terrace door - fall 2007

So, I'm sitting in my shoebox of a room looking at my closet trim (sorry, can't find a before pic yet). The closet is almost 5 feet wide, tucked in an alcove outside the rectangle of the actual room. There is faux flagstone flooring which comes out for two feet from the cheesy louvred bi-fold replacement doors, extending the full width of the alcove (5 feet or so.) The wood trim appears to be original (rosette corner blocks, wide balustrade across the top and down the sides). This room is on the second floor, right at the top of the stairs. It has two windows - one overlooks the back and the other the left side of the house as viewed from the front. Near the top of the stairway is an old picture window (16 panes, divided light, fixed (doesn't open), and rotted on the lower right side clear up to the the window glass. The view is the left side of the house, over the side porch roof. There is a small area (three and a half foot square or so that ends at the outside of the back of the closet. The roof line may have been cut simply to accommodate the window whose only purpose seems to have been to let light in, but I started thinking (uh oh!). In 1900, they didn't have double-doored closets. There often were no closets at all. And what about the flat roof right behind the closet? And what's up with different flooring in front of a closet? I manage to convince myself that once upon a time this was a little room with a view, that the closet opening once embraced a pair of charming French doors which led out to an intimate terrace. I'm convinced that the closet was just an extension, barely deep enough for a hanger - sort of hard to tell with three layers of siding. I figure all I have to do is cut through the back, re-hang some French doors, and voila! a terrace re-claimed.

I start by purchasing some cute, well-made (solid clear pine, true divided light) and surprisingly inexpensive (under $100 each) French doors because I always do last things first. Then I begin peeling away the vinyl flagstone tiles fully expecting to see old tile like in the bathroom, but instead, I'm seeing wood. I remove the bi-fold doors and unscrew the floor stops so I can continue when, darn it!, I see the tell-tale floor patches where the studs which framed the original single door had been.

Lesson 1: Never assume anything! Just because the trim is original, doesn't mean it's in the original location.

Grrrr.....now what? Now I know the closet was original until some jack-a** knocked out two support studs without reinforcing the header, so the weight of my attic dormer is supported by the studs in the outer wall. I believe these studs are 30 feet long. I'll have to cut three of them bottom and top and then build headers and footers with enough structural integrity to support the weight of two stories.I know when I'm beat!

I toy with the idea of cutting only two and having a center post between the doors, but by the time I add the necessary center support studs, the opening will not be wide enough for both doors. I'm somewhat discouraged, but I go with plan C: cut one stud and insert one door.

I use screws (because I'm a girl) and attach pieces of wood to the cut stud ends as well as to each other and all adjacent framing members including the floor joist. (see photos below - haven't cut thru the siding yet, duh...)That ought to do it.

Then I re-frame for a single door on the inside - like it used to be (see below - notice the various layers of siding - required the super long sawsall blade - and there's my roommmate in the photo helping me by sawing wood.....zzzzzz......).