Category Archives: Small Projects Around the House

New Front Screen Door

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Old and dingy.

Your front door is one of the first things people see when entering your home.  This storm door wasn’t say’n much other than “good luck getting 30 years of grime off me”.  Also notice how it opens on the left side, which is oddly awkward when guests arrive. “Welcome, let me just open this door into your face!”

We looked for storm doors at several stores, but found the largest selection (and competent help) at our local Lowe’s.  The store is roughly five miles further than Home Depot and Menards and for whatever reason, had fewer customers on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so we had an easier time  finding someone to help answer questions. The person we worked with listened to our needs and talked us into the Larson Signature.  We wanted a door with both storm glass for winter and a screen for summer.  But we did not want the screen to open, because we don’t like the look of a bar in the middle of the screen (example: click on this link).  This was also another great example of how much we are using my parent’s truck this summer!

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Required: 8ft bed

We unloaded the door right in the driveway and opened the box for ease of installation.

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They don’t waste much packaging space.

After we removed the old door, Sara took a few moments to clear away 30 years of grime.

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The instructions came double-sided.  We needed to look for the side that said “left hinge” as we were planning to reverse the direction of the door from what was previously installed (example below).

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After a few minutes of feeling overwhelmed by the directions poster, I decided to tape them to the door to the garage for easy viewing (and pop a Ritalin).

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Holy complicated batman!

You’ll notice we have the correct hinge direction that we want.  “Left Hinge.”

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The photo below shows the door suspended on a single screw. This is the first screw to hold the door in place.

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Mike working to secure the remaining screws on the hinge.

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Sara’s thought process through this project: “are we sure we’re doing this right?”

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Complicated door mechanism time.

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Slow process.

One of the final pieces we installed.  These door closers have really made some advancements in recent years.  They now have a part that you can hit with your shoe to keep the door from closing.  Smart!

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Lining everything up.

The cats were eagerly waiting to check out the new screen door.  Robert, who you see on the right, watched us intently through most of this installation. He was very excited about finally being able to watch birds out front!

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Finished door!

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Robert still watching.

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The cats approve.

Another view of the finished door.  Such a huge improvement.

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– Mike

The First Project

Mike Here.  When we had our first walk-through of this home, one of the very first things we both agreed had to go was the glass sliding doors on the upstairs full bath.  There was black stuff growing around the corners (mold? fungus? general rot?), they didn’t open and close correctly, the list goes on.  The day that we closed, we both knew this needed to be the first project.  When we packed up the car the morning of our closing, I made sure to pack my tool box, including a hammer, screwdriver, putty knife and razor blades.  Within 30 minutes of taking possession of the property, the ugly glass sliding doors were history.  We walked into the house on a mission, both taking a few minutes to embrace the feeling of being new homeowners, then got own to business.  The doors came off no problem, and with each piece I would remove, I did a small victory lap with my demolition material to the garage, before heading back to the bathroom.  However, after the doors, this demo took a turn for the sweaty (gross!).  The frame that was sealed to the tub with silicone was a whole different story.  I FOUGHT that frame.  I thought I was going to rip off part of the tub I was pulling so hard.  You probably won’t see it in these pictures, but by the time that I got to ripping up the bottom piece, I had sweat dripping from my forehead (good thing I was in a shower!).  Eventually, all of the unwanted metal frame was gone, and all that remained was a thin layer of silicone, which I am still trying to figure out what to do with. The silicone is a beast as well, we cannot figure out how to scrape it off without destroying the porcelain tub. Also, at some point we’ll have to re-grout some parts of the tub because no amount of cleaning will remove some of the dingy leftovers.  It is our plan to eventually redo this bathroom, but this works for us for the time being.

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Mike: “Am I doing this right? No? I’ll just pull harder!”

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Happy to be using tools again after two years.

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Better, but still gross.

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Much better.

Updates Still to Come for the Upper Full Bath:

  1. Remove leftover silicone
  2. Paint Trim
  3. Frame around mirror (Source for Idea: House of Smiths)
  4. Paint Cabinets (Behr: Ultra Pure White Semi-Gloss)
  5. Paint Walls (Color: TBD)
  6. Re-paint grout (Heard really great things about Polyblend Grout Renew) Source: LiveloveDIY – this woman is awesome
  7. Replace Hardware to match Oil Rubbed Bronze shower curtain rod
  8. Remove the medicine cabinet (the project I dread most in this room)

I’m sure we’ll think of more things!