Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Before & After: Trash Day Screen Door Renovation

Hello There!

I've been so excited to show off this before and after. It took FOREVER. It seemed like every time I went to work on it, we had something come up. I suppose that is just summer in general. We have this unusual entry way behind our house. The entry would be open if it wasn't for the need to keep the dogs in the fenced in yard. When we moved in (& as you know, we rent), there was a door that did the trick for a while. However, it seemed that the wind wasn't its friend, and it's looking quite brutal.


What a sad looking door. During city wide clean up, I found this awesome door. So, the door was free. However, it was in pretty rough shape. It needed a good clean up and deconstruction.

This is how I found the door on the curb. Sad and dirty.

Time to sand it down and remove that scary looking screen. I thought I might cut a finger off.
What a great chance to use my detail sander accessories for the first time! Love LOVE it. As you may remember, I did a review of my sander here. 
All sanded and repainted. I had some chicken wire sitting around from a purchase at the Habitat for Humanity store. Yes, they sell chicken wire there. I think I paid 2 bucks for a huge roll.

So, I thought I was in the homestretch when I finished this part of the door. Uh. Not even close. I knew the door was a bit too tall and narrow from measuring it, but apparently I wasn't paying attention when I measured it because it was much more narrow and tall. Tall we could deal with. Tall was actually kinda nice because it will keep the wind from pushing it through the door and beating it up. However, narrow wouldn't work. So we had to buy boards to frame the door in more. Then we had to return them since they were the wrong size (I would like the record to show I told my husband they were too narrow but he insisted he had the right ones.) Then we had to cut them, then paint them and attach them. That process took much longer than it should have.

Since we rent, this door is completely replaceable. We kept the old one just in case they would like to put that one back on, or if we decide that we would like to take this door with us. It's just a matter of removing some screws and putting the old one back up.

Here's the final product!


I love the bright color and I love how it makes the cart we keep our child's outdoor toys on just pops. The lattice isn't my favorite, but it does the trick and since we don't own the house, I don't mind it staying. I did freshen up the paint since I had to paint those extra boards to frame in the door. Does this door scream "welcome"?
As an FYI: The project was quite affordable. With new paint, chicken wire, hinges and boards to frame in the door, we spent around $20.00.





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2 comments

Pam Kessler said...

That is the cutest free door I have ever seen. Love the aqua color.

Unknown said...

Wow, SO much better! That door is super cute, and I love the chicken wire solution too. Great job Krista! :)

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