As with most things connected to this house, the small chore of putting up the front screen doors has exploded into an all day ordeal.
So I get into the garage and haul up the doors. I wisely left the pins in the hinges over winter so I wouldn't lose them. A few taps with a nail setter to push them out and I was in business. Or so I thought....
On the right door the middle and bottom hinge slid in but the top was no dice. I finally had to start over and force the top hinge in and then keep hitting the other two together, hoping that the hang would torque enough length out of the door to make up the 1/16 inch difference. I got lucky with a well placed shove and Naomi was able to drop the pins in.
The left door did not go as well and after several bouts of yelling/swearing, I finally gave up, taking off the bottom hinge on the jamb in order to get the top and middle to seat. Big mistake, because not only did I realize, (too late) that it would be easier to pull the door into place by leaving the jamb hinge in place and taking off the door hinge, but once the @#$%! jamb hinge was off I found the wood rot underneath. 
Alrighty then....
So down to the basement for the trusty wood rot hardener. I have to find my pick (a nice set of dental picks I got on ebay for the myriad of surgeries we routinely do on the house,) and a small brush. Back up to clean out the wound and squirt/paint in the hardener. Hmmm, how deep does it go? I'd better drill in some slanted holes to get to the bottom. OK, pour in the hardener and use the paint brush to sweep it around and into the holes. Oh, yah, it needs to sit overnight now.
Tomorrow I look forward to applying the wood putty, letting it cure and then re-drilling and screwing the hinge back in. Then I can have Dan push against the door as I screw the opposing hinge plate into place on the door, hopefully undoing the warp that has made it impossible to hang the doors in the first place.
Great, so now what do I do while I figuratively wait for the paint to dry? Well, my mail carrier can attest to the crappy latch on the screen door, so I took it apart to see what I can try this year to help it work properly.
Hmmm, that's an awful lot of rust on that puppy -
in part because the guys who worked on the exterior restoration last fall took the screens off and left them sitting out, on their sides, in the rain, allowing the latches to fill up with water. So now I'm wondering if the graphite treatment I usually do twice a season is going to cut it or if perhaps it's time to move on to WD40 and lithium grease. I opted to sand down all the rust on the spindle and catch, the springs and thingy-do I have here in the picture. Hours later, I had the rust off all the bits and it was put back together with a fresh shot of graphite. My mail carrier came by to inspect and gave me the thumbs up - so I have THAT going for me. 
Just another case of the torment this house frequently puts me through.
Just an update to my last post. Today the handyman I hired to finish up the punch list from the bathroom remodel we started last fall, has finished. Sort of. There's still some stuff that isn't done but I can't wait around for this guy to finish it up. This would be the punch list from the massive three bathroom remodel with which for the most part we are quite happy. The only part we are not happy about is the part where the general contractor took the money, failed to pay any of the subs nor finish up the job. But aside from that it's all good. Oh, yah, except for the stuff I had pay for twice in order to get the job finaled, and the stuff he didn't do that I paid for and did I mention the thousands in legal fees we've had to pay to defend against liens that subcontractors slapped on us? OK, so where are we at???
I don't think we'll restore any more windows this year. We are talking to a carpenter about storm windows and screens, (again) and hope that this guy is more professional than the guy we went with a couple of years ago who decided he didn't want to do the job after all.
The pool house/pool/shed is pressing. We've opted to put that off until next year in part because we still don't have an adequate plan in place. No sense moving the pool equipment and re-laying the lines when we know the whole pool house need re-built.
We're still struggling with the right way to address the kitchen. The plans just aren't coming together, in spite of a number of different people working on them - three builders, an architect and one or two kitchen designers. I'd rather wait than get it wrong.
Finishing the exterior restoration has to wait for the kitchen remodel, since we know we will be moving and replacing windows.
The panels (where the tyvek wrap is apparent in the first pictures) will be returned and installed within the next couple of weeks. We are thankful we found someone to do it. We think they will continue to weather, but our restoration work will keep them stabilized for some time.
