Just a Shimmin"

Bob spent the weekend mastering the fine art of door hanging and becoming close friends with "shims". :) Last week on Thursday, a millwork company that specializes in great prices for doors, molding, trim etc. came to our house. I was still agonizing over which door (5 panel or shaker), which wood (primed wood, fir or just plain old MDF) and size of trim. They saw our one discounted shaker door, our windows, our paint colors etc and recommended all primed white, upstairs and downstairs (I was contemplating stained fir doors and hemlock trim downstairs, but the cheaper primed wood doors and MDF upstairs). I was easily swayed by their opinion and I think I was ready to just make it and be done all ready! It happened relatively easily and painlessly AND it saved some major bucks over fir and hemlock. They were very helpful, measuring carefully and providing advice as we discussed options. Our bid was ready for pick up on Monday. It was a pleasant surprise and our doors arrived on Friday. Bob picked up the first installment on Friday and we helped to unload that evening. Saturday morning he retrieved the three sets of pre-hung double doors and a single. We were barely able to wrestle them off the truck and through the door to safety in the house. Bob knew then that assistance would be needed to get them upstairs. I sent out a plea for assistance and several wonderful men arrived on Sunday afternoon to help. They also helped Bob carry a double vanity with granite counter and sinks for the girls room up the stairs. We previously purchased an IKEA vanity, but we still needed two sinks that had to have wide set holes for our all ready purchased faucets as well as counter tops (we were leaning towards laminate to save money). Now I have to make another trip to IKEA to return it, BUT overall it will save Bob some time since he won't have to install sinks plus we get to have granite counters! I didn't get a picture of it YET........

However, here is Bob installing our master bedroom closet door. You can see our bedroom door in the foreground. He installed that one first. He said they are getting easier. The clearance door upstairs which is identical but only a quarter of the price, he installed with the door hanging in the jam. On this one he removed the door and installed the jam first. It seemed to go much better.
Of course, they will all have to be taken off again so they can be painted. They are only primed......Farmer Girl is begging to paint her door orange or at least on the inside of her room. I have very adamantly stated NO!
He installed his first set of double doors in the entryway this morning. He had some difficulty getting it squared and set so the doors swung easily, but it works great now after substantial use of shims, a door installers best friend!
It occurred to me today as we worked on this, that I don't know why I agonized over the style of door. I had to simply look at my front door, see the similarity between the front door style and the shaker doors and make the decision. See how they kind of match?
I caught this shot coming down the stairs. It looks like a REAL hallway! Still needs trim and flooring.......but we are getting there.
Below are the doors that required help to get them upstairs. I really don't like sliding closet doors or accordion, always pinching fingers or falling off the slider. I wanted doors for their closets. In the original set of plans, Farmer Girls closet actually required THREE sliders! Fortunately, I caught the framer and he made the opening a bit smaller. It still required 2-3 foot doors. They were heavy and cumbersome. In fact, they couldn't get up the stairs in one piece due to their size. The doors came off the hinges and were carried up one by one. THEN, they carried up the door jambs, being very careful not to twist or overextend them. Bob hung them after setting the jambs, but he did not hang her bedroom door. For The Scribbler, he was able to hang her door, but not her closet doors. Tomorrow is another day.

Stay tuned for further updates.
Good night, Ellie~