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Category: Doors & Windows

Easy, Breezy Tips on Replacing a Patio Door Screen

DOORS | HOW TO | INSTALLATION
AllAboutScreenDoors-torn screen-sliding-patio-doors

Photo courtesy: All About Screen Doors

I don’t mind the squirrels taking their turn at the bird feeder, but our dog seems to have developed a personal vendetta against the creatures. She’s so vehemently opposed to squirrels that she managed to rip right through the mesh screen on the patio door, leaving a large gaping hole in the bottom third.

Not only was this hole unsightly, but the warmer weather means that mosquitoes, flies, and gnats are active. Replacing the screen quickly moved to the top of the priority list.

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The Right Time and Place for Pocket Doors

DOORS | DESIGN | HOW TO
A&A Millwork Pocket Doors

Photo courtesy: A&A Millwork

One of the reasons we chose the house plan we built was because there was a “flex” room off the breakfast nook. We thought it was the perfect location for a playroom during these early years with our kids. For one thing, it’s close to the kitchen, where I spend a good portion of the day. In the future, it will make the perfect guest room or study.

The original house plan called for traditional French doors in this space. But since we plan to use this breakfast nook for all our eating and entertaining (we’re just not formal dining room people), we felt the French doors, which opened out, would really get in the way and impede our use of the space. So instead we decided to have pocket doors installed.

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Tubular Skylights

WINDOWS | SKYLIGHTS | DESIGN
Tubular Skylights

VELUX SUN TUNNEL tubular skylight

It’s amazing that with the growing focus on solar power, tubular skylights are relatively unknown, especially among DIYers.

These dead-simple devices direct natural light through a reflective tube to provide a diffused natural glow in a room. In a development that lashes Thomas Edison’s vengeful ashes into a fury, people are enjoying free light in their homes and businesses. Also amazing is just how much light these skylights transmit. Cloudy days or even starry nights are much brighter than most people realize, until they stand in a room with a tubular skylight.

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The Hidden Costs of Windows

WINDOWS | DESIGN
Windows in New Construction

Photo: JNoonan

One benefit of moving to suburbia from New York City and building a new home was getting to customize our space. At the top of our must-haves list for the house was what we’d had too few of in our old apartment—windows. You have to understand, city life can be dark. In many midtown apartments, you’re lucky to have more than three or four windows, and even luckier if they don’t face an air shaft. So when we were choosing options for the house, we chose light, light, light!

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French Doors Everywhere

DOORS | DESIGN
French Doors

Andersen Frenchwood® Patio Doors

French doors have been around for centuries. Since the 17th century to be exact. The beauty of their design was certainly the divided light glass panels that provided maximum daylight to interior rooms—something that would forever become their trademark. But being essentially long narrow windows paired together and hinged on opposite sides, the design also afforded another remarkable feature—no center support. As such, the windows (doors) could be opened out (or in) to provide full-width access to an exterior balcony or patio. A beautiful thing indeed.

French doors have evolved considerably over the years, not only in terms of the materials from which they are manufactured—wood, fiberglass, vinyl, aluminum—but in the energy efficiency of the glazing and construction standards.  They are popular as both interior and exterior doors, can be outfitted with full length glass panels or any number of divided light configurations, and come in a wide range of makes and models to suit any house style (like the Andersen Frenchwood® Patio Doors shown above).

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How To: Install Door Hardware

HOW TO | INSTALLATION | DOORS | HARDWARE
How to Install Door Hardware

Photo: Kit Stansley

As a person who has recently upgraded from living in a garage to living in a half-constructed house, the novelty of having multiple doors to open and close on a whim cannot be overstated. Over the last several weeks, I’ve gotten used to the convenience of hooking a finger through the empty hole to swing the door open and closed. On the plus side, there’s no knob to turn or lever to push, and you can always see when the bathroom is occupied by peering through the open hole. (Listen, when you spend a year living in 400 square feet with another human being and a cat, privacy becomes a moot point.)

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How To: Replace a Door Closer

HOW TO | REPAIR | DOORS
How to Replace a Door Closer

Photo: LABworks360

The door closer on my front porch—that mechanical cylindrical device that keeps the door from flying open too far and then automatically closes it afterwards—had seen better days.

With numerous furniture and building material deliveries over the years, the “hold-open” washer had begun failing to do its job. And the door itself had become so misaligned that it remained slightly ajar even when closed. The solution? Replacing the door closer.

Changing a door closer couldn’t be an easier DIY project, particularly if you install one that duplicates the style and size of the one you are replacing.

I brought the old door closer to my local ACE Hardware to make certain that the one I purchased was, if not exactly the same, as close as could be to the original. I hoped by doing so I would find one that could be re-installed using the same screw holes. The one I settled on was a Post-Glide Door Closure from National Hardware ($13.49 + tax).

Here’s all you need to do:

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Shopping for Energy-Efficient Windows

WINDOWS | DESIGN | ENERGY
Shopping for Energy-Efficient Windows

Photo: Gretchen Grant

Is your blood pressure rising on the same schedule as your month-to-month heating and cooling bills? Relax—you can stop that cost-climb by choosing the right replacement windows. Yes, there’s a lot to learn and a lot to decide before you can choose the right energy-smart option for your home, but we’ve pulled together essential information you need in the 5 homeowner-friendly links after the jump.

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