The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
First Aid For The Ailing Houses
A door may sag sufficiently for the latch to hit the center bar of the strike plate instead of entering its hole; to cure this, the bar can be cut away, which will be simpler and easier than resetting the strike plate.
Door Locks With the exception of the locks of the front and back doors, the door locks inside a house are usually simple and give trouble only through clogging with dust, rust, and occasionally the breaking of a spring. To remove a lock, one doorknob should be taken off, which is done by loosening the screw on its stem. The knob can then be pulled off or unscrewed, and the other knob, with the knob rod attached; drawn out. The lock is released by unscrewing two screws. One side of the lock is a loose plate secured by a single screws withdrawing this exposes the mechanism for cleaning. Don't use oil to lubricate. It will collect dust and promote even more stiffness. Use powdered graphite.
leaking Sill In a driving rain, there may be leakage under the brass sill of a door fitted with metal weather-strips. On removing the sill by withdrawing the screws, it will be found to have a lengthwise groove on its under side. This groove should be packed with either caulking compound or putty. Any excess will squeeze out when the sill is returned to position and should be wiped away.
Accordion-folding Doors Where space is at a premium, the home owner will find that substituting accordion-folding doors may save him as much as almost 12 square feet of formerly wasted space. Accordion doors range in price from less than $10 for do-it-yourself, lightweight plastic types without internal ribbing to doors that cost about $50 and which usually require installation by an expert.
Installing an accordion-folding door usually consists of removing the hinges of the door being replaced., These notches in the door frame may be filled with pieces of wood cut to size, secured in place with adhesive or small brads, then sanded smooth, the cracks spackled, and finished to match the frame.
An overhead track, in which the door rollers run, is screwed into the top of the door frame. One side of the door usually has a metal strip inserted inside the material, with holes drilled to accept screws that will fasten it to the side frame. A latch, mounted on the opposite of the door, usually completes the installation. Each manufacturer gives special directions for installing his door, and these directions should be checked in the store where the door is purchased. All parts should be inventoried in the store to be sure there are none missing. It's very aggravating to start on a Sunday morning installation, and halfway through to discover a few vital screws are absent!
