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kismet08_gw

my front door - the saga cont'd

kismet08
14 years ago

Okay, so many of you may remember I posted several months back about what color I should paint my front door. Much to my to my husbands chagrin, I went back and forth on color several times. I actually only repainted the door twice, and I'm sure the neighbors literally think we're nuts. Here is the before:

we knew we wanted the storm door gone, and it was happily accepted at our local Habitat store.

Next up, I chose a very earth warm-toned brown (ultimately) for the color of the door and sidelights. I was very happy with it. I even had a couple out walking in the neighborhood one day stop while I was out giving it a touch up comment and say they thought it was a great choice - looked gorgeous. I was so proud of myself. The plan was to not put up another storm door. I'm not a fan. Who wants a door to smack guests in the face when you greet them? but I digress...

The next step was to repair some dings and repaint the interior side of the door. It had taken a beating its short ten year life. I had noticed that the threshold of the door was worn, the last remnants of stain remaining. I thought a fresh coat of paint would fix it right up. Then, we noticed the smell. At first, we weren't 100% sure of its source. We decided that possibly we had gotten some water seepage under the door after we removed the storm and failed to replace the very worn weather stripping. DH just decided to replace the threshold strip. It was so wet, the screws were rusty (this should have been our first clue that this was more serious, but hey denial is a powerful thing). That finished, we smelled the removed board. YES, this was what we were smelling! That repaired and the weather stripping renewed,DH convinced me that since the door faced north and had we had nothing like a portico or porch, we should replace the storm as well. I agreed and he spent the better part of a saturday putting a more attractive full view variety up. This is what it looks like today:

I once again gathered my supplies for painting. At the bottom of the door jamb, the paint was completely worn where the door was rubbing on it. As I bent down to begin to sand, the familiar smell returned. Undaunted (remember, denial is a powerful thing), I began to scour away. I did not get very far. This wood was damp, and I quickly realized - I could push on it. Now, I'm no woodworker, but even *I* know that aint a good thing. Being the staunch DIYer I am, I decide to scrape away the damage and patch it. Surely its just a surface wound?? I spent the next hour on the floor with a screw driver, half in tears, half choking back mildew odor, discovering that our door jamb was rot clean through. Now, this is very odd, since the exterior of the door showed no signs of wear and was completely vinyl clad. I called my husband, who admitted we needed to have this looked at, as this was now beyond a cosmetic fix.

Long story short (too late), I had two guys come take a look. Both were truly stumped. The latter was a Thermatru installer, who thought we might be able to repair it, but we'd have to get the cladding off and see how bad the damage was. The hiccup there was, they nailed it on instead of using screws. DH spent an entire Saturday removing the cladding and repairing the damage beneath. It was quite a feat, taking weekend warrior status to a new high. The damage was quite extensive, and we decided it had to have been brewing its entire life. Rot like this does not happen in a few short weeks, esp. since its been a very dry summer. Best he could figure was, they never caulked the top of the cladding at the brick mold, and water was getting in the top and it was basically acting like a rain gutter and pooling at the bottom of the threshold. We caulked every inch of anything we could see on this door and repaired the damage.

I was just getting the heart to restart painting, and the smell returned. There is no visible damage remaining, and our belief is that the rot extends into the sidelights. Those cannot be repaired without removing the unit in its entirety. Waving the white flag, DH and I have given up and called the Thermatru guy back out to fit us for a new door. AARGH. At least there is the energy tax credit to offset the cost. I had him price out the same unit we have and a fancier 3/4 light door. The price difference wasn't that much, so we're going with the fancier door.

So now the point of my post! hurray! finally! what do you guys think. I did this mock up on GIMP, with my sons help. My photoshop skills suck. You have to imagine it with the dark brown color, instead of the white.

For anyone still reading, have any thoughts? it amounts to about a $500 difference between the fancier door and just replacing with the same set up. $2500 vs. $3k, roughly, including installation.

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