Sunday, November 27, 2011

It's Christmas

Well, maybe I can get away with, "It's the Christmas Season!"

Photo taken upon our return from the Blaze of Lights 2011.



















Christmas trees in both turrets ... we are ready!

Getting Some Closure

Get comfortable, folks, this is going to be a long one! :)

So, as far as we are aware, the stairwell between the 2nd and 3rd floors of the house has been "sealed off" with some black garbage bags for the last 20 years.

Regrettably, we do not have a good photo of these while they were still hanging. Sorry.

Anyway, a few weeks ago my parents came to help with some house projects and we decided to tackle this one first so come winter we were not heating all of Bluffton. There was a nice draft coming up the spiral staircase and out through the 3rd floor.

You see, while there is a good bit of insulation up there, not everything is properly insulated and sealed.

Needless to say, we have been paying for our heat to go right out through the roof.

We had a plan. Kevin even drew it out for us. And as my dad and I stood there looking at the opening we decided to change the plan. (That's why it's important to be home instead of at work if you want your plans executed correctly.) Hee hee.

Mom came up while Dad and I were deliberating and tossing about some different ideas. All of a sudden she says, "Oh! I just thought you were going to put a door there, a door there and then frame some kind of wall to put another door there."

I know you can't see where she was pointing, but it was genius!

I tried calling Kevin to run the new plan past him, but had to leave a voicemail, and we left for lunch. Kevin called while we were at lunch and decided the plan was good.

The problem at this point? Friends had agreed to give us one of their old doors (they have a collection in their barn), but now we needed three. Another voicemail. We drove out to the farm (just in case) to see if there were three doors we would choose.

I love old doors. They have so much character! Three doors chosen ... now, weeks later, the doors are washed up and now they need hung.

Now, let me share something here. I'm not a do-it-yourselfer. So all of this is a learning experience for me. Try Googling "hanging an old door". There is not much that's helpful out on the ol' internet. See, most people are normal and just go get a new pre-hung door and install that. Much easier. But not me. Nope. I am the one who convinced Kevin that we should use old doors with character so it was my deal to figure out how to hang them.

Jambs. Yep, we needed jambs. So, went to Vetter Lumber and ordered me 3 sets of door jambs. Waited three days and got my phone call that they were in. Stopped in a few hours later to pick them up and what do you know? Some one sold most of them, but just the tops. Go figure. So, they cut me a couple of replacement headers and I was on my way home.

Now comes the fun part. Ethan came up to take some photos of the action.




Kevin had to chisel out the grooves for the hinges on the jamb.

Reading directions. :)

Hanging the jamb.

Checking if it's level.

Ethan ready for work. (Don't worry we didn't let him use any power tools yet.)

Yay! It's hung!

After a little trim it fit perfectly!

Long story, short? It's much easier to get pre-hung doors. But, these look much cooler. Stay tuned for the other two to go in yet. It should go much faster from now on.