Other Projects I'm Working On

[HaveaMint]

(being the 13th, mayhap Friday would not be a good day?)

It is bad luck to be superstitious.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

(being the 13th, mayhap Friday would not be a good day?)

It is bad luck to be superstitious.

All seriousness aside, the fourth coat is going on later this morning, once the sun is off the door, not because of tongue in cheek Triskaidekaphobia but because it's going to be too darned hot tomorrow! In fact, removing the old door and installing this one will have to keep until next week when we get a wee break in the heat (again, relatively speaking) and I can hire a neighbor to help me (the door is too heavy for my old carcass to wrestle into place by myself). The paint will need time to dry properly before handling anyway.

[Marie SWE]

Actually, I've got only two outdoor projects going on right now: the replacement door I'm prepping, and finishing repainting the buggered up paint on the platform/steps railing. Between other things I was horsing around with today, I shot a few more coats on the buggered area and it looks a lot better. Again, I'm going to wait a few days to see how it looks after the paint finishes drying and shrinking to decide if I'm done or not.

The railing and stairs was really nice done. From being an industry look to being homely. Very-very nice remodeling. *thumbs up*

I saw that you wrote that there was some fuss when you removed the masking tape.
Here is a tip of how I do when I'm painting multilayer.
Since I live in Sweden, we use metric system, but I cheat with a internet-converter to inches.
If you are going to paint several layers, mask with the same number of layers as you plan to paint, but let the masking tape overlap each other by 1 millimeter or 0.04 inch. Once you have paint one layer, so before the paint dries, remove one layer of tape. this way you get a small-small gap between the first layer of paint and the next layer of tape. So when you paint the next layer, do the same again.
This way, the tape never gets suck to the dry paint and you get a smooth transition of each layer.
Just a little tip of how I does multilayer painting.

You couldn't afford me. Fare from Central AZ to Sweden alone would be murder.

I'll take that as a compliment so thanks again

perhaps I am an anonymous multi-billionaire... (damn, I have revealed that I work part time, then I can't be one)
But a holiday trip to Sweden wouldn't be completely wrong?
I need to build a new soundproof server-cabinet.. but I am a bit too lazy to get started and I can't afford to let a company build it for me.
and you look really handy, so it hade been perfect to hire you.

You're welcome, it was meant as a compliment.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Actually, I've got only two outdoor projects going on right now: the replacement door I'm prepping, and finishing repainting the buggered up paint on the platform/steps railing. Between other things I was horsing around with today, I shot a few more coats on the buggered area and it looks a lot better. Again, I'm going to wait a few days to see how it looks after the paint finishes drying and shrinking to decide if I'm done or not.

The railing and stairs was really nice done. From being an industry look to being homely. Very-very nice remodeling. *thumbs up* ...

Thanks!

...I saw that you wrote that there was some fuss when you removed the masking tape.
Here is a tip of how I do when I'm painting multilayer.
Since I live in Sweden, we use metric system, but I cheat with a internet-converter to inches.
If you are going to paint several layers, mask with the same number of layers as you plan to paint, but let the masking tape overlap each other by 1 millimeter or 0.04 inch. Once you have paint one layer, so before the paint dries, remove one layer of tape. this way you get a small-small gap between the first layer of paint and the next layer of tape. So when you paint the next layer, do the same again.
This way, the tape never gets suck to the dry paint and you get a smooth transition of each layer.
Just a little tip of how I does multilayer painting. ...

Excellent suggestion! Thanks! I will certainly keep it in mind. In this case, the way I wanted to mask the edges had only 1/16" (1.3mm) of width for the tape. I didn't want the paint to go up onto the edge of the aluminum channel surrounding the fiberglass door skins since it can crack there. I got finished remasking and repainting a couple of hours ago (I tried posting this earlier but the forum went down mid-post ) and had to settle for masking the top of the channel side and letting the paint form a meniscus where it met the thickness of the channel. It doesn't look quite as nice as I wanted but it will do.

...

You couldn't afford me. Fare from Central AZ to Sweden alone would be murder.

I'll take that as a compliment so thanks again

perhaps I am an anonymous multi-billionaire... (damn, I have revealed that I work part time, then I can't be one)
But a holiday trip to Sweden wouldn't be completely wrong?
I need to build a new soundproof server-cabinet.. but I am a bit too lazy to get started and I can't afford to let a company build it for me.
and you look really handy, so it hade been perfect to hire you.

You're welcome, it was meant as a compliment.

I have to give you points for persistence!

Again, thanks for the compliments!

Starting tomorrow is going to be hot enough to fry the fur off a frog for the next few days (it wasn't all that cool today) so I'm going to give my body a rest for a few days to recover and to let the paint dry hard enough to avoid damaging it while installing it. I may sneak out a few mornings to start removing the umpteen screws holding the old door in place and cutting away the caulk surrounding it. It's going to cool down (relatively speaking) around the middle of next week so I need to talk to one of the young men next door about hiring him to help me with the installation. The door is just a bit too heavy for me to install by myself plus the slightest breeze could turn it into a rather large kite.

I normally take some Aleve before starting working on larger projects to keep my back from hurting as much but I thought I could get away without it this morning. Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to take any NSAIDs due to the risk of getting bleeding ulcers due to the aspirin regimen I'm on (ironically, aspirin is an NSAID) but it's the only way I can get anything done. I decided to skip the Aleve this morning; big mistake. I worked only an hour masking painting, and removing the tape and my back was screaming words that would make a sailor blush. I have another pain that has developed but, rather than bore anyone with it, I'll just sit on it.

The only future projects I have lined up for the rest of the summer is to order a new shed to replace the old, undersized, crappy looking one I currently have. I'll have to hire the two young men living next door to help me move the old one out of the way until the new one gets built (I'm hiring that one out; it would be too massive for me to do alone at my age) and I can move the stuff inside the old one to the new one.

I also found a 4' aluminum ladder leaning against the dumpster back when I was working on the platform/steps. Other than needing to slightly tighten the rivets at the pivot points (I can do that in five minutes with a couple of hammers), it needs to have thick layers of mortar, plaster, or similar wire-brushed off the top of the top platform and the paint tray. It shouldn't take too long with a wire cup brush in an angle grinder but it will be messy. It's a low priority job so I'm not getting into any big hurry to tackle it, especially when it's getting so hot out.

[RollyShed]

I need to build a new soundproof server-cabinet.. but I am a bit too lazy to get started and I can't afford to let a company build it for me.

I think there is a company called IKEA somewhere in the northern hemisphere... or there used to be...

Actually there are branches "down-under" too.

[Marie SWE]

Excellent suggestion! Thanks! I will certainly keep it in mind. In this case, the way I wanted to mask the edges had only 1/16" (1.3mm) of width for the tape. I didn't want the paint to go up onto the edge of the aluminum channel surrounding the fiberglass door skins since it can crack there. I got finished remasking and repainting a couple of hours ago (I tried posting this earlier but the forum went down mid-post ) and had to settle for masking the top of the channel side and letting the paint form a meniscus where it met the thickness of the channel. It doesn't look quite as nice as I wanted but it will do.

okay, that was a little bit narrow
Then I would just remove the mask before it dries and then just before the next layer of painting make a new masking
I don't know what type of masking tape you using, but the type of masking tape they use for car motif painting is really nice to work with and it's a bit elastic.. and it's glue is not so aggressive on new painted surfaces.. I use that kind when I do repair painting on my cars and all other small painting fixes. I got that tip a bunch of years ago from a guy who works with car motif painting, when he passed my garage and stopped to chat for a while as he was curious of what I was doing.... So i just passing it on I can't take any credit for it.

I have to give you points for persistence!

hahaha Thanks
It was my persistence/stubbornness that kept me from going back to windows in 2018 when I used every swearing words i could in five different languages, when i tried and tried and tried to get my damn linux computer to work with my windows network.
that was "the" dealbraker factor as I am depended on network sharing and my network drives here at home.
note: I don't know five languages, but I know some swearing words in five languages

Starting tomorrow is going to be hot enough to fry the fur off a frog for the next few days (it wasn't all that cool today) so I'm going to give my body a rest for a few days to recover and to let the paint dry hard enough to avoid damaging it while installing it. I may sneak out a few mornings to start removing the umpteen screws holding the old door in place and cutting away the caulk surrounding it. It's going to cool down (relatively speaking) around the middle of next week so I need to talk to one of the young men next door about hiring him to help me with the installation. The door is just a bit too heavy for me to install by myself plus the slightest breeze could turn it into a rather large kite.

I normally take some Aleve before starting working on larger projects to keep my back from hurting as much but I thought I could get away without it this morning. Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to take any NSAIDs due to the risk of getting bleeding ulcers due to the aspirin regimen I'm on (ironically, aspirin is an NSAID) but it's the only way I can get anything done. I decided to skip the Aleve this morning; big mistake. I worked only an hour masking painting, and removing the tape and my back was screaming words that would make a sailor blush. I have another pain that has developed but, rather than bore anyone with it, I'll just sit on it.

The only future projects I have lined up for the rest of the summer is to order a new shed to replace the old, undersized, crappy looking one I currently have. I'll have to hire the two young men living next door to help me move the old one out of the way until the new one gets built (I'm hiring that one out; it would be too massive for me to do alone at my age) and I can move the stuff inside the old one to the new one.

I also found a 4' aluminum ladder leaning against the dumpster back when I was working on the platform/steps. Other than needing to slightly tighten the rivets at the pivot points (I can do that in five minutes with a couple of hammers), it needs to have thick layers of mortar, plaster, or similar wire-brushed off the top of the top platform and the paint tray. It shouldn't take too long with a wire cup brush in an angle grinder but it will be messy. It's a low priority job so I'm not getting into any big hurry to tackle it, especially when it's getting so hot out.

when you wrote "slightest breeze could turn it into a rather large kite." I came to think of a scene in the movie Hotshots. quote: "I can see my house from here" That's when he gets hit by the ambulance and flies away.

For god's sake take it easy.. Pain is not to be playing around with.

I have another pain that has developed but, rather than bore anyone with it, I'll just sit on it.

This is your thread and you do not bore any of us with telling about it. *sending over a hug*

you said: "Starting tomorrow is going to be hot enough to fry the fur off a frog"
What summer temperatures do you usually get?

[Marie SWE]

I need to build a new soundproof server-cabinet.. but I am a bit too lazy to get started and I can't afford to let a company build it for me.

I think there is a company called IKEA somewhere in the northern hemisphere... or there used to be...

Actually there are branches "down-under" too.

IKEA the damn Swedish company... I think its most known for.... at least one screw is almost always missing.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Excellent suggestion! Thanks! I will certainly keep it in mind. In this case, the way I wanted to mask the edges had only 1/16" (1.3mm) of width for the tape. I didn't want the paint to go up onto the edge of the aluminum channel surrounding the fiberglass door skins since it can crack there. I got finished remasking and repainting a couple of hours ago (I tried posting this earlier but the forum went down mid-post ) and had to settle for masking the top of the channel side and letting the paint form a meniscus where it met the thickness of the channel. It doesn't look quite as nice as I wanted but it will do.

okay, that was a little bit narrow
Then I would just remove the mask before it dries and then just before the next layer of painting make a new masking
I don't know what type of masking tape you using, but the type of masking tape they use for car motif painting is really nice to work with and it's a bit elastic.. and it's glue is not so aggressive on new painted surfaces.. I use that kind when I do repair painting on my cars and all other small painting fixes. I got that tip a bunch of years ago from a guy who works with car motif painting, when he passed my garage and stopped to chat for a while as he was curious of what I was doing.... So i just passing it on I can't take any credit for it. ...

I agree, masking before each coat, then removing and remasking is how I should have done it. However, the way I originally had masked it took forever and, after the emergency repairs I had to make, I was running out of time to apply the paint and I didn't want to have to go into the next day. Bad choice on my part.

I use 3M blue painters tape. It uses an adhesive that isn't as aggressive as older style masking tape as long as it isn't allowed to stay on for too long and it's very slightly wrinkled so it has some elasticity.

...

Starting tomorrow is going to be hot enough to fry the fur off a frog for the next few days (it wasn't all that cool today) so I'm going to give my body a rest for a few days to recover and to let the paint dry hard enough to avoid damaging it while installing it. I may sneak out a few mornings to start removing the umpteen screws holding the old door in place and cutting away the caulk surrounding it. It's going to cool down (relatively speaking) around the middle of next week so I need to talk to one of the young men next door about hiring him to help me with the installation. The door is just a bit too heavy for me to install by myself plus the slightest breeze could turn it into a rather large kite...

when you wrote "slightest breeze could turn it into a rather large kite." I came to think of a scene in the movie Hotshots. quote: "I can see my house from here" That's when he gets hit by the ambulance and flies away.

For god's sake take it easy.. Pain is not to be playing around with.

I have another pain that has developed but, rather than bore anyone with it, I'll just sit on it.

This is your thread and you do not bore any of us with telling about it. *sending over a hug*

you said: "Starting tomorrow is going to be hot enough to fry the fur off a frog"
What summer temperatures do you usually get?

Thanks for the hug! The pain I obliquely referred to is in a...ah...delicate location. I hinted at it.

I'm in my seventies and worked hard most of my life so pain will be a constant companion. I can either deal with it or lie down and wait to die. I'm too stubborn to acquiesce to the latter.

It has gotten as high as 122° F at the airport here. Tomorrow will be 97° and Saturday to Thursday will be in the low one hundreds.

[Marie SWE]

Thanks for the hug! The pain I obliquely referred to is in a...ah...delicate location. I hinted at it.

I'm in my seventies and worked hard most of my life so pain will be a constant companion. I can either deal with it or lie down and wait to die. I'm too stubborn to acquiesce to the latter.

It has gotten as high as 122° F at the airport here. Tomorrow will be 97° and Saturday to Thursday will be in the low one hundreds.

okay.. I get it.

I'm waiting for my future pain.. I hurt my knee and neck when I was 20 in a motorcycle crash.. I feel it if I do something stupid and the doctors said I will feel some pain of it when I get old. So i can relate in one way.
Stubbornness almost always pays off, so it sounds like a really good choice you doing. But just remember to take it a little easy.

damn.. 122F that is 50C the warmest we had last summer was 95F
right now we have 42F (it is morning here 4:30am)
Now it's time to powerdown my computers and try to get some sleep.
take care of you.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I managed to drag my ample asset outside this morning before it got too gosh-awful hot. I needed to cut the hole for the deadbolt in the door frame. After wrestling the door off the worktable, leaning it against the wall, removing the two screws temporarily holding the door in alignment to the door frame, then opening out the frame, I laid out where I needed to cut the hole.

Fortunately, neatness doesn't count for the layout lines.

This is my weapon...er...tool of choice for making the cuts.

I used two different cutting wheels and mandrels.

The one on the left is a larger diameter I used for making the vertical cuts. The larger the wheel diameter, the easier it is to make long, straight cuts. Also, the mandrel has a spring loaded connection to the wheel, allowing it to flex a bit if I should fail to keep it perfectly straight, preventing it from jamming and possibly shattering the wheel.

The horizontal cuts were shorter so a smaller wheel would be easier to use. I didn't have any smaller wheels like the one on the left so I used an older style wheel that was worn down more and a rigid mandrel.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

This is the Dremel set I put together in a Pelican case. After using a battery powered Dremel, there is no way I'll ever go back to a corded one.

On to the cuts.

The two vertical cuts didn't go too badly, especially since my hands were shaking a bit more than usual. After swapping wheels, I started making the first horizontal cut but that black, rubber weatherstripping made me nervous as a squirrel in a dog park with no trees so, to make sure I didn't slip and cut into the weatherstrip, I dug out a scrap piece of aluminum angle to tape over the weatherstrip.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Here, I've finished the cuts as far as I can using the Dremel.

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To finish the cuts, I used a slotting needle file. A slotting (or slitting) file is like a regular file except the faces are smooth and only the edges have cutting teeth. These are the two that I dug out to use.

One was my Daddy's. He had modified it by grinding down one face so it could fit in narrower slots. The other one I bought because it has coarser teeth and cuts faster. I wound up using Daddy's since the slots were too narrow for the wider one.

I only finished cutting the bottom two corners with the slotting file and just broke out the slug at the top two corners by bending it.

Afterward, I cleaned up the sides and corners with the flat side of a half round file.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

To make sure everything was going to fit properly, I installed the deadbolt latch...

...the inside bracket...

...and the outside lock onto the door.

13.jpg (17.3 KiB) Viewed 404 times

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Here is the dead bolt as seen through the hole I made in the door jamb.

It's not perfectly centered (I hate when that happens ) but the strike plate has way more than enough wiggle room so it will work just fine. I'm going to wait until after the door has been installed into the rough opening before drilling the jamb for the strike plate screws. It will be a lot easier then.

The deadbolt lock is a Kwikset Kevo electronic lock. Actually, it is two of them. All the doorknobs in my house are bright, polished brass but polished brass will not hold up when exposed to the West Arizona sun hitting it so I found two Kevo locks on flea-Bay, one bright, polished brass and one brushed nickel, and Franken-monstered the two so the exterior is brushed nickel and the interior will be bright, polished brass. I had to go this route because, when I contacted Kwikset about it, they told me they didn't sell the interior shell separately (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). At least, I didn't pay full price for them. My current lockset, which I'm going to reuse, has also been Franken-monstered.

I'll go into how the lock works when I get the door installed (I'm hoping it will be this weekend).

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It looks like I and a neighbor I'm hiring will remove the old back door and install the new one this Saturday mid-morning (he works nights so 9AM is the earliest he can commit to being available).

This morning, I "drug" my ample asset out and prepared the old door for removal. I had to remove all but a handful or so of the screws in the flange holding the door to the wall and cut through the caulking around the edges of the flange. The latter was a real chore. I found using a putty knife stuck between the flange and the siding and hammering it along the length worked best but it took a while and quite a few ladder relocations. I also had to remove the eyebrow over the door so I could get to the top door screws and cut through the caulking at the top. I'm not too fond of working at those heights. It took about two hours altogether although I got a 45 minute break when Weed Spray Guy came by to spray a pre emergent on my lot (we got a huge discount since Weed Spray Guy was already already going to be in the Park to spray their property).

After I finished "having fun", I brought the work table from the patio on the east side of the house over to the west side at the back of the carport near where I'll be installing the door, then hauled the door to near the existing back door. Some niggling little thing told me I should check the dead bolt cylinder with a key to make sure it would work so I did, and it didn't (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). I removed the inside back plate so I could see what was going on and the end of the little arm that moves the dead bolt latch bolt in and out was just hitting on the sides of the 1-1/2" hole (more muttering and mumbling). I had to take everything apart so I could remove the dead bolt latch, then use a chisel to cut a shallow groove in the side of the hole so the end of the arm had room to move, then put it all back together again. That wasted another hour.

All that's left to do on Saturday is to remove the few screws holding the old door in and push it out, do a test fit of the new door, cut any new mortises needed, put putty tape on the flange of the new door, reinstall the new door and secure it with a handful of screws so I can pay off my hired help and send him home, remove the lockset from the old door and install it in the new door, drill for and install the strike plate for the dead bolt, finish screwing down the door, and reinstall the eyebrow. Caulking the edges can keep for a while. Methinks boredom will not be a problem.

I used that four foot step ladder I found by the dumpster a few times. Other than being crusted with mortar/plaster/whatever on the top "step" and the paint tray, it works just fine.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I forgot to mention, it's getting hot enough outside nowadays to fry the fur off a frog. I'm just getting too old for this "stuff".

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It's official. I'm nuts. I lost what little mind I have left I'm ready for the funny farm.

Since I was already hot and nasty, despite it being 97° ( ) outside, I grabbed my new angle grinder with a wire cup brush already installed, shoved a 4AH battery into it, then went outside. After setting it up in the shade of the carport, I brushed off the worst of the mortar/plaster/paint/mastic/whatever from the top step and the paint tray of the four foot step ladder I found. I also touched up a few other areas. I didn't get it all off--I exhausted the first 4AH battery and made a significant dent in the second one--but the ladder looks more than good enough for my use. After using the ladder some today, I don't even think it needs to have the rivets at the pivot points tightened up; it was rock solid under my weight, more so than my six foot step ladder and that one is solid enough for even an old acrophobiac like me. Whoever threw that ladder out was even nuttier than me. Oh well, his(?) loss and my gain.

After running (more like driving and waddling) a couple of errands, I'm knocking off for the day. I'm going to pretty much hibernate tomorrow so I'll be fresh (relatively speaking) for Saturday.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The bulk of the installation is finished. The outside view...

and the inside view (I didn't have enough room to get the entire door in the shot).

I started getting ready around 8:30AM this morning before it got too "warm" and the sun hadn't reached the side of the trailer the door is on. After taking every tool I could possibly need (or so I thought) outside and putting them on the tailgate of my pickup, I started removing the door. First, I removed the latch set. The knobs were easy. The latch (sometimes called the striker) was a drive in type and was a bit of a chore to get out. When it did come out, it was in pieces.

After removing the few remaining screws holding the door to the wall, I started removing it. Despite cutting the caulking the other day, I still had to use a small pry bar to encourage the door and frame out. About that time, the young man I hired to help me showed up. While I secured the old door to the frame and dragged it out to the front of the house (in hopes someone may want it; I "wrote" FREE on it with blue painter's tape later in the day), he scraped away the worst of the remaining putty tape.

We then picked up the new door and tried to put it in the rough opening to make sure it fit. It didn't. After setting the door back down, I compared the inside measurement of the new door frame to the old one and found the old one was a bit smaller. The door rough opening was shimmed 1/2" on both sides. Since the old door fit better on the hinge side than the lock side, I replaced the shims (short strips of 1/2" plywood) on the lock side with some short strips of 1/4" plywood. We then tried the door again and, this time it fit just right, not too loose and not too tight, except it wouldn't go in deep enough. The new door was about 1/4" deeper than the old one. We had to remove the shoe molding on the inside to get the door flanges to set flush with the siding (I'll reinstall it another day).

Once we knew the door would fit, after predrilling holes for the latch and dead bolt mortises, we put the door down flat on my worktable, put putty tape on the inside of the door flanges, then reinstalled it into the wall. While he held the door in place, I shot a few screws into the side flanges to hold it in place, then chiseled out the deadbolt and latch mortises, using the openings in the door as a guide for the chisel.

Next, we started on the latch set. I had wanted to reuse the latch as well as the knobs but, expecting the possibility of the old drive in latch getting damaged when removing it, I had ordered one from Amazon (no one in this flea bag, one horse, piddlesquat, Podunk megalopolis had one ). Having a helper hold the door while working on it instead of constantly chasing after it was nice, really nice.

After installing the latch, when trying to install the knobs, we found they wouldn't fit because the misbegotten latch was some oddball kind I've never seen before, despite being Kwikset brand, same as the knobs. After muttering some sweet nothings under my breath (barely) and fiddling around trying to figure out what to do, I managed to repair the old latch well enough to get it installed. Once in the door, it will probably stay together, probably until long after I'm dead. The next time I see one somewhere, however, I'll glom onto it and hang onto it just in case.

Once the door latch and knobs were installed and working slick as snot on a broom handle, I paid off the hire help, and started wrapping things up. I finished squirting in the rest of the screws into the door flanges, then broke for lunch. After lunch, I put some putty tape on the eyebrow and installed it over the door (working that high makes me nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs), then hauled my tools into the house and cleaned up the mess (what little there was).

I still need to caulk around the edges of the door flanges on both the newly installed back door and on the Water Heater Door from Hell. After collecting trash bags from inside the house and putting them on the tailgate of my truck, I hauled them down to the dumpster, then went to Home Depot to get a tube of clear, paintable caulk, a new 18v pin nailer, and some 3/4" pin nails (I also got a package of some el cheapo cotton gloves with a rubberized grip).

After I got home, I installed the inside workings of the deadbolt and set the hand on it (i.e set it to work with the side of the door the deadbolt is on). From the factory, it's set for doors with a left hand swing; this door has a right hand swing (after I got through with it). Setting it involved installing the batteries while holding the programming button, then pressing the programming button again (both "fun" while chasing a swinging door). The batteries that came with the deadbolt were pretty much dead but I had expected that and had already ordered some more rechargeable AAs (Eneloops; I use a lot of them) from Amazon.

I haven't programmed the key fob yet. It's battery is probably also weak or dead so I still need to check that out.

I next drilled the frame for the dead bolt strike plate and installed it and reinstalled the strike plate for the lock set.

I'm taking tomorrow off and waiting 'til Monday morning to apply the caulk around the doors (even though it's going to be over 100°, the morning will be under 90°).

[Lady Fitzgerald]

This is a shot of the dead bolt and lock set latch strike plates.

I still need to make a blank off plate to go over that bottom hole.


Here is a shot of the dead bolt and lock set latch.

I need to plug that bottom hole. The next time I'm at Ace hardware, I'll check to see what they might have. Maybe an electrical knockout plug?

Here is a shot of the pin nailer I bought today.

I'm too tired right now so I'll open it up and check it out tomorrow.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Even though I'm sore all over, bone tired, and didn't get enough sleep last night, I couldn't wait to check out my new pin nailer. Whenever I get a new toy...er...tool, I can't wait to play with it...er...put it to work (I'm as bad as a kid on Christmas morning). Even though I have used brad nailers, staple guns, and nail guns in the past, they were all pneumatic (I even have an industrial grade Senco brad nailer), I've never used any that were battery operated and I've never used a pin nailer.

Buying the nailer was interesting. The box was cable and alarm locked to the shelf it was on and I had to find an employee to spring it from retail jail. Once he had released, he then told me I could get it at Register 2 and took off. I finished shopping for my other goodies, went to Register 2, paid through the nose for everything (ouch), and only then did I get to lay my grubby mitts on the nailer.

I'm not complaining. Home Depot has had a huge problem with thieves loading up carts with power tools and waltzing out of the stores without paying for them. Of course, we, the consumers, are the ones who wind up paying for the shrinkage so I'm glad Home Depot is finally doing something sensible about the problem. While putting the power tools in what is essentially tool jail and retaining custody of the tools until they are paid for is a bit inconvenient, it beats the big, fat, holy, hairy heck out of having to pay higher prices to cover the shrinkage that would otherwise continue and dealing with them frequently being out of stock when their books show them as being in stock. At least they appear to have decided against DRMing the tools as they once had proposed.

My first observation is that the pin nailer is heavier and bulkier than my pneumatic brad nailer even though the brad nailer shoots larger brads instead of much tinier headless pins. I was expecting this but it still was a bit of a surprise. However, freedom from an air hose and compressor easily offsets that disadvantage.

After reading the directions (yes, I'm one of those weird people who actually RTFM) and finding no surprises, I just had to try it out. It came with a sample strip of 1" pins but those are a bit long for the shoe molding I needed to replace so also got a box of 3/4" pins when I bought the nailer. After loading a stick of pins in it, I popped in a battery and did a few test fires into a piece of scrap wood. There was no recoil. The pins drive in flush instead of being countersunk but are so tiny, they are barely visible. This might be a bit of a problem with prefinished pieces but, for work that is to be painted, being flush, there are no holes that have to be filled and sanded before painting. It's perfect for fastening small pieces.

Unlike most other nailers and staplers I've used in the past, you can't bump fire this. Bump firing is when you hold down the trigger and bump the tip against the work to get it to fire (my Senco brad nailer has a safety tip that has to be depressed before firing that sometimes gets in the way). There is a plastic tip on this nailer that reduces, if not eliminates, marring the surface of the work but is small enough to not get get in the way. The gun also has a spare tip that is stored right on the gun. I haven't tried to see what would happen if I removed the tip.

Instead of the usual, inconvenient safeties other nailers, like my Senco, have, this one has a little lever next to the trigger that has to be folded down hand held flat while gripping the nailer with the remaining four fingers of my hand (my new angle grinder has a similar arrangement). While I'm going to have to get used to adjusting my grip to accommodate this kind of safety, it shouldn't take long and I actually like it much better than ones I had to deal with in the past.

Another advantage of sinking the pins flush instead of setting them below the surface is the nailer doesn't have to be readjusted for every time different size pins are loaded in it. That saves a bit of time and a lot of aggravation. This nailer is also oil free, eliminating the mess that comes with keeping a nailer oiled.

So I could rid of the itch to actually use the thing, I used some flush cutters to snip off the staples sticking out of the prefinished shoe molding, then went to town reinstalling it. I was pleasantly surprised that the added bulk wasn't as much of a problem as I had expected. I had the shoe molding reinstalled in far, far less time that it would have taken to nail them manually or having to dig out the compressor, air hose, and oil if i had used my brad nailer. Unlike it would be with a brad nailer, I can't even see the pins (it would be different if it was in bright sunlight but not by much). It was almost disappointing to finish so fast.

I did get a couple of jams that caused the nailer to not fire. However, I didn't have to take anything apart to fix it like the directions say to do. I just pulled the battery, opened the magazine, reseated the pin strip, closed the magazine, reinstalled the battery, then went back to it (it took me longer to write this than to actually do it).

Now that I've got that out of my system, I'm going back to bed.