iFRAMING DEVICE	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i2024-06-01	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iDOORS	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAs our house rennovations/attic conversions come to a close, I found myself up	null	(FALSE)	0
iin what will soon become my en suite, fitting a mirror, towel rail, and other	null	(FALSE)	0
iaccessories.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iWanting to minimise how much my power tool usage disturbed the rest of the	null	(FALSE)	0
ihouse, I went to close the door separating my new bedroom from my rest of my	null	(FALSE)	0
ihouse, only to find that it didn't properly fit its frame and instead jammed	null	(FALSE)	0
ipart-way-closed.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i"Oh," I said, as the door clearly failed to shut, "Damn."	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iSomehow we'd never tested that this door closed properly before we paid the	null	(FALSE)	0
ifinal instalment to the fitters. And while I'm sure they'd have come back to	null	(FALSE)	0
irepair the problem if I asked, I figured that it'd be faster and	null	(FALSE)	0
imore-satisfying to fix it for myself.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iHOMES	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAs a result of an extension - constructed long before we moved in - the house	null	(FALSE)	0
iin Preston in which spent much of my childhood had not just a front and a back	null	(FALSE)	0
idoor but what we called the "side door", which connected the kitchen to the	null	(FALSE)	0
idriveway.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iUnfortunately the door that was installed as the "side door" was really	null	(FALSE)	0
idesigned for interior use and it suffered for every winter it faced the biting	null	(FALSE)	0
iwet North wind.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IA partially-pebbledashed house.	/2024/01/CD1_-2.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iMy father's DIY skills could be rated as somewhere between mediocre and	null	(FALSE)	0
icatastrophic, but his desire to not spend money "frivolously" was strong, and	null	(FALSE)	0
iso he never repaired nor replaced the troublesome door. Over the course of	null	(FALSE)	0
ieach year the wood would invariably absorb more and more water and swell until	null	(FALSE)	0
iit became stiff and hard to open and close.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe solution: every time my grandfather would visit us, each Christmas, my dad	null	(FALSE)	0
iwould have his dad take down the door, plane an eighth of an inch or so off	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe bottom, and re-hang it.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iSometimes, as a child, I'd help him do so.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IA grey-haired white man wearing spectacles and a boiler suit leans comfortably on a railing alongside industrial machinery.	/2024/06/grandad-huntley.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iPLANES	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe first thing to do when repairing a badly-fitting door is work out exactly	null	(FALSE)	0
iwhere it's sticking. I borrowed a wax crayon from the kids' art supplies,	null	(FALSE)	0
icoloured the edge of the door, and opened and closed it a few times (as far as	null	(FALSE)	0
ipossible) to spot where the marks had smudged.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iFortunately my new bedroom door was only sticking along the top edge, so I	null	(FALSE)	0
icould get by without unmounting it so long as I could brace it in place. I	null	(FALSE)	0
ilugged a heavy fence post rammer from the garage and used it to brace the door	null	(FALSE)	0
iin place, then climbed a stepladder to comfortably reach the top.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IA small box plane perched atop a sloping door.	/2024/06/20240601_115609-scaled.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iLOSS	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAfter my paternal grandfather died, there was nobody left who would attend to	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe side door of our house. Each year, it became a little stiffer, until one	null	(FALSE)	0
iday it wouldn't open at all.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iSurely this would be the point at which he'd pry open his wallet and pay for	null	(FALSE)	0
iit to be replaced?	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IA middle-aged man carrying walking poles on an urban riverbank drags a car tyre that's chained to his waist.	/2024/06/dad-dragging-tyre-lowres.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iNope. Instead, he inexpertly screwed a skirting board to it and declared that	null	(FALSE)	0
iit was now no-longer a door, but a wall.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iI suppose from a functionalist perspective he was correct, but it still takes	null	(FALSE)	0
ia special level of boldness to simply say "That door? It's a wall now."	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iSAND	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOf all the important tasks a carpenter (or in this case, DIY-er) must	null	(FALSE)	0
iundertake, hand sanding must surely be the least-satisfying.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IDan rubs sandpaper atop a wooden door.	/2024/06/20240601_120948-scaled.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iBut reaching the end of the process, the feel of a freshly-planed,	null	(FALSE)	0
icarefully-sanded piece of wood is fantastic. This surface represented chaos,	null	(FALSE)	0
iand now it represents order. Order that you yourself have brought about.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOften, you'll be the only one to know. When my grandfather would plane and	null	(FALSE)	0
isand the bottom edge of our house's side door, he'd give it a treatment of oil	null	(FALSE)	0
i(in a doomed-to-fail attempt to keep the moisture out) and then hang it again.	null	(FALSE)	0
iNobody can see its underside once it's hung, and so his handiwork was	null	(FALSE)	0
iinvisible to anybody who hadn't spent the last couple of months swearing at	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe stiffness of the door.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IA paintbrush applies white paint to the top of a door.	/2024/06/20240601_123747-scaled.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iEven though the top of my door is visible - particularly visible, given its	null	(FALSE)	0
isloping face - nobody sees the result of the sanding because it's hidden	null	(FALSE)	0
ibeneath a layer of paint.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iA few brush strokes provide the final touch to a spot of DIY... that in	null	(FALSE)	0
iprovided a framing device for me to share a moment of nostalgia with you.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iSweep away the wood shavings. Keep the memories.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iLINKS	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
hMy blog posts about our attic conversions.	URL:https://danq.me/tag/house-building-works-2024/	(FALSE)	0
hMy blog post about my dad's then-upcoming Arctic expedition, in 2011.	URL:https://danq.me/2011/12/27/to-the-north-pole/	(FALSE)	0
.