He said he would find me a bit of metal to cover the door and I could do it myself!
I gave him the measurements and he found a bit of metal at work and drilled some holes in it for me ready to fix it on.
I started by clearing away the soil and grass from around the bottom of the door. Room for mice and rats to get in. I don't really want rats chewing the ride-on mower cables!
I used some pieces of wood for the plate to sit on to get it in the right place. Drilled some small holes to help the screws go in easier. I thought I was bound to find plenty of metal washers to sit beneath the screw heads but had to search through several boxes of odds and ends to find enough - good thing I hadn't chucked them out.
Eventually I got all the screws in through lots of the holes BiL had drilled. The bottom hinge side was too rotten to fix.
Ta Dah!
Andrew found me the brown mastic and mastic gun that he'd used when he'd linked two water butts together for me. But I couldn't squeeze the gun thing hard enough to get the mastic out, so sealed the top edge of the plate with some white bathroom mastic sealer I had in the garage.It will have to do for now.
Took me ages to do, but it should stop anymore bits falling off the bottom of the door and keep out everything except the smallest mice......I hope.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Well done! Isn't the sense of accomplishment great!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for the blog so I can do a Ta Dah moment!
DeleteCongratulations Sue we are so surprised what we can do for ourselves, Our husbands would be proud of us.
ReplyDeleteI went to WI last night and we had a mock up of a court case that a lady had stolen a coat, it was a fun evening.
Hope the weather is good today for I want to get a Clematis in today it's a winter beauty.
Hazel c uk
That sound interesting for a WI meeting, wonder if anyone around here does that
DeleteLooks very professional. Well done!
ReplyDeleteVery amateur if you look closely!
DeleteAn impressive makeover, well done you.
ReplyDeleteLooks better than rotten wood
DeleteActually most jobs look amateur if you look carefully enough, even the professional ones, but we tend not to notice.
DeleteThat was meant to go on the above comment.
DeleteI didn't know they were banning new woodburners - I suppose it is environmental (???)
ReplyDeleteReally well done - it looks a good and strong repair job there!
xx
No I hadn't heard that either but he was told it was because of the carbon neutral thing. People who have a wood-burner can have them replaced but new houses will have to have ground source heat pumps etc, although I'm not sure how far into the future this will start.
DeleteExcellent work. They will be recruiting you for the next season of The Repair Shop!
ReplyDeleteI very much doubt that!
DeleteDon't take everything your brother-in-law says as gospel.
ReplyDeleteHe probably just wanted an excuse not to fiddle about with a small job for me!
DeleteWell done you, all muscle and magic.
ReplyDeleteand a bit of sweat as the sun was shining on my back all the time!
DeleteI think you should feel proud Sue, job well done! x
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteI admire your resolve. It looks very neat and substantial. Well done!
ReplyDeleteHope the weight of the metal isn't too substantial for the door!
DeleteI am impressed. What a great job.
ReplyDeleteThank you - don't look too closely
DeleteWell done! These are the things that are difficult when our husbands are no longer here, aren't they? I think we probably just need the courage to have a go, and your brother in law gave you a nudge, so that was probably better than actually doing the job for you, although it may not have felt like it!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll pluck up the courage to put the insulation tape stuff round my front door frame soon!
Yes, do it before winter!
DeleteGreat job, Sue! It looks great.
ReplyDeleteI would have treated the wood with wood hardener first. It's pretty nasty stuff, basically like dilute Evo Stick which soaks in and then hardens, but it does tend to slow down any further rot.
ReplyDeleteWell. NOW you tell me!
DeleteI've not heard of that, hopefully the door will last as long as I am here
Well done, Sue! You did well there. I know you've said 'don't look too closely' but as long as it does the trick and keep the little furries out, that's all that matters :)
ReplyDeleteDitto to all the congrats above.
ReplyDeleteQuietly doing a happy dance right now as I have hopefully sorted a work around to enable me to leave comments once more on peoples' blogs. Looks like a lovely piece of tread-plate you have there...no way are mice going to chew through the thing. No woodburners allowed...are they crazy? Or is that no non double burning woodburners? Ours burns the gases as well. Couldn't live without it. x
ReplyDeleteYou did well! It looks good.
ReplyDeleteWow.. what a great repair you did with the help of your BIL's metal donation. Bravo! You could paint the metal and white mastic with brown paint to make it match the door if you wanted. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat job. You must be very proud of yourself for doing this on your own.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Wow ... brilliant job well done :-)
ReplyDelete