ArizonaRanch

  Bathroom Door Installation by rdpecken on Mar.20, 2011, under Windows & Doors At the end of January, I had done a very temporary job of putting the bathroom door up.  Because the frame was too long for the opening, with the tile floor installed, I wasn’t able to install it in the correct position.  It worked for that weekend, but now I needed to finish the job. So when I arrived in March, this was the state of the door:   Bathroom Door Temporary install As you can see, it is not set into the frame to be flush with the drywall on the other side. From the bathroom side, you can see that it needs to come in a few more inches, but the tile floor is in the way.   Bathroom Door temporary inside image Since I was alone this trip, I thought it might be easier to move the door in place, rather than take it all the way out and reinstall.  I started by measuring how much frame to take off the bottom to allow it to fit in the rough opening....

  Maintenance for the Washhouse by rdpecken on Sep.28, 2010, under WashHouse The Wash House has been up for about 6 years now, and has never been painted.  We have just been relying on the primered siding to keep out the weather. The siding has done really well, but the door takes a real beating on the western side.  It has started peeling, so we decided to go ahead and put a coat of primer and paint on it. Here it is after removing it from the hinges and laying it down on the deck to work on it: Bathroom Door with peeling paint After sanding, scraping and wirebrushing, we were able to remove all of the loose paint.  Next, we put it back up on its hinges to paint it.   Sanded Door We used the leftover ZAP primer (I still don’t like it) on the door, and then used some of the brown paint left over from the LittleHouse paint job. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a picture before we left, so you’ll have to wait to see the results.  It lo...

  LittleHouse – French Door Screens by admin on May.06, 2008, under Windows & Doors French Door Install 04 May 2008. So here the door is in, and waiting for the screen install.   Remy models the Doors French Door Install 04 May 2008. The double screen came with a track for the top, and the sill plate had the track built into the bottom. This is probably the most disappointing feature of the door. The screen track is just a cheap piece of plastic, and doesn’t slide as well as I would like. We hope a little silicone spray will help with that.   Screen Door Track French Door Install 04 May 2008. After installing the top track, I just had to lift the doors into the top track, and wedge the bottom rollers into the bottom track. The screen on the left is screwed to the frame in two places, to keep it from routinely opening. The screen on the right will be the one that is in normal operation.   Putting the screens in French Door Install 04 Ma...

  LittleHouse – Installing the French Doors by admin on May.05, 2008, under Windows & Doors French Door Install 03 May 2008. We cut an X in the housewrap, as we had done while installing windows. Then we used the jig saw to cut out the door opening. As it turned out, the door that arrived from our special order was 2″ shorter than we expected, so we had to install a spacer above the door to fill in the empty space. We then folded the housewrap in, as with the windows.    Furring Out the Framing for the French Doors French Door Install 03 May 2008. Next, we installed two sheets of siding, because the brickmold was pre-installed on the door. That means we had to have the siding in place before installing the door. After the siding was in place, we tilted the door into place. We were a little dismayed to discover that I had cut the siding hole too big on top (again the extra 2″). We fashioned a drip edge from flashing and placed it above the d...

  LittleHouse – Building the Work Platform by admin on May.03, 2008, under Windows & Doors East Side View 21 April 2008. The right hand side of the East end will be used for utilities entrance panels and such. So there’s no window on that side for the bathroom. We ran out of Tyvek tape (which is GREAT stuff, by the way… So we will finish taping the window on our next trip. The Lowes Housewrap held up very well through the winter, with no signs of fraying or tearing.   East Side Windows   Work Platform 02 May 2008. The next step is to install the French Doors. Before we can do that, though, we needed a work platform to help Tara and I lift the door into place. There was no way we were going to be able to lift it all the way off the ground to the floor level. So here we built an 8′ x8′ work platform, and sat it on top of the porch piers.   Work Platform Framing Work Platform 02 May 2008. It’s amazing, all of the extra work you have to do...

  LittleHouse – Door Trim and Gable Window by admin on Apr.20, 2008, under Windows & Doors Sill Flashing 19 April 2008. The first order of business was to trim out the back door. We started by installing flashing under the threshold. This should help prevent any water damage from the outside exposure.   Door Flashing Door Trim 19 April 2008. Next, we custom cut some 2×3 fir to fill out the extra two inches from installing a door with 4″ jambs into a 6″ wall. I didn’t realize there were different size jambs on doors. Because the rough opening was not straight, we attempted to cut the jamb extenders such that they took up whatever extra space there was to fill. The table-saw didn’t work very well for that, as it kept binding while cutting at an angle. Finally we resorted to the jig saw to finish the cuts. They are a little rough, but we’ll bring up the orbital sander next trip and smooth them up. Finally, a drip edge was installed above the door....

  LittleHouse – Window and Door Installs by admin on Nov.12, 2007, under Windows & Doors Windows Install 05 – 11 November 2007. Installed Window: You can see all of the pains taken to insure that no moisture gets behind the window, or inside the housewrap.   East Window Installed Windows Install 11 November, 2007. West side window: 36″ x 36″ All windows are double-paned, low-E vinyl framed.   West Window Installed Windows Install 11 November 2007. South Side windows: Two 48″ x 48″. The space between the two windows will have a 6′ French Patio Door as the main entrance.   South Windows Installed Windows Install 11 November 2007. North Side windows: Two 36″ x 36″ windows and a 36″ fiberglass door.   North Windows Installed Windows Install 11 November 2007. We moved all of our camping stuff out of the tent trailer, and put most of it into the clear storage bins on and under the table. This will allow us to stay in the house while we...

  LittleHouse – Installing the Windows by admin on Nov.11, 2007, under Windows & Doors Windows Install 05 – 11 November 2007. So here is the opening we cut in the sheathing, with the housewrap folded in, and the 1/4″ spacers in place. You can see where we taped the bottom edge, as well.   Spacers Windows Install 05 – 11 November 2007. Step 7: Apply a 3/8″ bead of sealant around the inside surface of the nailing fin, close to the outer edge.   Applying the Sealant Windows Install 05 – 11 November 2007. Step 8: Nail the window in place, checking for level after the first two nails at the top. Note that the top flap is still up, and will fold down over the top fin of the window, to keep water from flowing behind the fin.   Nail the Window in place Windows Install 5 – 11 November, 2007. Step 9: Tape the sides   Tape Window Sides Windows Install 05 – 11 November 2007. Step 10: Tape the top, under the flap.   Tape Window Top Windows...

  LittleHouse – Window Installations by admin on Nov.11, 2007, under Windows & Doors Windows Install 12 October, 2007. We actually brought our windows, housewrap, insulation and back door up in mid-October, when we had a spare weekend. We were a little nervous about driving down our bumpy road with the windows flat like that, but we didn’t have time to build a proper window carrying apparatus. By going slow and easy, they survived the trip.   Windows Survived Trip Windows Install 05 – 11 November 2007. We installed the windows one at a time, to make sure we had time to finish each one before the next was started. These were BetterBilt windows from Lowes, but we found the Pella instructions to be clearer and more thorough, so that is what we followed. Step 1 in each case was to mark and cut the housewrap.   Cut the Housewrap Windows Install 05 – 11 November 2007. Step 2: Fold the top up. Step 3: Fold the sides and bottom in.   Fold the...