Thus far we've kept you apprised of major and minor progress on our vestibule efforts. Though sometimes tedious or mundane, each task has taken us one step closer to the goal at hand -- a completely reconfigured front vestibule with a salvaged, shiny and high gloss inner door, and outer salvaged french doors with wavy glass. Sounds simple enough, but the whole process has been anything but.

This weekend, wisely using our Labor Day weekend to labor, we checked off a major component of our overall project. We finally took the significant step of removing our old front door and making our new, salvaged, front door the daily operational door. But before the grand reveal, let me get you up to speed with our checklist. We last left you with the following (pay no mind to the fact that some items were added since the last update. This sort of thing tends to happen on projects):

1. Sand extension piece smooth
2. Install molding
3. Fill nail holes
4. Fill old holes and gaps
5. Fill old hinge locations on door jamb
6. Sand door jamb
7. Prime door jamb
8. Paint door jamb
9. Install weather stripping
10. Transfer peephole
11. Transfer knocker
12. Transfer rim lock
13. Buy and install deadbolt (Dont need this step)
14. Complete/fix mail slot Grrrr... Purchase new mail slot
15. Final sanding
16. Prime door
17. Paint (possibly multiple coats with wet sanding for high gloss) 1/2 way done, outside is painted
18. Darken screws in hinges
19. Install Rim Lock/Knob
20. Install Peephole
21. Install Knocker
22. Install Mail Slot
23. Install Mail Slot Backer
24. Remove Old Door

The last task we talked about was the spring bronze weatherstripping install. Shortly after I drove the final nail in that task I moved our blue/turquoise door from the saw horses where it was being painted in the kitchen to it's rightful home hanging in the front. Since oil paint has an extended cure period, I was only able to paint the outside while the door sat it the kitchen. We allowed the door to cure for several days before laying the door flat on the painted side so that we could prime the back side.

The primer we used was a fast dry alkyd primer, so it was able to dry in about four hours. I kept checking the painted side of the door to make sure the wood and paper it was supported on wasn't getting damaged. It seemed okay for the most part, but I was beginning to see some loss of sheen. This was the last thing I wanted, so as soon as the primer dried we dragged the door back to the front and hung it once and for all.

Though hanging the door felt absolutely great, we still had a lot to do. I followed the same steps with painting as I had on the other side. We wet sanded the primer with a 600 grit sandpaper, then thoroughly wiped the door down. Next up, after the saga of buying paint we described in last week's paint sheen post, we opened our can of Benjamin Moore high gloss alkyd paint and got to work.

The absolute key to painting a door while it hangs in place is to ensure very thin and even coats. If anything is too thick, the paint will pool and end up dripping on your fresh surface. Nobody likes drip marks. I followed the same pattern of painting on this side, first the panels, then inner vertical and cross pieces, then the sides.