Mid Century Make Under: A Little Something Awesome

S is a prolific and proficient finder of the good stuff - retro treasures to restore our (and sometimes D's parents') home to the way it might have been. A prime example is the two crosshatch vintage doors S nabbed from impending trash collection, and we've held onto for over a year.

Pre-framed doors.

Front door, before (without storm).

Garage door, removed.

We knew replacing the front door, and the "people door" of the garage were imperative.

The front door was a fiberglass big-box store special, and just didn't go in either style or color. It also didn't lock easily, and the storm door wouldn't latch.

The garage door frame was too small for the trash and recycling carts to fit, and then the door's window glass shattered in the bitterly cold winter (replaced by ever-so-classy particle board).

This project seemed like a good test run for a contractor (who will eventually be doing our kitchen and main bath remodel) and an excellent way to get some stuff out of the garage, by doing a project we would not be able to efficiently address ourselves.

S sanded, stained, and sealed the doors, and then sent them off to be pre-framed, and have the holes added for our locks. We had already ordered replacement door knobs (Schlage - to match the original hardware's insane backsets) and escutcheons (Rejuvenation) to match our existing locks.

The garage door required a larger opening, which in turn made finding matching bricks very critical - and after a couple "eh, close enough", the subcontractors came through with a perfect match.

Old door out.

Larger opening, temporary storm.

New bricks going in.

The front door was installed on the first day, and the subsequent trim work occupied the rest of the time. There was some minor issue with the 9" backset extensions not quite working with our new knob, but D's refusal to accept reality paid off, and she got it to work.