Stepping Up to the Edge

Two days after proclaiming that I am taking the door frame plunge, I've still just put my big toe in the water.  My suit is dry.  But I've done more research, more questions have been asked and answered, more decisions made, and now I'm firmly committed to a plan.  I am not sheetrocking the entire wall and I am building my own door frames. 

Yesterday I got out my big Do It Yourself hardcover book my very handy sister (she even does her own plumbing!) gave me for my housewarming and read about hanging doors.  Picked up a few good tips.

Then I went to Home Depot to look at pre-hung doors.  A part of me admitted that if they suited my needs and were reasonably priced (they were -- about $60) I may relent and buy one instead of building one, but there were many reasons they were wrong: 

1)  The jamb wasn't wide enough so I'd still have the same issue;

2)  The wood that the jamb was made of was pieced and not matching -- clearly meant to be painted not stained;

3)  The door was hollow (which seems to equate poor quality) and just a plain flat box -- not the style of the house;

4)  The hinges were brass, not brushed nickel.  Granted, those could be changed out, but it's additional hassle and expense.

It was a worthwhile trip, though because I could examine the whole gizmo closely with an eye on re-creating it at home.  Again, I'll say, gosh, it doesn't look like there is that much to it -- but I am positive that I must be missing the finer details and underestimating the required engineering...

I had a guy in the door section of Home Depot answering my questions and trying to troubleshoot with me, and eventually he said, "Are you doing all this work yourself?"  I replied that I was.*  His reply"  "Wow.  That's cool."  (Which from my perspective sounded like, "Wow.  You're crazy.") 

Red asked me if I plan to re-hang the doors that are currently hung.  You know, re-hang the white ones with 81 years of paint on them into my new beautifully stained door frames?  Unfortunately, yes, that's my plan for now.  I do plan to learn how to make interior doors, but it just too freakin' hot outside to spent that much time outdoors right now.  I thought about just not putting all the doors back up -- but that's probably not realistic.  I need the bedroom door for the dog/alarm system, I need the bathroom door for obvious reasons, the swinging kitchen door (I know, I know:  swinging.  Won't THAT one be a fun one to tackle?  I'm in total denial about that one) I need for the dog -- so ultimately that wouldn't be a workable plan.  I'm also toying with the idea of pocket doors or sliding barn doors... but I haven't devoted enough thought to them yet to have an intelligent conversation about them. 

I'll admit that the project is a tiny bit daunting. But I'll just as readily say that I am positive that I can figure it out. (Thanks mom, thanks dad -- somehow you raised me to have such confidence!)  And this guy assures me that it's all in a day's work on the job site -- and just look how happy he is!

* Unless I can make it appear so intriguing that Red can't resist jumping in.

Door Frame Dilemma

I was all excited last night for a trip to Home Depot to get sheetrock and related supplies, and some 1"x4"s in anticipation of starting the installation of the new door frame trim in my bedroom.  Red came over and we stood in front of the trimless door frame to conjure up a plan.  Hmmm.

We concluded that when the trim and sheetrock was originally installed (we shall not guess what year that was...) that the trim was installed first, and then they sheetrocked around it.  Having done it that way means that the sheetrock butts up against the edge of the trim, as opposed to the trim laying on top of the sheetrock.

This photo shows that the trim was 3.5" inches wide -- precisely the gap left between the door jamp and the edge of the sheetrock. (The measure shows 4, but you can see that my tape wasn't flush against the jamb on the left.)

I want the trim to go on top of the sheetrock so that I get a cleaner look.  My plan was to add a vertical strip of sheetrock and then affix the trim on top of that.  But when I do that, the sheetrock bumps my trim out away from the jamb and gives me a gap.  Here I am holding a scrap piece of 1"x 6" up along the door for illustration (my finished trim will not be that wide.)

And, the resulting gap on the side

We talked about moving the door jamb over/out to match the sheetrock, but that only leaves me with the same issue on the other side of the door. 

Also complicating things is that I was going to use 1"x4"s for the trim -- which in reality would give me the 3.5" trim.  But that isn't wide enough to cover up the would-be new sheetrock seam; the seam would be right next to the edge of the trim.  Does that matter?  Maybe not.  Is it optimal?  Definitely not.  So I may have to rip 1"x6" into 4" trim and have my trim a bit wider than I wanted.  (My baseboards are 6" but I think that would look too heavy around doors.)

Then Red suggested since I'll be ripping the boards anyway, to rip a narrow piece to insert behind the trim to fill the gap.  Here I am holding a random block of wood up to illustrate (obviously the final product would be the same stain... ahem.)

Yes, for a while it will be natural wood trim against a painted door jamb; not the most asethetically pleasing scenario, but hey it's a work in progress.  I don't know how to build new doors and jambs yet... although perhaps I should tackle all that now... hmmm.

We also talked through whether or not pulling down all the sheetrock on that wall and re-sheetrocking it would solve the problem, but it doesn't seem to.  When we arrive at the door frame, we're in the same situation.

We also talked about re-building the door jamb, and using a 1"x 8" rather a 1"x 6"... or possibly ripping it down so that it's 1" x 7" -- but then I'm back to doing the door jambs and doors before I am really ready for all that. 

Do all doors (pun intended) lead to just a total door trim, door jamb and new door project on a doorway by doorway basis vs. doing the trim now and the jambs and new doors later?  Inquiring minds want to know.