Friday, August 24, 2007

going on vacation... well, it is to me


It's vacation time... which means "time to work on the house."

I'm taking the week off to replace our old "can-see-light-all-the-way-around" wooden side entry door, with a brand-spankin' new steel door unit. I'm also looking to install our new French (we're passed the whole "Freedom" thing, right?!?) in the dining room.

The side door should be quick n' easy, but the Frenchies are going to take more work, planning and sweat. First, I need to open up the dining room wall to see what structural support I have to work with. Currently, we have to side-by-side double-hung windows, and I'm hoping that once I remove the window units, I'll have the needed 72"x80" rough opening.

The real work takes place if the opening is too small. See, the wall is a load-bearing wall (the house is balloon construction), and so I would need to shore up the second floor and wall, and install a monster 2x10 header to distribute the load from above. Keep your fingers crossed.

I'll also be installing two outdoor lights (either side of the Frenchies), as well as two duplex receptacles in weathertight boxes.

I'll post updates as I can.

Okay, it doesn't seem like all that fun of a vacation... but it gets me out of the office for a week.