Doors and windows

In addition to trying to sort all my tools and supplies in the living room (that's where they've been since I don't have real space in the back room until the shed is built) today was spent painting windows, caulking a few of the storms, and finally finishing fixing (alliterative adventures abound) the porch door. Every window on the first floor is painted; almost all are ready for winter - I need to caulk the new ones in the kitchen and we should be good.

The door had two minor problems. First, it had settled (and I hadn't hung it super squarely to begin with) so the top far corner was rubbing against the frame. There's a simple fix using a trick I learned while hanging some drywall back in high school - wonderbars are just levers, and they let one person do two jobs. Prop the far side with the bar lengthwise:

It's actually best if you flip the bar over (so you are using the lever closer to the door), but this way might be necessary depending on how much clearance you have under the panel you're trying to level - fortunately my very nice old porch door is very worn on the bottom, so I was able to use it the 'right' way. In other words I messed up when I was staging this shot after the fact. Resuming the how to: Take the screws out of the top and middle hinge on the frame side. Press down on the wonderbar to bring the door square against the frame on the hinge side. Resink the screws starting at the top - you may have to go in at a slight angle to catch clean wood as opposed to the old hole. Chances are you'll be fine going straight - old doors tend to have a little more space between them and the frame, so if it's to the point of rubbing then squaring the door will probably move the hinge screw holes over quite a bit.

Problem two was mostly aesthetic. The strike plate was set for the aluminum screen door I took down. You can see where another strike plate used to be set further back, but this one didn't quite fit there. The result was that the door latched but wasn't flush with the frame - it butted out 3/8" on the far side.

I couldn't locate a smaller strike plate during a couple of shopping trips, so I went for the next best thing - carving. A few minutes with the jig and then a pocketknife got me a flush enough space to screw in the plate. I think I'm going to invest in a chisel set for all the wood I've got in this place though.

Properly hung door, seven painted windows, and a living room I can walk through. It's been a good Saturday, even if I didn't get out to the electrical supply place.