Screen Door, (note to self do not square old doors unless the frame is square)
While it might not look like much I have installed a screen door on my garage so I can get some ventilation while working. Why do I need a screen door if the windows and overhead doors do not have screens - well for the simple fact of keeping the dog in the yard.
Now the job was not as simple as just attaching a screen door to the frame - you see it all started with a $12.99 screen door at Menards - now I had most of the hardware but the door came unpainted.
Once I found a can of exterior primer and stain trim paint to paint the unpainted door I decided that I might as well paint the passage door too - since it really needed it. After much scraping I decided to use some Minwax wood hardener - a good product and since the door was subject to much splashing from the concrete pad it was soft - not actively rotted - just soft from multiple soakings. So after 16 oz of wood hardener I figured I might as well get out the pipe clamps and urethane glue to square and tighten the door up a bit. I got the door square and nice the joints nice in tight - mortise and tenon construction - an old door.
Painting was straight forward except for rain on Sunday - I was getting set up for the paint after the doors had dried overnight from priming when the 500 went to rain delay - well it was clear and sunny in Homer so I decided to call my Dad and let him know that the race should restart. While on the phone the heavens opened and if I had started painting it would have been a real mess - 0.40 of rain in that downpour but my tarp keep the garage dry. I don't have images of the tarp but it attaches under the eves and is held up by 2by2's with nails sticking up to hold the grommets and tied to the fence and a stake in the yard. I put it up as much for shade as for keeping the freshly painted door and frame dry.
In any case I got everything painted Memorial day weekend but when I went to put the old now square passage door back on it's hinges it hung under the door knob edge. So the door frame sagged, I get a bottle jack and raise the door frame - the jack pushes through the sill - damn - the sill is rotten. A few moments of panic - but after checking with a 20 penny nail I conclude that the still was rotted from water splashing up from the concrete pad at the door - the rest of the garages sills seem alright - so add to my list gutters for the garage. Hot and tried I wanted ice cream with dinner - the grill is out of propane so I decide to goto McDonald's in Oakwood via the old state road to see a new bridge - big mistake be cause by then race traffic has reached Oakwood and their ice cream machine is out to boot.
Ok I can replace the sill - jack it up put as I try to jack the garage my board warps - not wanting to build an I beam out of 2by4's I try another approach - leaver the studs ups and brace the wall up then pound in the new still with a slight bevel cut so water can run off the transom. That seems to be working but one little problem - the wall is moving outward - now I need something to brace it to keep it from moving. I really didn't want to nail a support to the wall and use a post or something in the yard to brace - but my truck is heavy - it had 50 concrete landscape edgers in the back that I wanted to unload inside the fence anyways so why not park the truck against the garage to stop the wall from moving.
Using my capers' lock turned to the open position gives one a centerline reference and since the receiver hitch sticks out about a 1/2 inch from the rear bumper I backed up carfeully against the door frame/stud with a section 2by8 to protect the wood. So I put the truck in park and set the parking brake - of course with the truck centered on one side of the door frame I had to climb over the truck to get into the door - the overheads were closed - no screen door to block the door yet. With my 25lb barbell I drive the new pressure treated sill under the old studs and trust me it was much easier to type that sentence than it was to get the new sill installed. When I get back into the truck to move it I realized it was in PARK and I had been pounding against it - I put the key and push on the brake but I can't budge the shift leaver - once started it moved effortlessly.
The next morning I bolt the sill to the foundation then trim some wood of the bottom of the door (not the top) - measured twice and cut once - bingo the door fits and closes without snagging the top. I decide to wait until next weekend to mount the screen door.
As I unloaded my concrete edgers I notice the truck is running like crap again - then after an hour or so later I move to another area to unload and I notice it must be steam coming out of the tailpipe - if steam is coming out of the tailpipe - it is not smoke - smoke doesn't condense against your hand or disappear, I mean smoke might get thinned out by mixing with the air but it doesn't disappear like steam. This can only mean one thing - the truck has a bad head gasket or a cracked block/head.
Ok back to the screen door - next Saturday I get it mounted I need to get some different hinges - I had non-mortise type but I didn't want to cut the door to fit inside of the frame - it was an old door frame - 78 by 32 - the new screen door is 81 by 32. I get screen door hinges from Old Homer Hardware - the can be mounted flush or recessed or forward - perfect. All the door has is a spring and an handle - I put 1/8 rat wire across the bottom of the door to keep the dog from busting thought but I need to mount a board to put the spring catch/holder - to keep the door from bouncing when it slams shut and a better place to push from the inside.
So now I can work in the garage in the summer - now if it was only as clean as it was in 2004
Now the job was not as simple as just attaching a screen door to the frame - you see it all started with a $12.99 screen door at Menards - now I had most of the hardware but the door came unpainted.
Once I found a can of exterior primer and stain trim paint to paint the unpainted door I decided that I might as well paint the passage door too - since it really needed it. After much scraping I decided to use some Minwax wood hardener - a good product and since the door was subject to much splashing from the concrete pad it was soft - not actively rotted - just soft from multiple soakings. So after 16 oz of wood hardener I figured I might as well get out the pipe clamps and urethane glue to square and tighten the door up a bit. I got the door square and nice the joints nice in tight - mortise and tenon construction - an old door.
Painting was straight forward except for rain on Sunday - I was getting set up for the paint after the doors had dried overnight from priming when the 500 went to rain delay - well it was clear and sunny in Homer so I decided to call my Dad and let him know that the race should restart. While on the phone the heavens opened and if I had started painting it would have been a real mess - 0.40 of rain in that downpour but my tarp keep the garage dry. I don't have images of the tarp but it attaches under the eves and is held up by 2by2's with nails sticking up to hold the grommets and tied to the fence and a stake in the yard. I put it up as much for shade as for keeping the freshly painted door and frame dry.
In any case I got everything painted Memorial day weekend but when I went to put the old now square passage door back on it's hinges it hung under the door knob edge. So the door frame sagged, I get a bottle jack and raise the door frame - the jack pushes through the sill - damn - the sill is rotten. A few moments of panic - but after checking with a 20 penny nail I conclude that the still was rotted from water splashing up from the concrete pad at the door - the rest of the garages sills seem alright - so add to my list gutters for the garage. Hot and tried I wanted ice cream with dinner - the grill is out of propane so I decide to goto McDonald's in Oakwood via the old state road to see a new bridge - big mistake be cause by then race traffic has reached Oakwood and their ice cream machine is out to boot.
Ok I can replace the sill - jack it up put as I try to jack the garage my board warps - not wanting to build an I beam out of 2by4's I try another approach - leaver the studs ups and brace the wall up then pound in the new still with a slight bevel cut so water can run off the transom. That seems to be working but one little problem - the wall is moving outward - now I need something to brace it to keep it from moving. I really didn't want to nail a support to the wall and use a post or something in the yard to brace - but my truck is heavy - it had 50 concrete landscape edgers in the back that I wanted to unload inside the fence anyways so why not park the truck against the garage to stop the wall from moving.
Using my capers' lock turned to the open position gives one a centerline reference and since the receiver hitch sticks out about a 1/2 inch from the rear bumper I backed up carfeully against the door frame/stud with a section 2by8 to protect the wood. So I put the truck in park and set the parking brake - of course with the truck centered on one side of the door frame I had to climb over the truck to get into the door - the overheads were closed - no screen door to block the door yet. With my 25lb barbell I drive the new pressure treated sill under the old studs and trust me it was much easier to type that sentence than it was to get the new sill installed. When I get back into the truck to move it I realized it was in PARK and I had been pounding against it - I put the key and push on the brake but I can't budge the shift leaver - once started it moved effortlessly.
The next morning I bolt the sill to the foundation then trim some wood of the bottom of the door (not the top) - measured twice and cut once - bingo the door fits and closes without snagging the top. I decide to wait until next weekend to mount the screen door.
As I unloaded my concrete edgers I notice the truck is running like crap again - then after an hour or so later I move to another area to unload and I notice it must be steam coming out of the tailpipe - if steam is coming out of the tailpipe - it is not smoke - smoke doesn't condense against your hand or disappear, I mean smoke might get thinned out by mixing with the air but it doesn't disappear like steam. This can only mean one thing - the truck has a bad head gasket or a cracked block/head.
Ok back to the screen door - next Saturday I get it mounted I need to get some different hinges - I had non-mortise type but I didn't want to cut the door to fit inside of the frame - it was an old door frame - 78 by 32 - the new screen door is 81 by 32. I get screen door hinges from Old Homer Hardware - the can be mounted flush or recessed or forward - perfect. All the door has is a spring and an handle - I put 1/8 rat wire across the bottom of the door to keep the dog from busting thought but I need to mount a board to put the spring catch/holder - to keep the door from bouncing when it slams shut and a better place to push from the inside.
So now I can work in the garage in the summer - now if it was only as clean as it was in 2004
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