After the Snow

First Snow

Day 29 (12/26/16)

With the snow and cold weather things have slowed down at the hall. Two weeks ago we had braved the cold and started putting up the voting booths into the loft. They are going to be used as shelves to store artwork. Last weekend it was so cold that we knew the heat pump wouldn’t have a chance warming up the entire space from below zero so we didn’t even try. Last Monday morning I had a bit of a scare when I found out that the power had been out in Belgium. I immediately raced over to the hall and found that the breakers had tripped when the power came back on. The good news is that after almost twelve hours without power the crawlspace and bathroom were both within tolerable limits. I am supposed to get an alert from Weenrgies but didn’t get anything until about ten the next day apologizing for any inconvenience. Monday night I went back over and checked again and everything was working fine. Today I had the day off and it was forty degrees so I decided to go over and finish the voting booths and do some painting. I was the first time it had been warm enough to paint all month. I managed to finish the loft area and put a last coat on the west wall. I was impressed with how quickly the heat pump warmed the space when it wasn’t approaching zero. I found I was really excited about going over and doing some work. Sometimes a guy just has to pound some nails.   

Warming up 

Sizing thing up

The Install

Ready to be trimmed out

Cold day at the Hall

This is inside

Finished Loft

From the Loft

Getting closer to opening

Industrial Door

Our New Door

Day 28 (12/4/16)

The weather is starting to take a turn for the worse. I know that some people are hoping for a white Christmas but I am hoping that the whole winter stays warm and mild because I have things to get done. One outdoor project that we needed to finish was the door. The original door was pretty rough looking and the window had been replaced with a piece of Plexiglas that rattled every time you closed the door. We had looked into a replacement door but since it was not a standard size all of the options were very expensive. We had started working on the door about a month ago by covering the bottom with aluminum diamond plate. We liked it so well we decided to cover the whole door with it. We also decided we wanted to tint it green to match the other outdoor trim. There was not a local outlet for the diamond plate so I started looking on line. At first it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. I was able to find reasonable priced diamond plate but the shipping was outrageous. Finally I found a source that had both reasonable prices and reasonable shipping. At the same time I ordered a 24X24 sheet of tempered, thermo pane glass for the window. The diamond plate arrived in just a couple of days but I did have to wait awhile for the window since it had to be custom made. While we were waiting, we researched keyless entries. We wanted something that would complement the industrial look while offering the convenience of keyless entry. We finally decided on a Schlage lever handled system and found it on sale at Menards. Friday, I got the call that the glass was finished so we decided to get it done as soon as possible. Like so many things in this project we didn’t exactly know what to expect once we got started. Saturday we prepped everything and made a list of last minute supplies we would need to get it done. We got up early this morning and made a quick trip to Sheboygan to get the last of the supplies and by eleven we were back at the hall and ready to start. I started by drilling the diamond plate and painting it. I then worked on cutting the trim for the window. We had already installed it and caulked it on Saturday. We also put weather stripping around the inside of the door. By one o’clock we were able to start putting the aluminum on the door. Except for having to cut out a little for the hinges it went remarkably well. After we had the plating screwed on we were able to start trimming out the window. Considering that the original had not been made for the thermo pane it also went well. Finally we had to install the keyless entry. We both had concerns on how well it would fit into a door of that age. Eileen had been reading up on it so when it was time to put it on it all fit together like a charm. By the time we were done it was getting very slushy but it was completed and snug. We loved the way it looked and were able to cross another task off our list.

Drilling the screw holes

Starting to Paint

Detail

I love this stuff

The original Door with new window

Adding the Diamond Plate

Trimming out the Window

The finished door with keyless entry

View towards the Road