This is a
big day for me guys. I've been waiting on this post for nearly 2 years
now- actually, longer. From the first moment we set foot in our big,
disgusting project house back in August of 2010, I've wanted to tear out
and fix the Cat Door in the basement.
For
those of you new to One Project at a Time, the Cat Door is an actual
pet door that was installed in one of the closets of our Family Room,
presumably so the previous owner's cats could get by and poop in the
closet. Perhaps it was genius in functionality for the previous family,
but for us, it was a big, weird hole in a door. While I always thought
the Cat Door would be the first thing to go, we've somehow managed to
live with it for nearly 2 years. It's even become a natural part of our
family's dialogue. We refer to it as "The Cat Closet," even though I
can assure you we never have or will store cats in it. Ryder plays "Cat
Ball" and uses the door as a goal, and tells these amazing stories to
anyone that will listen about the big scary cat that lives in our
closet. And as sweet and funny as that all is, we're done. It's time.
The Cat Door must go.
In our typical fashion, the Hubs wanted to throw this one and purchase a
new door, and I wanted to work with what we had. In the end I appealed
to his cheap frugal side as a new solid 6 panel wood door cost about
$300, and I negotiated that we should at least try my idea first, which
was free. I started with my t square, cleaning cutting out the old
hole.
Next I cut a new filler piece (making sure I matched the grain of
the wood in the same direction.) My fit was really tight, so I lined
the edges with wood glue and tapped it in with a rubber mallet.
Then I
applied wood filler to all the edges.
A coat of primer, three coats of paint (Benjamin Moore Impervo with a microfiber roller), and a fancy new door knob later and we are in business.
I'm so happy with how this room is coming together. Just a few quick projects left and you can stick a fork in it!
Delurking to say, I am SO impressed with all the stuff that you do! Such an inspiration! From installing fireplaces to fixing doors, it all makes me want to do as many DIY projects as possible! I have read through all of your archives, and it just amazes me what you have done with this house! Now I just need to buy my own house so I can do projects of my own! (Renting for 10 years is starting to drive me batty!) I look forward to more of your projects! :)
ReplyDeleteHooray for delurking! You never know if people even care about what you have to say, so it means the world to me when folks jump in and join the conversation! Thanks so much for the kind words. It's been a roller coaster!
DeleteHaha! We also have a 'cat door'... not a literal one, but something I swore we'd tear out the minute we moved in but haven't... and won't for the foreseeable future. Ours is in the form of a half wall that's smack dab in the middle of our master bedroom that has been tiled AROUND (rather than under). I hate it. I swore it would be the first thing to go. Then reality crept in. We realized it's the ONLY place to put the bed in that room due to the weird layout. And we got busy with other, more pressing rooms (like turning the garage into a studio space so we can continue to run our photography business... and, you know, feed ourselves).
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the removal of the cat door!
I love this- I think we all have our our proverbial "Cat Door." Your photography studio is AHH-MAZING! I can't believe you guys had the energy for 45 gallons of primer and paint. Seriously- mind blown. You should be so proud- it's gorgeous.
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ReplyDeleteWow!!! I am going to be the minority amongst you- but boy oh boy, if that door was 24"x 79" I would have begged to but it from you! You would have to understand my situation to really understand, but if I have time soon I'll share it with you.:)
ReplyDeleteI meant *buy* it from you- sorry for the typo.
ReplyDelete