Second Floor Door

I guess I've never really given it much thought, it is a little strange to refer to a door as a second floor door. How puts a exterior door on the second floor?

I'm sure plenty of people do, and it opens up the possibility of one day building a nice second floor deck, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. It also kind of looks like a big window.

Just getting the door up on the second floor was a bit of chore, but nothing too big for JH and his amazing set of tools. We managed to get the door up there the week before, and then it came time install. Putting doors in is a bit of a challenge, more so than windows, because if you put it in wrong, the door won't open and close properly. Funny how that works.

I'd framed the door RO and we were ready to go. JH screwed in some boards on the outside to prevent the door from falling completely through. This also helps line the door up so it is flush with the wall.

I jumped the gun a bit and caulked the frame before making sure the door fit properly, and sure enough, it did not. I had to rip out the bottom framing boards (all my hard work for not) and then re-caulk. Then we rammed the darn thing in, and it fit.

Then the fun part began. We had to shim left and right, top and bottom until the gaps were even and the door functioned properly. Let me tell you, this is a real challenge. When you make an adjustment on one side, things get messed up on the other side. Coupled with the fact that we had to be concerned about the door falling, and it can be a delicate process.

We finally got the door in, and as we fastened it, it seemed to progressively work better and better. I love when that happens.

And then it was done. The barn is pretty much sealed to the weather. I still need to install the soffit, which could take years, but at least with the new roof and all the doors and windows, it will stay dry inside.

Thanks to JH and his amazing bag of tools. Until the next time, thanks for reading.