Even though I'm not the most skilled guy with tools, I decided to take a hollow core door slab that the previous owner of our house left in our basement, and put it in the doorway to our workshop. She was going to do it but never got around to it. I have done a few things around the house, mainly some electrical (without setting the house on fire, although I did blow a circuit...) and putting up a railing leading down to our basement (which is still holding I might add). But this would involve doing some woodworking, something I haven't done since middle school and even then I didn't do much. But with some research and inspiration from my buddy Mark, I decided to give it a shot.
It was a pretty involved process because not only did I have to chisel out mortises for the door hinges on the door frame and the door itself, something I've never done, but I had to cut the door down a bit because it was too tall. That meant using a circular saw for the first time in my life. Woo! I was sure I'd end the week an amputee. *lol* I'm happy to say that I still have both limbs, but I did have to buy a new door.... I made the mistake of first not clamping the metal ruler I used to draw the cut line to the door, so that was difficult to get done. Next, I drifted a bit at the end with the circular saw, which really wasn't a big deal because I could straighten it out. The problem was that hollow core doors are pretty much hollow (of course) at the top and bottom except for about 1" of wood at each end, and I had to cut off too much. At first I thought I had to get a new door, but I realized I could just trim the piece I cut off and glue it into the bottom of the door, which I did. But, the piece couldn't go in all the way because it was hitting filler that was in the middle of the door, so it stuck out about 1/2". This meant I'd have to cut it off, and that's where I ruined the door. I decided to use my jig-saw to cut it off, and for some reason it didn't cut at a straight angle, and in the process of trying to fix my mistake and even out the bottom of the door, I ruined it. In a momentary fit of frustration I put my crutch through the door a few times, and then realized I was going to have to break up the door anyway to throw it out, so technically I gave myself a head start
So I went to Home Depot and bought a new door. This time I cut height off from both ends of the door thinking maybe I'd be able to take the height down without taking out all of the wood at the ends. It didn't work and I had to fill in the top AND the bottom this time, but this time around I could put the pieces in all the way and didn't have to trim anything. Yay
So once I did that, and chiseled out for the hinges on the door (which included putting wood putty into a few spots I screwed up while chiseling) I was able to hang it and drill for the door knob. The last thing I had to do was stain and polyurithane the door, which I did yesterday.
The good thing is that even though I hit a pretty big snag, and while I made my share of mistakes, I did something I set my mind out to do...even though it took me a week and I figured it would take me a day...two at the most if I coun't waiting for stain and poly to dry. I started it last Friday and finished today. *lol* But, between having to fix mistakes and going back to work this week, it wound up slowing me down a bit. But I did it and that's all that matters
I know how exciting all this is, so I won't keep you all in suspense anymore, so here's a crappy picture *lol*:
It was a pretty involved process because not only did I have to chisel out mortises for the door hinges on the door frame and the door itself, something I've never done, but I had to cut the door down a bit because it was too tall. That meant using a circular saw for the first time in my life. Woo! I was sure I'd end the week an amputee. *lol* I'm happy to say that I still have both limbs, but I did have to buy a new door.... I made the mistake of first not clamping the metal ruler I used to draw the cut line to the door, so that was difficult to get done. Next, I drifted a bit at the end with the circular saw, which really wasn't a big deal because I could straighten it out. The problem was that hollow core doors are pretty much hollow (of course) at the top and bottom except for about 1" of wood at each end, and I had to cut off too much. At first I thought I had to get a new door, but I realized I could just trim the piece I cut off and glue it into the bottom of the door, which I did. But, the piece couldn't go in all the way because it was hitting filler that was in the middle of the door, so it stuck out about 1/2". This meant I'd have to cut it off, and that's where I ruined the door. I decided to use my jig-saw to cut it off, and for some reason it didn't cut at a straight angle, and in the process of trying to fix my mistake and even out the bottom of the door, I ruined it. In a momentary fit of frustration I put my crutch through the door a few times, and then realized I was going to have to break up the door anyway to throw it out, so technically I gave myself a head start
So I went to Home Depot and bought a new door. This time I cut height off from both ends of the door thinking maybe I'd be able to take the height down without taking out all of the wood at the ends. It didn't work and I had to fill in the top AND the bottom this time, but this time around I could put the pieces in all the way and didn't have to trim anything. Yay
So once I did that, and chiseled out for the hinges on the door (which included putting wood putty into a few spots I screwed up while chiseling) I was able to hang it and drill for the door knob. The last thing I had to do was stain and polyurithane the door, which I did yesterday.
The good thing is that even though I hit a pretty big snag, and while I made my share of mistakes, I did something I set my mind out to do...even though it took me a week and I figured it would take me a day...two at the most if I coun't waiting for stain and poly to dry. I started it last Friday and finished today. *lol* But, between having to fix mistakes and going back to work this week, it wound up slowing me down a bit. But I did it and that's all that matters
I know how exciting all this is, so I won't keep you all in suspense anymore, so here's a crappy picture *lol*:
