Trimming the New Slider

The night after we installed our new slider, there was a monsoon.  Seriously, no sooner did we get in the door, close it and turn off the light for the night that the rain started coming... and coming.  At one point in the middle of the night I was certain that the pounding rain would drive out our new nails and collapse the door inward.  Luckily, when we woke up the next morning, it was still standing.  

We took inspiration for the trim from the simple, mission style trim the Bath Crashers installed on our new windows and doors. 

I started by adding a piece of trim to the top, underside of the door. I was smart this time around and purchased pre-primed wood.  It wasn't much more expensive, and it saved a ton of time.  Time = Money.

Then we trimmed out the top piece above it.  This a a very "in progress" photo before it was completely nailed in.

Then I just did the same thing to the sides, first the inside trim, and then the outside casing.

I was left with a bunch of nail holes and seams, but they are easy to hide with a little painter's caulk.

And after two coats of paint- it looked like it had always been there.  Except now we could actually see out both windows, and I swear it makes the room look bigger.

We weren't done quite yet though, as there was still the issue of the outside.

I'm not going to lie, at this point I was done with the slider project.  Put a fork in me.  But there was no questioning that it had to get done, so I set up shop out on the deck and tried to enjoy the weather while I worked.

For the exterior I bought white, vinyl brick molding, which worked really slick. (I think I'm becoming my father.)

It took me just shy of an hour to make the cuts and get it installed perfectly, mostly because our opening was slightly bigger again, and I had to work a little magic with additional trim to accommodate.

Once the trim was in I sealed the hell out of it with exterior paintable caulk.  

To ensure I kept the cold air and rain out, I had to smooth caulk onto the siding quite a bit, which meant I would get to paint two colors out here, not just one.  WillItEverQuit?

But in the end, after I painted the trim and touched up the siding, I was pretty happy with our results.

All in it took us 2 full days of work, although much of it was done solo while the other parent kept an eye on the kiddos.  It wasn't that hard really, it just got long at the end.  Installing ourselves saved us at least a thousand dollars though, and made this a pretty quick and affordable project.  Plus, now we can actually see outside, and the whole room looks better now that there isn't this big focal point that made the room look old and worn.  Has anyone else ever installed a slider?  We considered changing this up with french doors, but with this being the only exterior window in this room, keeping it open is really important to us. With all the mosquitoes, screens are a must in Minnesota.  In the end we just didn't like the price and options there. All in, I'm happy with how this one turned out.