new doors look great

The new doors were installed today, and they look great. What a relief to have doors that open and close properly and don't look like they belong in a scrap yard. There is a problem with the jamb though - it's too thick for the walls so the trim won't fit correctly. A good drywaller can build up the wall so it is flush with the jamb. Since the contractor told me what jamb depth to get, I am really hoping he fixes it. Incidentally, this is the same problem I had with my prior incompetent contractor - he told me to buy the wrong jamb depth (in this case too thin) and we had a problem. What is it with contractors? The doors do look great and I am thrilled with my choices. I can't wait until the stucco is up - the house will then just look bad not abandoned or ready to tear down.

I tried to set up a meeting with the landscaper to nail down a contract. I want to be ready to move as soon as the stucco is done, which may be this week. He works a lot with the general contractor we have been using. Unfortunately, they both blew me off and don't want to even meet until next week. NOOOOOOOOOO! I want to be ready to go as soon as the stucco is done, not starting to nail down a contract when the stucco is done. That's the problem here - all the contractors are so busy with work that you need them worse than they need you. (This is an example of the many ways a project stalls).

I did get one piece of window trim up today. The first piece I cut was 1/4" too short (yes, I did measure several times, it's just a really hard thing to measure and cut correctly) so I had to cut a second piece. There is a reason finish carpenters make big bucks! I measured again, and this time figured out how to mark my piece before cutting so I am not measuring against a 45 degree angle. I also tried to cut it on my table saw, with much success! My prior incompetent contractor told me that a table saw does not do a good job cutting trim and that I had to buy a miter box and do it by hand. Talk about tedious! Each cut takes 20 minutes of sawing and it is really boring. Multiply that by 15 windows and doors with 3-4 trim pieces each and that's 42 hours just cutting trim! That doesn't count finishing, measuring, installing or finishing the windows themselves. I should have second guessed him sooner knowing how incompetent he is, but he really seemed to know what he was talking about on this.

I'm pleased to say the table saw does a great job, maybe not quite as good as hand cutting but no question it's good enough even for my high standards. After yesterday's debacle of cutting a piece too short, I was really conservative and cut this one too long. It only took a few minutes to shave a slice off the end using the table saw and viola, it was done. What took the most time was opening and closing the garage and rearranging the table saw and everything in the garage to make room for cutting a 7' piece of wood. I was pleased the piece went right up and looks great. I'll post a photo once all the pieces are on this window.

I worked more on the shower curtain track. I came up with an installation plan, which was harder than it sounds. A lot could go wrong and the product comes with no instructions at all.