Summer Dog Days 2022

Even with a crazy schedule Dog Days of 2022 managed to include not just one but TWO Grip Strip floors!

Yes, Grip Strip, the robust, hearty, innovative, completely underrated laminate floor that is slowly leaving the market in spite of obvious virtues and advantages lives on in certain locations and problematic jobs.

But not without a fight! Grip Strip will always be a favorite in the hearts of those of us who know and love the advantages and can work with the quirks!

On a slightly different note came also yet another classic door jamb repair. Every summer has at least one or two. You can NEVER have too many!

Explanatory video here CLICK LINK

So text 919-834-4833 or write PO Box 5381, Raleigh, NC 27650 and use the cool fall weather to get ready for the Holidays!

PVC Door – a Sad Discovery

The Dog Days of 2022 bring a sad discovery.

This beautiful all PVC replica screen door has a serious Achilles heel.

The joints are assembled with WOODEN DOWELS!

Yes! If enough moisture penetrates the joints the wood rots just as fast or faster than all wood construction and renders the entire door useless.

In this case the homeowner opted to replace the replica PVC door with a generic metal storm door.

Surely this sad state of affairs could have been avoided by the manufacturer?

Another Steel Doggie Door

Remember this? (Click LINK HERE)

Me Too! Seems like only yesterday, but actually 2 years of various projects have passed into the archives!

For some reason big dogs need to have doggie hatches installed in steel doors.

The only difference with this year’s new adventure was to encapsulate the old tiny doggie door in the cut out for the new BIG doggie door.

And, as with the previous installation, a custom shop made template was an invaluable guide for the oscillating multi-tool.

If you have a big doggie door hatch problem, give me a call. I have experience.

(919) 834-4833

Doors-Out With Old!

Doors. Out with old, in with the new!

Sometimes 20 year old doors are like rotten teeth- extraction and
replacement is the most sensible option. So this door was replaced
in toto.

Entryway Threshold Repair

Another relatively common trouble spot- the entryway threshold.

This threshold looks like a complete mess, but there are really only a couple of water damaged pieces on the exterior side that need replacement. The interior portion is completely unharmed.

The ubiquitous oscillating multitool is indispensable for a clean, nearly invisible seam between old and new parts.

Some new wood,PVC nosing,a little touch-up paint and this doorway should remain in service for many, many moons into the future.

Steel Door Doggie Hatch Install

Yes, yes you can install a Doggie Hatch in an existing steel entry door.

The trick is to overlay an FRP panel to make the final finish cosmetically appealing.

You will need to use a metal cutting blade on your oscillating multitool.

The FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) makes a big difference in the outcome.

Voila! (Or viola, as we like to say!) Ready for the big dog to use!

Convert Wood Door to Dutch Door Style

While I am not necessarily a fan of major modifications to clear fir solid wood legacy doors,
this was a fun project and consistent with the type of work I was asked to do back when
when such doors were widely available and relatively inexpensive.

Do not try this with a foam filled hollow core fiberglass or steel door! While anything
is possible, solid wood remains the simplest and best choice for this type of modification.
Anything else could be cost prohibitive.

Now the wait for squirrel Godot begins!

Legacy Entry Door Restoration

The Dog Days of August howl with pain when a beautiful clear fir vintage solid wood door
arrives in the shop seriously crippled by an encounter of the unpleasant kind!

A real good old timey Legacy Entry Door should not suffer such indignity!

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! O how hast this most grievous wound come to pass?

Fortunately Habitat for Humanity provides a perfect replacement salvage panel to transplant
into the damaged heritage door with complete recovery anticipated and followed by many more
decades of useful service in the dwelling of origin for this most hearty and faithful relic
of times past.

The world made whole again. Whew!

For other door repair adventures

CLICK LINK HERE

or CLICK LINK HERE

or CLICK LINK HERE

TJ Kattermann-One man repairs and home improvements in Raleigh’s Glenwood South and the metropolitan area.

(919) 834-4833

Life Hack: DIY Door Security

People ask me how to economically secure their doors when they are home
or away from their house.

Metal Door Repair

Something I do not see very often- a commercial metal door jamb 1 full inch out of square!

The strange part?

This door jamb has been misaligned from the date of original installation
some 30 years ago and has worked more or less satisfactorily since the air seal
was not important to overall function.

Recently, however, with age, the door sagged just enough to mill a scrape
mark on the aluminum threshold and bind so to open and close the active door
without effort was a problem.

My assignment was to adjust the door back to original operational specifications
WITHOUT resetting the entire jamb.

Easily accomplished with a few shims.

Now the door works as just as it did when first installed with the lock bolt and
latch properly aligned and the threshold unmolested by door sag.

But the jamb is STILL 1 inch out of square!

I can economically fix what is broken, but not always repair everything that is wrong!