July was good for something.

[Zeke]

Besides being comfortably cool here in SoCal.

I pursued two endeavors that I don't intend to do ever again. And that's a good thing.

One, I hung (I'm not sure what the verb conjugation is for "door hanging" is) a door on the 2nd floor of an apartment at the end of the hallway. After that, I put my door hanging tools away. After around 2000 doors hung, I can say I'm done. And it was perfect. I wanted to go out as a champ.

Two, I welded in a lower front panel on a 356 Porsche. Similar to a 911 front suspension tray, it requires mostly lying on one's back drilling, grinding and welding followed by more grinding and welding. Even with a lift, not fun. Not perfect, but damn good.

I haven't done 2000 of those, but being the 5th or 6th, that's enough for me. Again, out on a good vibe.

I'm just looking for the next thing to be done with. Oh, I transplanted a large shrub a week ago. From now on the shrub dies and gets replaced by a 1 gallon plant. This one maybe not out on the good side; the damn thing may die anyway.

There'll be more of these "no mores" as the weeks go by. I mean fvk that sht.


How 'bout you?

[Hugh R]

I hung a door in an existing frame ONCE, my Gawd, that is an art if I ever saw one. I've put a few doors in that were pre-hung with the jamb, and that has to be the only way I'd ever do one again. Important tip for the novice take the bottom hinge pin out first, not the top one.

[masraum]

yeah, door hanging sucks.

[WIL84911]

Agree the job sucks! I did my 10 recently. I hope I don't have to do it again in the near future.

[daepp]

I have done many building and remodel projects, but I know when to call in an expert!

[Scuba Steve]

I did a set of double doors last fall in an existing door frame that was put in when the house was new 18 years ago. It was a huge pain... both doors had to be trimmed, hinges mortised in the door and frame and a door stop added. Not fun times.

[RWebb]

you guys are not building my confidence any for my planned soire with da doors

[Scuba Steve]

It really wasn't that bad - I've never done it before and want to say that the hard part (mortising everything) was done in an evening. Doors came out great and look like they've always been there.

[GH85Carrera]

Several years ago I watched a master carpenter hang a replacement door. This was not a pre hung door. He whipped out his tape measure, measured everything for a few minutes and never wrote down a thing. He grabbed the solid core door and put it on the saw horses and proceeded to cut the door down with his skill saw. He whipped out his hole saw, cut the knob hole and the dead bolt hole. Chiseled out the hinge cuts and attached all the hardware. He put it on the hinge pins and it swung shut with a nice click. He said, “That went smooth” and started cleaning up. He was done in no time.

He was a real master.

We recently replaced our front door. My only part in that was to pick it up at the lumber yard. I was smart enough to hire a pro. The guy had a helper and they removed the old door and frame, even the sill. They were very good and the new door is square, solid and the locks work smooth, just like they are supposed to. I was mowing my yard so I did not bother them by watching every step. It is great to hire a pro that really is a PRO, not a wanna-be.

[regency]

I don't like to transplant trees & shrubs much ( landscape contractor ) especially when fresh, new replacement plants are pretty cheap when you consider labor and such. However, if a client askes, we do it.

Have a 74 Alfa GTV here at my shop, have it completely stripped and about 10 areas of rust that needs to be cut out and re-welded. Thats going to be my big project this Winter when things slow down a bit.

As for hanging doors, I've done a few.

Steve

73 911 T Coupe, Aubergine
73 914 2.0 FI (sold)
74 Alfa GTV long term project

[myamoto1]

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

It really wasn't that bad - I've never done it before and want to say that the hard part (mortising everything) was done in an evening. Doors came out great and look like they've always been there.

I didn't think hanging doors was all that hard either. I actually do a much better job when it's not a pre-hung door. I've only done one pre-hung and it looked like shzt.

The key is to use a router and a jig (easy to make) for the mortise and just buy one of those cheapy plastic door jigs for the knob/latch holes. I hang the door "wrong" but I find it's much easier. I mount the hinges on the door, line up the top hinge with the mortise on the frame (mortise done w/ a chisel) and screw it in. Then line up the bottom hinge and assuming you measured right, it'll slide right into the bottom mortise. I use thin piece of wood to keep the door elevated to the right level. Used this method to install 10 solid core doors in my house. Also (over built) a door frame from scratch for my shop.

RWebb - feel free to PM me if you want some help.

[vash]

i cant hang a thing on hinges..!! you should see the abomination that is hanging on my chicken coop..!

a pre hung is cake. getting any two hinges to line up freestyle..forget it. i helped a carpenter friend once, and he had a jig that transfered the hinge marks from jam to door easy. seems like the way to go.

[Evans, Marv]

Milt,
Reading your post made me a bit sad. You sound like you are in the process of checking out on life. It's not like you are getting to where you're not able to do things, but just letting go. Maybe you are in a place not a lot of us are or understand right now, but after you "checked" out of here, you returned - which we are all very happy about.

[myamoto1]

That's probably why I like to use an existing jamb - I just transfer the door hinge locations from the old door, onto the new door. Whip out the jig and router away. Only a few minor tweaks needed to mortises on the old door jamb (slightly different size/shape hinges) and you're good to go. The pre-hung kept wracking on me and I couldn't get it lined up level on all planes. Door works fine, but it took some creative molding work to make it look good.

[Christien]

Door hanging isn't too bad if you're not concerned about silly things like being square and all I did one in our basement - I used the chisel and planer more than any other tool, and it still doesn't close right in the summer, but it works!

[RWebb]

myamoto1 - thx for the offer -- I think I am just going to follow your post # 14 but on the jambs, not the door

I am going to reuse the old door and just repl. the painted jambs with stained trim.

[myamoto1]

Another trick if you have to use wood w/ existing holes that are either too loose or don't line up right, is to take a thin dowel and hammer it into the existing hole. If you need to re-drill a new hole, use some wood glue on the dowel and let it dry first. The hinge will cover your "repair" and it'll hold up great. Also works well if you have to move the latch catch around.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Milt,
Reading your post made me a bit sad. You sound like you are in the process of checking out on life. It's not like you are getting to where you're not able to do things, but just letting go. Maybe you are in a place not a lot of us are or understand right now, but after you "checked" out of here, you returned - which we are all very happy about.

No, it is like I can't do things. The apartment house door was a solid core birch flush door. Easily 80-90 lbs. It just about took me back down the flight of stairs. That would have been ugly. Fortunately I was able to do all the work in the apt as it was vacant. So no carrying up and down. Except for 7 bags of tools.

I don't know why anyone would want to weld on one's back. I mean I did it on my cars because I could. And some of the work I have seen done by others makes me do my own work. I did this last one for money, that's all and that's it.

The transplant was because I HAD to move a favorite Japanese tangerine dwarf. You know this was a bad time of year to do that. I tried to keep as big of root ball as I could, so it ended up kicking my ass. I pulled the ball up out of the ground with a come-along and then couldn't move the thing on the plastic tarp.

That was until I wet the lawn and it skidded over to the new hole with me pulling it like a hitched up donkey. Each hole was 4 feet wide by 3' deep. Lot of work for an old man.

[Evans, Marv]

OK, I understand. I had the impression it was more of a phychological thing. I understand especially since I'm 68 now and am quickly realizing I'm not the bull of the woods guy I used to be just a couple of years ago. I'm not big, but have always been really strong for my size and mostly had to be because I had to do a lot of things by myself. The sad thing is I've still got lots of interest and energy to do things. It's just that I'm having to face the fact I'm not actually able to lift, drag, haul, etc. things like I could before. I guess that's part of growing up.