07-24-2017, 10:30 AM
So I'm outside the front door with a big wood block and a sledge. I made certain the door is unlatched, just sticking. I place the wood block against the top of the door on the opening side, then awkwardly heft the sledge overhead and give the wood a good thonk. Nothing.
"Maybe you should try a hair toss," says Lady Cranefly.
Well, I don't have much hair these days, but I give it my best Ilya go, and then I thonk the wood again--
--and the door flies inward and I stumble in after it, totally unrooted and off-balance from having the sledge and wood lifted high. But I manage not to kill myself.
The belt sander works best. I just sand the top and opening side of the door up high. The door is wood, but has a metal flange on its side that meshes with a metal flange in the doorway for weatherproofing. But I manage to take off enough wood next to it that the door finally closes and opens okay. It even locks.
But the deadbolt no longer latches. So I unscrew it, shove trimmed chopsticks into the screw holes with lots of glue, and then when that's dry I chisel out an adjustment for the metal plate and rescrew it in.
But I get the depth wrong.
Now making a second glue and chopsticks attempt. Just what you want with a deadbolt. Then again, if someone wants to break into our place, it's more porous than a White House press briefing.
So bloody close to an easy fix. But of course that's a figment of my imagination.
"Maybe you should try a hair toss," says Lady Cranefly.
Well, I don't have much hair these days, but I give it my best Ilya go, and then I thonk the wood again--
--and the door flies inward and I stumble in after it, totally unrooted and off-balance from having the sledge and wood lifted high. But I manage not to kill myself.
The belt sander works best. I just sand the top and opening side of the door up high. The door is wood, but has a metal flange on its side that meshes with a metal flange in the doorway for weatherproofing. But I manage to take off enough wood next to it that the door finally closes and opens okay. It even locks.
But the deadbolt no longer latches. So I unscrew it, shove trimmed chopsticks into the screw holes with lots of glue, and then when that's dry I chisel out an adjustment for the metal plate and rescrew it in.
But I get the depth wrong.
Now making a second glue and chopsticks attempt. Just what you want with a deadbolt. Then again, if someone wants to break into our place, it's more porous than a White House press briefing.
So bloody close to an easy fix. But of course that's a figment of my imagination.