Tag Archives: DIY

The (not so) easy installation continues.

June 18, 2026 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Day two of the storm door project started at 9:00am as we laid out the pieces and parts of the handles we were told were included, but weren’t.

Things were a little confusing at first but after a long discussion over instructions, we thought we had it.

Holes were drilled. Hopefully where they were supposed to be.

Wood on the frame was cut and chiseled out because naturally the holes from our old door didn’t match the new.

Handle and locks in place, it was secured and ready to shut.

Only it didn’t.

Wouldn’t.

No matter how much we tinkered and tried.

So we had to take it all off and start again, trying to figure out where we went wrong.

See that piece? We came to hate that piece quite quickly. Virulently and utterly.

It’s part of the locking mechanism that drops down into the door. There’s only one way to put it in, one way to secure it… which we did. Repeatedly. But the stupid piece was backward, and for the life of us we couldn’t figure out why. We started questioning left and right, up and down but no matter what we did we couldn’t make it work.

The storm door can be hinged on either side. The handles can be installed on either side. So why wouldn’t it work?

We drove ourselves nuts for 2 solid hours fiddling with (and cursing) it.

My husband swore I’d bought the wrong handle and that they were designated for left and right hand opening. I knew they weren’t and swore we were just missing something simple.

Frustrated, he removed all the hardware, packed it up and drove it back to the store with receipts, instructions and pictures… determined to get satisfaction.

At 3:00pm he came back with an answer.

The one he had to ask two salesmen, a door rep and the assistant manager to get.

The one the instructions made absolutely no mention of.

You take the piece out and flip it over.

Seriously?

😳

It comes set up for a right hinged door and since we hinged on the left, it was indeed backward.

So why the #!*</+ don’t they tell you that!

Talk about aggravating.

At 3:30pm on day two?

After 11 total hours of “easy installation”?

We had a new fully functional storm door.

And I swear, if this one ever breaks?

We’ll just move.

It will be easier.

😊

P.S…. the handles we were originally told came with the door but didn’t? The ones we had to make a special trip back to the store to purchase? The silly things were supposed to come with the door after all but are packaged separately and kept in the store room. When a special order comes in the clerk is supposed to grab the coordinating handles and add it to the delivery. So we did end up get a refund for that.

👍

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The (“easy to install” my ass!) project from hell.

June 16, 2026 Rivergirl 40 Comments

Our new storm door arrived the other day.

It’s a nice door, not top of the line because I refuse to pay more for a custom order storm door than I would a used car… but it’s a decent quality. Better than the floor models they have in stock.

And as you can see, my husband paid close attention to the opening instructions.

The box promised “Easy Installation” so we figured we could handle it.

We were wrong.

The instructions were daunting, and not overly clear.

We had to check them so many times, I taped the sheet to the kitchen door for easy reference.

We spent a good hour getting prepped and making sure everything was positioned properly.

And then spent another hour installing the hinge rail…. incorrectly.

Which, by the Swiss cheese condition of the door frame? Clearly we weren’t the first to do.

After another hour of fiddling… we high fived. The door was hung.

This particular door has two hydraulic thingamabobs… you know, the doohickeys that hold it open. They’re not always easy to seat, so those instructions were taped to the door as well.

The bottom one gave us trouble, as evidenced by the husband lying down on the job. It has this special whatchamacallit you tap with your foot to freeze the door open and it kept getting in the way of the screws needed to secure it.

Another hour later, for a total of four, the door was hung. The whoosits were in place and we were ready to put on the handles and locks.

The ones the salesman told us came with the door.

The ones we didn’t have because they didn’t come with the door.

The ones the instructions said came separately.

The ones we had to make an hour long round trip to the store to purchase for an extra $100.

Grrr. 😡

By the time we got back, five and a half hours into the “easy installation”… we called it quits for the day and retired to the barn porch for adult beverages.

With Lord Dudley Mountcatten trying in vain to push open the halfway installed door.

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Another project.

June 2, 2026 Rivergirl 18 Comments

This is our little kitchen landing entryway.

The husband tore down the old one a few years back and replaced the wood with composite decking, built a new frame, added glass and installed new soffit on the ceiling.

What he didn’t do was replace the old storm door.

Which, over the winter had a bad spell and kind of… exploded.

We’re not sure what went wrong on the bottom right but before I knew what was happening the other day….

The husband had removed it.

And sanded down the old frame because he was bored and had nothing to do.

Problem is no one had the one he wanted in stock so now we have to wait a few weeks for delivery.

Planning is not his strong suit.

🥴

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Project completed.

May 26, 2026 Rivergirl 18 Comments

I don’t know why my husband likes to work in the rain.

But he tried to apply sealant to the newly sanded barn porch in the drizzle, until it turned into a full blown shower and he had to quit.

The next day was cool, but dry

For a while.

But just as he was finishing, the sky began to darken.

And rain moved in again.

And lest you think I didn’t help…

When the sun came out the day after, I sealed the steps and porch skirting.

Unlike my spouse, I don’t work outside in the rain.

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Project part three… in which I find a yellow submarine.

May 21, 2026 Rivergirl 22 Comments

Because he loves me.

Or maybe because he doesn’t want to hear me bitch…

My husband rented a deck sander for a few hours and went to town on the barn porch.

In the rain.

Granted it wasn’t the best weather for sanding, but I wasn’t going to complain.

He thought it might make a difference and help the boards he replaced blend a little better with the existing planks.

It didn’t, but it certainly smoothed things out and prepared the surface for sealant.

I admit I was a little surprised to walk inside the barn and find a previously unknown dining table being used as a work top.

Clearly someone had been to the recycle center without me.

🥴

I also found this.

Shame it was in such bad shape.

A 1969 Yellow Submarine, complete with pop up Beatles.

Ringo.

And a very unhappy John.

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The project, and a woodchuck kleptomaniac.

May 19, 2026 Rivergirl 31 Comments

The barn porch rotted wood replacement project continues.

Or rather, it continued without me noticing and is now complete.

(Yes, the left hand post still dips… but that’s a frost heaving, ever shifting Maine ground problem.)

And while my husband used similarly weathered boards…

They still don’t match the existing and stick out like a sore thumb because he refused to replace the entire length of the boards like I suggested.

This anomaly doesn’t bother my husband, but will drive me nuts for years to come.

And did you happen to notice anything else amiss on the porch?

Perhaps the furniture that I had recovered a few years back at a rather large expense?

A cushion is missing.

As in… gone.

We noticed the other chair cushion had been torn, or more precisely… chewed. And there was stuffing blowing here and there around the bottom of the barn so as crazy as it sounds, we think it was stolen.

By the critters.

Most likely the by Momma chuck who nests and has babies under there every year.

Ordinarily this would piss me off to no end, but I’ve been wanting to replace this set for some time so now seems as good a time as any.

😊

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Uh oh. A project..

May 13, 2026 Rivergirl 44 Comments

When it’s a nice day and my husband goes missing? I get worried.

When I hear banging and power tools? I have to investigate.

I found him on the porch of the man cave/Barn Mahal where he was building….

Something.

He called it a dead man.

I called it dangerous.

In order to replace some rotted wood on the deck he needed to raise a post.

One rusted car jack and some scrap wood later…

I was glad OSHA wasn’t in the neighborhood.

Yes.

That’s what was supporting the roof as he worked.

Brave… or reckless?

It’s always a tough call with my husband.

🥴

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Not quite there yet.

March 7, 2026 Rivergirl 31 Comments

Day two of wall sconce installation saw our mantle taken over by tools

Multiple trips to the hardware store were needed and my husband’s patience was wearing thin.

I was trying to speed the process along by dropping helpful hints but was promptly told to vacate the work area.

The old wiring was troublesome and at one point I told my husband just to mount the lights and not worry about them being functional. To be honest we haven’t turned them on for years.

There’s a reason for this.

The built in bookcases on either side of the fireplace are deep.

Four rows of hardcovers deep, and reaching the light switch?

Way back there …

Means removing a few dozen books every time.

As you can see by the original unpainted paneling, it hasn’t been uncovered for decades.

Stupidest light switch placement… ever.

🥴

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It’s not going well.

March 1, 2026 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Installation of the new wall sconces started simply enough that afternoon.

With Lord Dudley Mountcatten on hand for the box unpacking assist.

He follows my husband everywhere, like a devoted dog.

Me? I’m just tolerated for my can opening and litter box cleaning ability. 🥴

When all the pieces and parts of the lights were laid out and the instructions ignored, because… you know, men… it was time to begin.

Upon initial examination, the existing electrical boxes (circa 1974 when the house was built) didn’t look good.

They were metal, barely stable, filled with old paper and sawdust and had nowhere to attach the new mounting hardware.

So they had to go.

New boxes were purchased…

But of course they didn’t fit.

*side note- this wall is actually two sections of old paneling I painted when we first moved in. Neither of us was skilled enough in wallboard mudding and application to rip it out around the fireplace… so there it’s stayed for 20 odd years. This was never an issue, until now*

For the next few hours my husband cursed, sputtered and cut. Or tried to. He only needed to make the holes a wee bit bigger but doing so without splitting and splintering the ancient paneling was more of a challenge than he thought.

By dinner time he’d finagled the boxes into larger holes, mounted the new hardware, grounded and wired one new sconce and attached it to the wall.

As you can see this did not go as planned.

To be continued…

Hopefully.

🥴

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A new project.

August 6, 2025 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Remember when my husband tore down most of our old shed and rebuilt it without the addition?

Remember when my husband bought an antique wagon and had to rebuild the addition to house the purchase?

Remember when I complained about having a gaping open hole on the north side of the new addition because my husband couldn’t figure out how to build a door on the wonky shaped opening?

Remember when my husband covered the hole with a tarp thinking that would suffice?

Silly man.