I installed a new back door last summer (Independence Day, to be exact). My parents, Don and I spent an entire day making the perfectly-square, new door fit with the settled, off-kilter, old house. It took lots of shimming and adjusting, and Dad left me tasked with getting the wood for the trim, staining it, and calling him over to make the perfect miter cuts and install.
Busy schedules, multiple job changes, travel and winter got in our way. Finally, a full year after I bought and stained the wood, Dad came over with his miter saw. And we quickly discovered just how not-square the areas to be trimmed are. In some cases, there's a full half-inch difference between the top and bottom measurements! So some of the boards fit, but others don't. Dad and I took very careful, precise measurements, and he went home to make the final cuts.
He comes back this weekend. We'll dry fit everything (fingers crossed) and then (if all goes well), I'll stain all the pieces (provided the hosue god consents and blesses us with a proper fit) and install it on my own (fit-pending). Then, once the trim is done, AT LAST I can paint the door and the steps to the basement.
But I'm not getting my hopes up. Some projects never end. With an old house, there are always multiple fun surprises in store.
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