More home improvement

Getting that tree pruned wasn't the only home improvement project I got around to this past fall. I've been planning since I moved in (over three years ago) to replace the sliding patio door (below) with a hinged door.

This picture doesn't really convey the sad condition of the slider (I use that term loosely; the tracks were so crudded up and pitted that the door threatened to leave its track each time I tried to close it), so you'll have to take my word for it that this replacement was long overdue. The insulating value of the door was approximately R-0.001; I'm pretty sure the seal on the glass had failed. So I finally went to Lowe's, picked out and ordered a new steel door, and contracted for its installation. And here it is:

The left panel is hinged, the right is fixed. Such a configuration more typically is hinged in the center, but the door frame nearly butts up against a wall inside (the front of a pantry closet), so I went for center latch instead. I still need to paint the door both inside and out (that's just primer), but I no longer have to fight with that non-sliding slider, and it's also Energy-Star rated (tax credit!).

I also opted for a lockset and deadbolt of a better grade than the usual bright brass "builder's run" model. I'm partial to the oil-rubbed bronze finish that is so widely available these days, so that's what I settled on. (In fact, I also got a new lockset for my front door in the same finish, though I haven't installed it yet.) The only thing wrong with this hardware is that I wasn't able to get both locks keyed alike "off the shelf", so I'm probably going to want to get one rekeyed. Oh, yeah, I also discovered, upon reading the instructions for the lever handle the other day, that the guy who installed it got the levers reversed (i.e., the inside handle is outside and vice versa). The curve of the lever should come up from the bottom of the shaft. Not that I'm sure exactly what difference it makes (it seems to work OK), but the instructions are quite explicit that this setup is wrong. So one of these days I need to take the handles off and swap them.

Changing the door also means I can finally get rid of the crappy vertical blinds which I hate. I just ordered wood mini-blinds in a walnut finish from JCPenney. Another week or so and the vertical blinds are history.