House report 25: Back slider

Saturday, 19 August

We've been making steady progress with windows, and today it was the turn of the back door.

All the windows were super easy (about 45 minutes to an hour per window), but the back slider was an absolute beast. The problem started I think because it was a custom size. Our measurements were spot on on everything else - you give measurements for the rough opening and you get a window that is half an inch smaller so it will fit. In the case of the back slider, we got a door that was built exactly to the rough opening and so it was too big to fit. And the rough opening was not perfectly square - I have to say, there has not been much about this house that has been perfectly square, we've fixed a number of framing issues as we've gone through!

Jeff spent much of the morning taking out the old door. I was so happy to see that go! When we first saw the house the back door had been fused shut for years. We couldn't get it open for several months, one of our friends (who has been a huge help throughout) had to re-engineer the slider mechanism to make it work. Once we had the door open, then it wouldn't lock, so we cut a piece of wood and put it in every night to keep the door shut!

Our super high tech locking system

 However my happiness did not last when it became clear that the new door did not actually fit. Jeff spent hours working like a medieval mason planing and chiseling to whittle the door frame out to a size that would allow the door in. We dry-fitted that thing so many times I was beginning to despair that it would ever go in!

There was so much dust and sawdust...

Finally, just when we were about to lose the light, it did.

And then three days later Jeff took the whole thing out and did it all over again because he wasn't happy with it the first time.

But it is finally done! We have a back door that a) moves and b) locks. It's the height of luxury!