Last time at the mobile home, right after the Christmas cold snap, the outdoor faucet looked like this. I guess the faucet was not turned off tight enough? The inside corner of the enclosed front porch. Little pieces of what looks like insulation sticking out. I rarely go out there, so I can't guarantee when it happened. First thought was mice, but I didn't see any other mess. Do you suppose the wind could have caused this? So many puzzles; so little time.
Thanks Teresa. So you're saying the ice came from water left inside the hose, and not from the house water line? I never thought of that. Frozen condensation forcing out insulation. That is a new one. I was on my way out the door when I noticed so didn't have time to check further. I guess I can poke it back in. See what happens next. Come to think of it, if it were mice, it would be pulled out at the point of the biggest gaps in the siding. Instead it is pulled out at the lowest, tightest points, where water would run down and collect. That is cool.
@Nancy Hart -- is that an avocado seed you have sprouted? One year I grew an avocado tree that was taller than me from a seed, but a frost killed it.
@Beth Gallagher -- No, that's not my picture. I do however have one avocado seed in the refrigerator from about 5 years ago. It's from the only avocado I ever bought. Probably too late to plant it now.
I always have the best luck by using 3 toothpicks stuck into the seed (somewhere mid-seed) to suspend the seed on top of a mason jar (or old water glass.) Then fill the glass container with water so that the seed is about half submerged (wide end down) and sit it in a bright window. Keep the water at a constant level. It couldn't hurt to try.
I've been taking door measurements off and on for days. I was finally ready Friday to order, but wanted to check just one last thing. The top of a door and the windows should line up. If they don't it doesn't look good. Before screened porch If there is some empty space above the door frame to make the door taller, it would look better. When the owner came to measure last time, I asked him... What if there are no studs behind the door jamb to nail to? . He said...That's not possible, and mumbled something about a load bearing wall. I didn't dare ask him about no header above the door. Saturday I drilled through the top frame in several places. Didn't hit anything for 6 inches! Did both sides the same way, and didn't hit anything for 3". There are little holes all over the door jamb now. It looks like giant powderpost beetles invaded. This is what I suspect it looks like inside the wall, with the amount of empty space that should be available to expand the door size. I should probably try and cut some chunks out of the old door jamb, large enough to poke around and make sure there are no obstructions before thinking any more. BTW, the door jamb is not nailed to the studs. It is only nailed to the casings, which in turn are nailed to the studs. Even if nothing is changed, it will mean the only way to install the door would be the way I suggested, because you can't nail the new jamb to the studs. I guess what triggered all this was when I found out they measured the height wrong (too tall by 3/4"). I better get the order in soon, before these guys go out of business. By the way, GC, who I haven't heard from since October 24th, sent a text message Friday saying he is caught up on jobs, and wanted to know if I needed any work done. What a coincidence.
So much for gaining the benefit of "experience," huh? I wonder if that didn't used to be a wider door that had a more modern size installed later. You know, at some point you're gonna end up doing 90% of this yourself anyway. And who is GC? Is he gonna play a role in this?
I think you are right, John. At one time there was a taller wider door there, and they needed to put in a new door. Probably it was cheaper to use a 36" x 84" door, which was standard back in the 1950s, than to special order a door that would fit. Wonder what was wrong with the old door? Maybe a big door is more trouble. If it was wood, it might have warped. Steel shouldn't. Yes, if I go with a larger door it will cause all kinds of extra work. The casings will likely have to be replaced, siding redone. For just an inch it wouldn't be worth it. But 5? That's a big difference. GC stands for General Contractor. The man who handled the roofing, house painting, pressure washing, and fence repair. His guys do a good job. BTW, solving this puzzle was very exciting. More even than listening to C-SPAN call-ins. No, really it's been kind of fun, so far.
Reminds me of having a patio door installed in my place before I moved in. This is the window that was in the dining room: I had a contractor install a deck, then knock out that wall and install a patio door: Notice the 8" boards around it. I told him "I guess I could install regular trim myself." He said "You probably don't want to do that." I knew what he meant. So I did this instead:
An option might be a trim board that makes a door look taller. And this:.. How To: Make a Faux Transom for Under $10
Oops, I missed your post in between. The cornice board looks great. Your casings look exactly like mine. Both interior and exterior. In one room I added a PVC strip on the outer edge to make them look more even. PVC is bendable. In the living room I added a valance to cover them. Partly because I couldn't find curtains long enough. It looks better at night when the sun doesn't show through.
I like that valence. I started out making something similar, but when I could not find the fabric I liked, I did a cornice. After much angst, I used the black inset so as to not lock myself into a particular color/pattern of drapes. It's a little more "formal colonial" than I wanted, but it works. I also like your idea of putting some 1/4 round on the edge of the trim to make it less "utilitarian." I've used the flexible PVC trim around my bathroom window when I did a tear-out. I used Corian and that flexible PVC around the entire window trim & sill so it's waterproof. Regarding the height of your door...I had to go look at pics of period houses to give myself a frame of reference. You are right...there are some number of houses with small windows that are shorter than the door, but I could not find any example of the entrance door not being at least as tall as the windows. Now when I look at that pic, the door does seem "disproportionate." You've got a good eye.
Assuming the framing diagram in a previous post is about right... There is a better way to install the smaller door that would be structurally sound. It would mean a lot of extra carpenter work and touch up afterward. But not doing it correctly would bug me now that I know what's in the wall. With a larger door, new outside casings the same size should just miss the batten part of the vertical board & batten style siding. Can't think of anything else that could be a deal breaker, so I'm going for a bigger door with less work. Unless something new comes up (like getting his with a bus or something). With a larger door, none of the old casings could be used. But new 1"x 6" casings would extend beyond where the old ones meet the wall. There should be very little plaster damage unless they start pounding around with a regular hammer. I think these new nail guns cause less vibration. What a carpenter would need to do should be included in the door installation (according to "the owner"), provided I do a few things ahead of time. My part of the work... 1. Tear out enough of the old inside casings right now to get accurate measurements. Remove them completely, closer to when the door arrives. Tearing things down without using a sledgehammer is my specialty. 2. Buy the lumber for the new casings and paint it at least one coat. There should be very little touch up later. Finally, I don't want to look at that door every day for the rest of my life and wonder what it would have been like with a bigger beautiful door. Maybe this is the real reason.