Closed-Door Policy

During the holidays, the Academy adopts a closed-door policy - doors must be kept closed so K.C. the kitty cat doesn't terrorize the Christmas tree. Talk about "War on Christmas". The problem is, we didn't have any doors to close.

Above is the first of two doors that had to be installed before the Christmas tree could go up. French doors are so practical with the toddler set, n'est pas? Clean the little glass panes, and within the hour they appear to have been visited by a pack of miniature, rabid St. Bernards.

Below is the second of two doors that had to be installed. Pay no attention to the holes and patches in the wall - I just finished rewiring the entire house, and those little holes and patches are EVERYWHERE. This door was donated by a friend of the Academy. I have a dozen more, just like it. They're slab doors, which means its just a door, without a frame. In this situation, you have two choices:

1 - build your own frame, and chisel hinge-mortises into the frame to match the door hinges exactly.

2 - use the existing frame, trim and shave the door to match it, chisel hinge-mortises onto the door to match the frame exactly, and remove/replace existing door stop molding.

Both are a total pain in the threshold, but you save a ton of money.




Anyway, the room is now properly congigured to prevent the Academy's mascot from entering. This should work out great with four kids, right? You know how a cat always wants to be on the other side of a closed door? Yeah, kids are worse. Its highly likely the closed-door policy will have the effect of locking the cat IN with the tree, thereby guaranteeing its complete and utter destruction.

At any rate, construction begins tomorrow, as soon as I pull the county permits.

Oh, you see that molding on the second door frame? The plain cove molding with peeling paint - just like ALL the other molding in this house? I lie awake at night, thinking about replacing it. Oh, you think I'm kidding?