A New Door to a New Life
- Bill
- Apr 28, 2017
- 4 min read
Well, if you follow our Facebook page, you've already seen the big news of the week: our new entry doors!
We found this door one rainy Saturday when, after browsing Facebook and seeing the LaTurners were going to the Seattle Home show, Shelly suggested that perhaps we should go there too, you know, since we're basically spending every waking hour thinking about home design and construction. It sounded like a nice break to me, so we jumped in the car and headed downtown.
The expo hall was filled with vendors selling all kinds of wares, but when Shelly spotted these doors, it was love at first sight! After seeing the price tag I tried to distract her every which way possible, and I thought I even managed to get her to forget them when the hair straightener guy from Brooklyn sweet talked her into free hair treatment and then sold her a new straightening iron. But the door had been opened (figuratively) and there was no closing it.
I looked up the vendor to learn more and low and behold, they are based in Salt Lake City! We had a trip planned to Utah the very next week so we decided to stop in their showroom and see what we could figure out. They had the very same door front and center as we walked in and this time there was no escape.
Truth be told, I love the door too. You can find this and more cool doors on the Iron Door Works web site.
After a few shipping snafus, all 1500 lbs of door and crate arrived on Tuesday and guess what the first thing the driver asks: do you have a forklift?
Now, I have a lot of tools...but sadly no forklift. So we took it apart and piece by piece carried it into the garage. Thankfully Ethan showed up just in time to help carry it in! Here is just one of the two doors, plus there was a giant iron door jam and two large boxes of handles.
We had previously scheduled our construction mentor, Todd, to come help with install on Wednesday and he showed up bright and early to get a head start. We pulled the old door out, as well as the transom above it...this door is 9 feet tall and needs the whole space! It is also 6 inches wider than the previous door, so we had to do a bit of rejiggering the rough frame. I was really impressed - thanks to Todd's excellent planning we had only minimal sheetrock work to do filling in the top of the wall above the door - saving us hours of mudding, taping, sanding, texturing... and believe me, we've had enough of that already!
Next came the 150 pound door jam...made of solid iron. It bolts into the 3-deep studs we installed on each side of the door frame.
No surprisingly, it fit like a charm thanks to Todd's excellent planning.
About this time our local Mormon missionaries showed up and asked if they could help. We had told them we were lifting some heavy doors on Wednesday afternoon and they came at the nick of time. They uncrated the doors and carried them onto the ball bearing hinges.
The doors swing open and close like a feather - it is hard to believe they weigh a few hundred pounds each! The glass is textured, and is appropriately named "Seattle Rain", allowing light to pass through but obscuring the view for privacy. Even cooler, the windows are also on hinges and swing open separately from the door, allowing you to have an open screen door on those hot summer nights!
Last, we installed the hand-built door handles. These things are a work of art!
It was so nice to come to work the next day and have the foyer filled with light from the new door, towering 9 feet high above us.
Shelly's vision continues to amaze me...this is just the first of many 'wow' moments to come and I can't wait to complete the finish work we're just starting so you can see it all come together.
Speaking of finish work.. we're slowly moving on to it. We did have to spend most of Monday and Tuesday sanding and texturing the sheetrock. I decided texturing is the hardest part of sheet rock...and that is saying something. Ok, installing it was painful. I kind of enjoyed the mudding part... but texturing was hard. The Wagner texture gun I bought just didn't throw the texture as fine as I would like, next time I'll rent a hopper or just use a can. I'm doing touch-ups with the can.
We also managed to install the shiplap over the entire master bedroom ceiling...next up: beams and then paint and then floors!
Last, we also put a coat of primer on the shiplap wall downstairs...so the entire downstairs is now bright white and lots of light! Ahh... soon a soothing grey will go on the sheetrock and trim and then a mid-tone brown hardwood floor. I can't wait!
By the way, if you're interested in being our neighbor, our current house is up for sale! Our agent is hosting an open house this Saturday and Sunday so stop by and take a look! We love this house, and as you can see from my last post, it is in great shape and we're sure you'll love it!
Interested in following our home renovation adventure? Join our mailing list below and visit our Facebook page for all the latest news and photos, including our Instagram feed from @staplesofhome
Comments