Paining Doors

              After I’ve installed the pre-hung door throughout the unit I go and mark the door and the jams. Once this has been accomplished, I remove all the pins and take the doors to have their bottoms and tops painted.  Few people if any look at the tops and bottoms of doors so I use which ever good exterior grade paint is available. If a choice is given, I prefer soft or light color over bold bash statement colors. After giving the doors top and bottoms drying time I go and replace them in their hinges and to allow the to hang naturally. I also replace part of the plug that prevents the doors from opening.

              Doors left out and unprotected can warp and if the is to much moisture in the air they may de laminate so be wise when you install your door in the project.

When it is time to paint the doors and their jams, I remove the hinges completely and then spray them being careful not to let it run or build up. Each coat of paint adds to the overall thickness of the door. If you hung them with an eight-inch reveal then keep this in mind so you don’t slope it on.

I have heard it said that everyone can paint. That’s not true. Everyone may be able to put paint on the wall or other objects, but painting is a skill. If you have never painted your doors are no the place to learn. Myself included, when we do not like doing something, we tend to not preform at our best. Painting is a simple, but time-consuming tasks. Like many other projects the setting up or preparation to paint is as important as the painting.

Many people like the way their effort can transform the feel of the project. Once this has been done and the inspector has signed off before I insulate, I take off for a day or so. I give my clients keels, or some other means to write messages on the walls. The entire framing system becomes a time capsule to whichever person discovers it. It never ceases to amaze what people write.  Some times they are funny, sometime they write what they’d never say out loud. I do not photo them or copy them down and I do not share them with anyone. Those were not written to me or anyone in particular but they are not to be shared at this time.

The process of building is often an emotional time period and it’s nice to give the owners a chance to blow off steam. I believe it’s a little therapeutic at times so I keep doing it. Often the placement of the messages is as fascinating as the message itself. I believe doing this helps the owners make the house their home. And I wish that everyone could have a home. I realize that I can not help everyone, but I do help those I can. This is what keeps me going.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662.  He resides in Southern California.