Dolmen Project (Year Twelve) Confessions of a “Guerilla Artist”: 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.