys of owning a house in Texas that was built on clay soil. Not a question of if you call the foundation company, but when. (Hint–do not use cement piers. There are better systems.).
We up graded all the doors in our house ourselves. This–
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-8-5-Amp-1-1-2-Peak-HP-Fixed-Base-Router-R1631K/206757945
and this–
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-Door-Hinge-Template-A99HT3/312284029
–worked a treat for the doors. Stand the old and new doors together and measure CAREFULLY straight across.
While I’m on a roll–
Hinge screw stripped out? Wooden matches work great (No! Not the hot end!) Yeah, cut the heads off first. Shove a couple of pieces of the match stick into the stripped out hole along with a dab of wood glue. Run the screw back in just snug, let the glue fully cure, then tighten down.
Need to move the hinge over half a screw hole? Cut a piece of wooden dowel to fill the hole. The screw hole tapers, so put the dowel stock in a pencil sharpener first. Pointy end goes in the hole first, push in with a dab of wood glue until flush, let cure. Now you can drill a new hole wherever you need it.
Am I a master carpenter? No, although my secondary MOS was 51B. Master Homeowner? Well, I made it this far.
Dad taught me to use toothpicks. Matches are a good option hadn’t thought of.
Dad taught me toothpicks (and some glue), too. I agree, matches will work!
And installing new doors is not my forte. I had to buy a prehung door for the old house in Long Beach because the existing frame had been poorly installed, and was split and rotting out.
Took me the better part of a week to get it properly done.
Francis- Picked that up 30 years ago on a Japan deployment. It’s STILL hanging in there!
Robert- Sigh… yep
RHT- I thought about buying a router, took one look at the prices, and said ‘I haz chisels, and I know how to use them’. Sigh… Yep, old school fixes. I was taught those too! Mr. Forest was a master carpenter. The amount I learned from him was amazing. And even more amazing is how much I can remember when I need it…LOL
Is that new door REALLY not rectangular, or was your camera not quite right?
Wish I’d had a master carpenter to advise me when I rehung a door.
Sam- Taken from an angle…LOL
Frank- I’m amazed I remembered as much as I did. 🙂
I hate hanging doors with a passion these days.
John- Agreed!!!
The joys of owning an old house anywhere. I was looking at the door out to the deck last night. I usually try not to pay attention to it because the door frame is a trapezoid, and no matter what you do, other than totally re-framing it, it just looks like crap. I hung that door 12 years ago or so, and every so often it still just irritates the dickens out of me.
Ha! My patio door has a similar issue. I had foundation problem that has been fixed but cause the patio door to get out of whack – the the hinge side of the frame “sunk” into the house frame in a progressive manner towards the lower part.
I am working on other projects at this time. When I get to the door I intend to loosen the hinges fro the frame:
1) top hinge – loosen, just a bit.
2) middle hinge – loosen a bit more.
3) bottom hinge – loosen so that I can shim into an nice and even gap between frame and door.
4) shim middle hinge.
5) Tighten all screws.
The door frame, hinge side, will need to get reworked to make it look like normal.
@RHT447
Toothpicks works great too. Save matches in water tight container. 😉
If no dowels available, use toothpicks (or matches) and glue and pack the whole
As to best foundation repair … bell bottom piers are the best but most expensive. My Dad (RIP) was a Civil Engineer who built very expensive houses but also built some tall buildings and had to deal with designing foundations based on soil studies. Many years ago he was visiting me in Houston and we the convesation gravitated to foundaton repairs. He shook his head at what he considered ill foundation design. People, generally the females, rather have $15,000 of nice rather than $15,000 of proper foundation build. We all pay for it later. Anyhow, my Dad’s opinion was to put bell bottom piers first then pur the foundation.
hole not whole.
Free- I can imagine that would drive you nuts!
Jamie- Ouch… And had a friend with an OLD house (piers were literally 12″diameter logs), cost him over $29k to have the house ‘leveled’ and put on those bell bottom piers. The funny part was all of the doors in the house were fine, except the bathroom door in the master bedroom. It stuck, locked his wife in for four hours until he came home… LOL
My actual cost was around $12K, about 7 years ago. The $15K I used was as example.
Once the foundation is levelled, it takes a while for some issues to spring back into alignment. Things like cracks in the brick mortar, cracks/separation in the sheetrock, doors, etc.
I was able to afford bell bottom piers this time.
When I bought the house, as part of the deal “cable lock pilings” were used to level the opposite side of the foundation.
As to my door, I estimate about 1/8″ shim behind top hinge, 1/4″ shim behind bottom hinge. Maybe 3/16″ shim in middle? The door seals OK with the deadbolt locked.
When I retired, I moved to my wife’s home town, and bought a house built in 1896. On a hill. Not at the top of the hill; there was a road just a little above, and the hill went up. Never had door problems.