After our morning devotion and prayer from a local pastor, we hold hands in a circle and say ‘Habitat is not a hand out (with hands in front), but a hand up (as we raise our hands)’. It is such a great way to start every work day!
It was a bit rainy last night, so the ground was fairly muddy. We put some boards down in the mud to try to keep the floor fairly clean. We did tape cardboard boxes on the floor which helps a bit.
We set off solo on our first door in the master bedroom. The hinge side wall was perfectly level, so we were able to set it in the doorway and nail in. We then put in shims on the other side with the goal of keeping the ‘reveal’ even. The ‘reveal’ is the space between the door and the frame. After putting the shims in multiple places, we trimmed the shims with the nifty saw. We finished that door around 10:30, so it took us about 2 hours. Not bad for the first door install.
We then worked on installing the door in the second bedroom. This door was in bad shape. The top corner of the door near the hinges was pulling apart and the door was painted shut. We finally got it placed in the door frame and put on the shims with an even ‘reveal’. So close … until we realized that the top part of the frame was not level. In doing some analysis, we realized that the hinge frame sat under the laminate flooring, so the side to side heights were different. After lunch, we learned how to cut out the nails, trim the bottom of the door and remount. Whew, we finally got it done, but it was a challenge. The good news is that we are learning what works best with these type of doors. We hear from everyone on the job site that these doors are not up to the usual standards for a door. The flimsy particle board make it very difficult to work with.
While we were working on these doors, the rest of the team was busy working on wiring outlets and lights, installing bathroom vanities, range hood, blowing insulation in the attic and trimming doors. The contractor came today to install the HVAC system, so we now have heat and air conditioning. There are alot of parallel activities going on at once making it tough to move around.
When we got back to the campground, there was a package waiting. Joe ordered ballloons to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary. What a nice surprise!
Joe and I decided to go back to the job site tomorrow morning (Saturday) to see if we can get another couple of doors installed. Hoping that our experience will make these go a bit faster 🙂 .