Home repair
 

Still trying to get finished with repairs from Katrena and do other maintenance. Paint and so forth. On the front of my house, I have 3 doors, only one opens. The UV, rain and what ever over the last 50? years has caused a problem with the finish. I asked at home center here and have no good ideas.
Would like to place something over outside so I don't have to keep repairing it.
Maybe these photos will give someone an idea.
Edit on the way.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...w/DSCF0004.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...oypw/door3.jpg

I know absolutely nothing about home repair ... but what about stripping and coating with polyurethane, assuming the wood is in reasonably good condition to start? That stuff is like magic.

You don't have a combination storm/screen door on the outside? :confused:

Yes, but sometimes it rains when I'm away from home and glass is up:right:

You need an awning over the door...or better yet, a porch. Short of a steel or fiberglass door, it'll be a constant battle. :yelgreedy

A little entry way might be just the thing.

I second Wolf on the knowing nothing about home repair :D AVOID polyurethane like the plague. It won't stand up to the moisture/heat cycling. Even spar varnish will eventually go and need refinishing.

The lower door just (just as though it was not a lot of work) needs to be brought to bare wood, sanded. Prime with benjamin moore fresh start OIL BASED primer. Don't put it on too thick. A little dab'll do ya. Then top coat with Ben Moore oil.

OR skip the paint and primer all together and finish with a semi transparent stain.

The top pic looks like the veneer on the door has gone bad. New door.

And a screen or sun shade will add years to the life of the door.

My south facing door is falling apart and the (latex) paint is shot after 4 years. The north facing door installed and painted at the same time looks brand new.

The guy at store said maybe formica(sp) but couldn't say about glue to keep it on. The uv thing isn't too bad since I've not trimmed the camomilers?flowers? in years. They keep AM sun off house. He wanted to sell me new skins for doors. Hell then I'd be back at same old crap.

Bruce has cited a first necessary item. An exterior door should never be exposed directly to the weather. A storm door is a kludge attempt to accomplish same. Any home built responsibly will have a roofed overhang or that doorway recessed into the building. No better solution.

Second, wooden doors are just begging for problems. Wooden doors warp - especially when exposed to weather - and are poor insulators. Wooden doors that are less susceptible are also most expensive – selling to McMansion owners.

Original doors probably can be saved by removing them, burning off failing paint, power sanding, and applying a good primer and paint. Hinges must be so solid as to never more – ever. Oil base paints should be used due to weather of exposure and because no warping is acceptable for a door. Door must be the best sealed exterior building part.

Refinishing is a temporary solution due to existing damage. Best solution is to remove and replace the door with something intended to be structurally sound, provide better security, and will work under heavy traffic.

You need not implement all recommendations to achieve a useful solution.

The brownish-yellow door appears to be delaminating. That's gonna make repair damn near impossible.

In the absence of a storm door, an exposed wooden door would definitely need several nice, heavy coats of polyurethane, and that means quality prep. However, once suitably prepped and coated in poly, it would be damn near bulletproof. That stuff is amazing.

Buster B , Get your self some STEEL doors and door frames , Harder to kick in , and you can sand prime and paint with oil paint , ALL good

Polyurethane hates UV rays (sunlight) but diamond plate doesn't care. :D

My house is on the move, has been for years. I had a porch and cut it off after leaks and rotten wood. Patrick That door is a hollow core, which should never been to out side. Think I can get a solid core for 20 bucks. Have to be trimmed ect.
Anyway I just had a brain fart. Maybe cedar siding? On 2 doors on side. Price might stop that. Ideas?

a hollow core door can be filled with the sprayon insulation stuff. Drill at least two holes (large enough for the nozzle) the second one alllows the air to escape and be relaced by the foam insulation.

Then if you treat the door with polyurethane, be sure to put on multiple coats (6 or 7) and do all the edges. The edges are where a lot of the moisture exchange takes place.

edit: and use steel wool between coats for a really smooth finish.

timeout! that urethane-in-a-can needs to be used with extreme caution. make darn sure you have room for the expansion, and fill s-l-o-w-l-y, cause if you just firehose the stuff in there, and the second hole can't keep up with the exhaust, so to speak, the newly drying/expanding/becoming-tacky foam will grab where it touches, say, the inside of the door, and keep right on expanding. It can **easily** pop the skin off the frame of the door.

I have seen it explode the end of a kayak, wrapped in fiberglass. it *WILL* expand. Somewhere. Trust me.

You really need a steel door if you are not making wholesale changes.

That sounds like a story worth telling. It wasn't yours, was it?

Thankfully, it was not.

My kayak *is* a story worth telling, though. I'm scanning the pics to have a complete story before I begin. [/teaser]

actually, here in Seattle, you can get a solid core door (used) for $20 or so. We have a couple of places that specialize in recycling building materials. I even saw a rack of fold down seats from the stadium that was imploded a few years ago (Kingdome). They have everything that ever was in a building. Everything. Maybe there's something like that around your area.

Links to recycled building materials.

This was 1st photo in thread, if works. Last is what I finished with.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...oypw/door3.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...oor640x480.jpg

Looks tight BB!

Thread resurrection again!.

I'm up for handyman of the year in this house. Repair and improvement jobs too numerous to list, just getting it fit to live in is a pain. I started with the floors.

Link goes to the YouTube video of my house tour. I have already removed the nasty carpeting and tack strips. Wish the wife would let me put in new carpet but w/w carpet is unheard-of around here. Since then, we've moved in and had tile put down. New tour coming soon!

I don't know about El Paso, but I've been told that carpet in Arizona is mostly unheard of because scorpions like to hide in it.

yuk we have the occasional scorpion here and carpet throughout the house

What a shame about all those ruined wood floors, Brian

How is a scorpion going to hide in wall to wall, unless it's got pile like a shag?:rolleyes:

scorpions are the same dun brown color as most apartment carpeting.

invisible scorpions are not fun.

And I've had wall to wall in all the apartments I've lived in here for the past 20 years. I hate it! Wish I had tile.

Scorpions here rarely survive long...the dogs point them out and either squash them, eat them or I stomp them.

Hello people, I have bought a bungalow and I would like to extend the property. Would it be better to have an architect advice us and take control of the project or get a builder in to give quotes on the whole project? I can’t decide properly. Who is the best person to advice on building an extension to a property? Any helpful input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Do you have good qualified builders over there, that can handle a major addition without an architects supervision?

Architects don't do that. They draw the plans and put their 'seal' on those plans. Local government (if applicable) then puts their approval on them and issues a building permit.

But who is ultimately responsible? Primary contractor. If you choose to be that, then you are responsible for what every sub-contractor does. Or you hire a builder who does all that for you and demands payment up front.

Some have hired a contractor as a sub AND as an advisor for the project. It is one way to better learn the building business - to suffer the heartaches and reap the joy of success from getting it done. Both are essential for learning.

So, do you want to learn or just add an addition? Notice what is definitely not an option here - cutting costs.

Now, do you know what you want or do you need advise on how best to make that addition look? Many drew up the plans, took them to an architect, who redrew the plans, and charged much money for the architects seal. Others asked the architect (and paid more) for ideas on architectural beauty and making the structure more practical. Those are also what an architect can provide. You must decide who will be the primary contractor - who gets paid most and takes full responsibility for failures and problems.

Meanwhile, no matter what you decide, you are still responsible for all financing.

Sometimes they do, but not on projects as small as a single house. Of course we are both speaking of what's customary in this country.

Does anybody have any experience with self-adhesive vinyl tile? We were going to put some down in our kitchen, but we're stalled at floor prep. We're getting conflicting information about how difficult & practical it will be to smooth over a seam/crack in the existing floor.

We re-did the sub-floor(?) before we put down the peel and stick tile. Its been several years and its still looking great.

how did you redo it?

OK maybe we just layed a new one over the old one. We had too, the old tile (from the 60's I swear) wouldn't budge and was broken up. My memory on what we did exactly is a bit foggy, but I do know getting the surface smooth was important.

yes...I am curious as well...

Hey I was just the helper. Scuse me for my inaccuraccies regarding the work...

Tough crowd.

:o

Yeah! Well see the thing is, there's a seam right down the middle of the existing floor. They make stuff that's supposed to level up any embossing in your existing floor, then blammo, put it down. But we've been getting conflicting reports of whether it actually works or how easy it is.

If there is any uneveness AND movement in the floor around this seam I dont think you can simply 'patch' it up. At least, I would be wary of it. Unless you line up the tiles so that their edges match the seams...maybe.

You don't say how big the cracks are or how high the bumps.

As others noted, the sub floor must be solid - not movement between adjacent floor boards. I assume the floor is quarter inch plywood?

Now, each sub floor must be nailed through to joists. Where two plywood edges meet, there must be an adjacent nail on each plywood; both nails into joists. Also locate a nail half way between joists where plywoods meet.

The nail should be corrugated or ring nails - at least 1 and 1/4 inches long. Those ridges keep the nail embedded and not pushing up through the tile.

Some adhesive tile is very sticky - once it touches, you are done. Other tiles are less adhesive and more forgiving.

Tool rental centers have a roller for pressing the tiles in place. You will be amazed how much air gets squeezed out by a 100 pound roller. That roller is necessary for less sticky tiles and strongly recommended for the sticky tiles. It will make the difference between some tiles coming up years later. Get the roller. Especially important is to press those tiles along the wall and in areas that tend to get wet such as near a sink. We even had success with tiles laid on a concrete floor. Roller meant even the flood some years later cause no tiles to pop.

Plan a floor layout so that some tiles end up in doorways or walls without cutting. That means carefully drawing chalk lines (X & Y axis) in the center of the floor, and laying the first tiles there. Use the 3-4-5 (or 5-12-13) triangle trick to square those lines - making that triangle as large as possible. Do not start laying tile at one end since tile variations will cause the far end to be noticeably skewed or with gaps.

We have self adhesive tile in our bathroom. It was there when we bought our house. I can tell from other bathroom details that the contractors in that bathroom renovation cut corners, so it's likely the installation wasn't done according to instructions. The tiles are about 12 years old. Over the years, they have come unstuck every once in a while and you have to press them down again. They move slightly over time, which has opened up small gaps between some of them. A few of them have also cracked and need to be replaced. They show every bump in the surface below, as evidenced by a screw head here and there that have telegraphed through the tile. It wasn't until about 5 years had gone by that these problems showed up, but we have been living with the ugliness for the last several years. It's on my list of THINGS TO DO to replace them with sheet vinyl. I don't recommend self adhesive tiles. Ours are Armstrong Vernay Series no wax vinyl tile with a 3 year limited warranty. They are crap.