The door!

We've known for a couple of years that we should replace our front door system but it kept getting pushed down the list of projects. We had double doors which are very convenient when you are moving in and out of a house but the rest of the time they don't make a very draft proof entry. By their nature, they move a bit so they don't seal well and ours had been not so well installed and one side was a bit warped resulting in an even worse seal; we could see daylight at the bottom, which isn't good. And besides not being very energy friendly we had painted the doors a couple of times and they looked crummy. Thanks to Craigs List those doors are now happily living as garden doors in someone else's house and they are happy (doors and new owners).

We on the other hand have a brand new gorgeous single fibreglass door with two sidelights, but it was a bit of a saga getting there.  We've been travelling quite a bit for the last 8 months so sheduling was a bit tricky. In the end we fit it in between Phoenix and Halifax, a two week window, because I was quite determined to have a new door before the winter. We got home from AZ on a Wednesday night and the door was delivered at 8:00 on Friday morning. I spent until the following Saturday staining and varnishing it: two coats of stain on each side, 4 coats of varnish on the outside and 2 on the inside. What did I learn? Pay the extra $500.00 and let the professionals do the job. It turned out fine but there were some very discouraging moments. If you've been paying attention you know that we are now into 10 days of our 2 weeks.
Monday morning we are expecting our handy dandy handyman to help Jim with the installation because I have refused to get involved in that exercise. Between Don & Jim they miscommunicated on Don's return from Mexico by 24 hours, but in the meantime Jim has removed the old door which is literally swinging free by 9:30am. So, an emergency call to one of Jim's golfing buddies who has some skills, Gary Wilson, and the cavalry arrived within an hour.

Mark & Melynda brought lunch and I pretty much stayed out of the way. Actually I wrapped Christmas gifts to take east. Oh yes, and those pesky Christmas decorations that we like...

By 4:00pm the door has been hung, and the lock works. Did I mention we got a number pad lock instead of a key entry; very cool. But it's a cold evening and we have gaps everywhere so Jim worked until about 7:00 to get us airtight.

So now it's Tuesday morning and we are leaving town at 6:00am on Thursday so we are running out of flight deck and lots to do not even counting the unfinished door.

Wanting to put on a good face to the world somehow Jim got the exterior trim painted and installed so we weren't an invitation to a burglar to help him/herself. We did leave for Halifax without the alarm contact reinstalled and our alarm company has been calling regularly to find out when we are going to get to it. Maybe tomorrow?

Of course our housekeeper now couldn't access the house so she got a quick lesson on the keypad over the phone and wisely she decided to drop by for a test run. She wasn't due at our place until the following week and by then she had muddled the instructions so when we got back from Halifax at 11:00pm on the Thursday we couldn't use the keypad. CLEVERLY I had taken the override key with me!

Are you exhausted by the story?

Jim finished the interior trim today and it looks smashing inside and out. But now I think I might have to paint the entry way becasue the yellow paint looks a bit bland.

We will have rebuilt this house several times over before we're finished, which is probably why we used to move so often. And that's the end of this story and I'm caught up so you may not hear from me for weeks.

Actually the end of the story is that our entry is remarkably warmer and brighter!