Day 1188: A new floor needs a new door, for sure

With a shiny new floor installed, next was time for a new door. 

Things all need to go in a certain order of course. No point doing the door when the floor would change height by about 25mm. And I can't really do the skirting until the door architrave is in place so the door needed to be next. 

I also used the old door as a stencil as, you guessed it, old house does not equal plumb doorways.

The timber screwed into the door at the right points makes a helpful guide for the circular saw.

To be exact, I used a new-ish toy, my laser measure. I'm a techie geek at heart and when it becomes a techie-toolie thing, wow then I really get excited. So the laser measure with it's smartphone interface is perfect. 

Some mm's here and some mm's there. 

"Perfection requires precision" - S. Hare, 2019

With the door cut and several iterations of hanging it and getting it just right, it was finally on and good enough. Next and - sorry no photos - came the door handle and latch. I used more smarter drilling this time and less chiseling (see guidance video here from Tommy's Trade Secrets - or not so secret I guess since it's on YouTube)

Finally, it was a couple of coats of wood primer and in the frame - final coat will come but I'll wait for the summer when the paint can dry outside a bit quicker (and not get rained on, unlike the poor builder)

New door, new floor, blog post o'er

Day 191: The door that opened the wrong way

Once upon a time there was a bathroom door. It was a decent door, only it was just too small .. and it opened the wrong way. All the other doors would make fun of the silly little door, with no handles that opened into the hallway.One day, a magical saw named Stanley floated into the door frame and cut the frame in half. It was much easier to get out when it was cut in half. Helped by a magical crow bar and some magical 4 letter words, the frame was soon off to the far away land of backyardia. Stanley the magical saw also cut into the studs above door frame to make the opening much bigger so that giants could also use the bathroom without bonking their heads. An evil, unused wire jumped out to try and stop the magical saw but this was no match for Stanley and was also banished to backyardia. Soon a new wooden header was nailed above the door opening to provide additional support.Stanley the saw found his way into backyardia and united with a mystical door jamb kit. This kit was a good kit, but it was a bit too big. Apparently the DIY stores sell 610mm doors but do not make frames for these 610mm doors. Not a problem though as Stanley came to the rescue and helped the door jamb fit just right. Powerful braces were used to make sure the door frame was square. It was likely one to be one of the first pieces of timber in the land of Suburbiton to be 100% true and 100% plumb.The new jamb was affixed into place with a small army of screws, helped by a spirit level and some more magical 4 letter words. Then ... suddenly .. a new door appeared. Then disappeared.Stanley's cousin, Stanley the screwdriver then got stuck into this door using a 5/8" bit to bore out some holes for the door lock. The kit used was a 2 latch bathroom latch. Lots of teamwork from the Stanley family: the hammer, the chisel and the drill; soon removed enough material to fit the lock. And the door magically re-appeared in the new door frame.All that was left now was to spray some fairy (expanding) foam to fill the void. This was done and voila, a new door was in place. And what a great door it is .. just as tall as the other doors, with a fine set of handles and best of all ... opening the right way. All the other doors welcomed the new door to his new home. All he requires now is some plaster, paint and architrave. But that is another story.THE END