Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

tjc78

@stickguy
All the trim will have to be removed. They will remove the current jambs and replace with the pre-hung doors, then reinstall the trim. Easiest way.

Biggest issue you will have is the size of the opening. I believe most standard French doors are 5’ or 6’ wide (2, 30” doors or 2 36”)

tjc78

Probably need about a 62” or 74” opening for something off the shelf

If you current opening measures a little less, remember you’ll pick up 1.5” when those jambs are removed.

28firefighter

We did this in our house and it ended up way more expensive than I’d planned because it was a nonstandard opening. I’ll try to find some photos. That said it was well well worth it.

kyfdx

Maybe, after the new kitchen cabinets, countertops, a few appliances. Extending the hardwood into the great room. Refinishing the rest of it. New rugs, new fixtures, faucets, mirror and lighting for the powder room. Painting an area with 1200 sq feet. Painting the oak mantel and stair balusters, newel posts to match the trim. Running a new 40 amp circuit to the kitchen through a finished basement from the other side of the house....

Then, I'll think about french doors for the dining room (converted to an office).

stickguy

I figured the trim has to come off unless I had some kind of odd custom doors built. they did that when we had our front door replaced at the old house.

I confirmed the measurements should work. This house is only 3 YO and I am pretty sure they designed that opening to accommodate French doors as an option, otherwise they just cased the opening. that HD door was listed as 81.75 x 61.5. The finished opening with casing as is, measures 60x81. So should be just about perfect fit.

jmonroe1

@stickguy said:
I figured the trim has to come off unless I had some kind of odd custom doors built. they did that when we had our front door replaced at the old house.

I confirmed the measurements should work. This house is only 3 YO and I am pretty sure they designed that opening to accommodate French doors as an option, otherwise they just cased the opening. that HD door was listed as 81.75 x 61.5. The finished opening with casing as is, measures 60x81. So should be just about perfect fit.

————————————————
It’s good that you checked the rough opening dimensions. My experience is that all of the manufacturers recommend rough openings that are much more (by at least 3/4 of an inch) than what is necessary. I can only assume they are over compensating for framing that is ridiculously out of plumb and square.

First off I would check the side jam casings to see if they are plumb. They are probably pretty good but I’m sure they used shims to do this. Just like you’ll need for installing the door. I would use a 6 ft. level to do this but being very careful you could use a 2 foot level (placed at the top then at the bottom) to check for plumb).

Given what you find I’m pretty sure you’ll only have to remove 1 side casing. And you DO NOT (I repeat DO NOT) remove the doors. Of course this makes the assembly VERY heavy. There is a plastic plug installed where the doors meet each other at the latch point and this is what keeps the unit from racking. That’s why you DON’T take the doors off.

I suggest you watch a few videos of how to install prehung doors especially double hung French doors.

If you plan on having Mrs. @stickguy help you, get her on a Wheaties regimen right now.

Good luck.

jmonroe

ab348

stickguy said:

explorerx4 said:

@stickguy,
Here's a double opening door example with several pictures.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/MMI-Door-60-in-x-80-in-Both-Active-Primed-Composite-Glass-15-Lite-Clear-True-Divided-Prehung-Interior-French-Door-Z009321BA/206622092

thanks. pretty much what I figured. I need to stop at the supply house nearby (a nice lumberyard and home center, not HD) and talk to someone there. I am not sure if it would work with the finished opening we have or if that needs to come out and get redone. I would prefer to keep it and install inside but I need to find the depth dimensions on the frame.

one thing I do know from experience. any time I think something should be simple, it isn't.

Well, your would need to remove all the trim to make it back into a rough opening first. Then you would be able to determine the size of the R. O. and get something that fits properly.

qbrozen

meh... just knock out the old with a sledge, push the new one in, and fill the gap with liquid nails. Done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX3kxAA2L4Q

jmonroe1

@qbrozen said:
meh... just knock out the old with a sledge, push the new one in, and fill the gap with liquid nails. Done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX3kxAA2L4Q

————————————————
That reminds me of when we had a guy install windows on our first flip house. I complemented him on the installation. He thanked me and said, “maybe I shouldn’t say this but in the contracting biz our saying is…do your best and caulk the rest”.

I’ve seen a few flip houses where that kind of workmanship is practiced to the max.

jmonroe

stickguy

You can take out the inside trim and one side of face trim then slide it in up against the other face in theory. I think that is what he means.

Mrs sticks only involvement will be getting the checkbook to pay the pros that install it. I will supervise.

We had our massive front door replaced (door and 2 sidelights) and it was impressive how fast they had the old one out.

explorerx4

Our first house had no door in the back of the house at the ground level.
I bought a sliding door and made the opening with a chainsaw to install it.

jmonroe1

@stickguy said:
You can take out the inside trim and one side of face trim then slide it in up against the other face in theory. I think that is what he means.

Mrs sticks only involvement will be getting the checkbook to pay the pros that install it. I will supervise.

We had our massive front door replaced (door and 2 sidelights) and it was impressive how fast they had the old one out.

————————————————
Your “theory” makes you sound like a typical flipper. Both side casings have to be removed because shims MUST be installed from BOTH sides so they form parallel surfaces to each other (one side at the side jam rough opening and the other against the outside of the pre-hung door jam) and not tapered which would result when installing a single shim from one side.

As for demo work, that’s always faster than a good install.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

That isn’t new. It’s happened for a long time.

But everyone is claiming that used prices are falling off a cliff. Why doesn’t someone tell the dealers?

oldfarmer50

Well, today I getting our bathroom redone (tub to walk-in shower) and of course everything else goes sideways at the same time.

The other night I was on the side of the house and I noticed water coming out of the outside vent. I get the plumber in and he recommends a power flush of the kitchen drains. He also says the water level in the septic tank is too high. He routed out an internal baffle pipe and the water level dropped to normal. The kitchen drain still didn’t flow though.

On a hunch while waiting for the tank pumper I dug out my old fashion snake and ran it through the inlet pipe from the house and now it seems to be draining properly. I’ll test the drain and dishwasher over the next few days and see if it’s fixed.

Meanwhile the crew is finishing up on the bathroom and should be done in one day.

I realize I’m getting too old for this drama. Maybe I’ll start living in a tent. 😜



Done!

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

That isn’t new. It’s happened for a long time.

But everyone is claiming that used prices are falling off a cliff. Why doesn’t someone tell the dealers?

that is up to the buyers. by letting stuff sit on the lot.

sda

I just checked the value of my Passat. It is not known to hold resale value anything like a Honda yet it is valued less than $2k from what I paid in 10/20. I recently doubled the mileage from when I got it, 18.5 k mi to 37k.

stickguy

I can't wait to get my new Mav, so I can run it through carmax and carvana!

jmonroe1

@oldfarmer50 said:
Well, today I getting our bathroom redone (tub to walk-in shower) and of course everything else goes sideways at the same time.

The other night I was on the side of the house and I noticed water coming out of the outside vent. I get the plumber in and he recommends a power flush of the kitchen drains. He also says the water level in the septic tank is too high. He routed out an internal baffle pipe and the water level dropped to normal. The kitchen drain still didn’t flow though.

On a hunch while waiting for the tank pumper I dug out my old fashion snake and ran it through the inlet pipe from the house and now it seems to be draining properly. I’ll test the drain and dishwasher over the next few days and see if it’s fixed.

Meanwhile the crew is finishing up on the bathroom and should be done in one day.

I realize I’m getting too old for this drama. Maybe I’ll start living in a tent. 😜

Done!

————————————————
Geeze, I couldn’t open up a box of screws that fast.

Good luck and enjoy it.

jmonroe

stickguy

love my battery powered trimmer. unlike the mower saga, I took it out, respooled the line, popped the battery on, pushed the button and off we go. No drama, no gas issues.

the edger took longer because that is a plug in electric and the 100' electric cord was tangled, so I had to unravel that. but once plugged in, worked like always!

the gas mower worked today but it still does not work perfectly. probably should have pulled the tank off and tried to flush that out too... but I didn't.

just going to get a can of cleaner to spray in and see how long it will run, then either park it or tear it apart again! I saved the old carb and some day will take it apart to clean it. Will just keep swapping them back and forth.

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

the edger took longer because that is a plug in electric and the 100' electric cord was tangled, so I had to unravel that. but once plugged in, worked like always!
———————————————
I have a simple fix for long tangled extension cords:

Get a good cardboard box (like the kind used to hold 10 reams of copy paper or equivalent). Once the cord has been walked out to remove the tangles leave about 6 feet of the male end hung over the side of the box in a slot cut in the box. Then just keep pulling the cord until all of it is in the box. Once that’s done, cut a slot on the other side of the box and put the female end of the cord in it. Doing this allows you to find both ends of the cord easily and you don’t have to be all that careful about how you put the cord in the box.

I say 6 feet on the male end because this should allow it to reach a wall outlet mounted on the garage wall that is usually more than 18 inches from the floor.

This has always worked for me and it saves a lot of time rather than rolling up the cord on one of those cord spool thingies.

jmonroe

andres3

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

That isn’t new. It’s happened for a long time.

But everyone is claiming that used prices are falling off a cliff. Why doesn’t someone tell the dealers?

that is up to the buyers. by letting stuff sit on the lot.

There are many examples of that happening (cars sitting on lots for eons), but, inevitably, most of the time, they are able to eventually find a sucker before the car earns a birthday. Too many suckers out there ruining it for us bargain shoppers.

jmonroe1

andres3 said:

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

That isn’t new. It’s happened for a long time.

But everyone is claiming that used prices are falling off a cliff. Why doesn’t someone tell the dealers?

that is up to the buyers. by letting stuff sit on the lot.

There are many examples of that happening (cars sitting on lots for eons), but, inevitably, most of the time, they are able to eventually find a sucker before the car earns a birthday. Too many suckers out there ruining it for us bargain shoppers.

————————————————
And if the old story about one being born every minute is true, your guess as to how long this will last is as good as any of your poster buddies in here.

jmonroe

stickguy

free market economy. goods are worth what someone is willing to pay for them.

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
But everyone is claiming that used prices are falling off a cliff. Why doesn’t someone tell the dealers?

The dealers are NUTS. I can show you endless examples of them having reserve or asking prices AT AUCTION for many many thousands above what even the auction house says it is worth RETAIL.

Most atrocious one I spotted yet: dealer in NJ has a Top Banana 2007 Charger Daytona. Very low miles, but they want $35k!!! I am tempted to run my Daytona over there and offer it for the “insanely low price” of $20k cash.

stickguy

I assume they are no sales?

I follow flying wheels on Youtube (sometimes hard to watch but has good info) and he was giving real results about prices at the auctions he goes to, when bids started falling and dealers were still holding to big reserves and no sales shot up. and the same units kept coming back week after week.

andres3

stickguy said:

free market economy. goods are worth what someone is willing to pay for them.

Assuming their were no bailouts, funny money, fake money, and laundered illegal money. Those kinds of things tamper the "free market." Inflation is making money worthless.

tjc78

So I got a good one for you all…

We have a trade show exhibit that we are doing in Las Vegas next week. My guys will set and take down the booth and I’ll work the show floor with a bunch of others. When we met about the show, I said I’d grab a car since I’ll be in first and leaving last. We have 10 of us, so I grabbed a minivan thinking that if some one got a normal car we would be set. The minivan was a great price versus a large SUV (half price)

Get a Teams message the other day from the boss….

“are you really renting a mini van for Vegas?… you need to change that to an SUV please”

So I looked and it was only 200 more for 8 days and it isn’t my money, but wow those vans really do have a stigma. Booked a Tahoe or equivalent.

Can’t make this stuff up.

abacomike

andres3 said:

stickguy said:

free market economy. goods are worth what someone is willing to pay for them.

Assuming their were no bailouts, funny money, fake money, and laundered illegal money. Those kinds of things tamper the "free market." Inflation is making money worthless.

You must have something in mind that has more value than “money” to pay your bills and living expenses with! Share that with us so we can all benefit from your plan, won’t you? 🤪😜

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

Well, today I getting our bathroom redone (tub to walk-in shower) and of course everything else goes sideways at the same time.

The other night I was on the side of the house and I noticed water coming out of the outside vent. I get the plumber in and he recommends a power flush of the kitchen drains. He also says the water level in the septic tank is too high. He routed out an internal baffle pipe and the water level dropped to normal. The kitchen drain still didn’t flow though.

On a hunch while waiting for the tank pumper I dug out my old fashion snake and ran it through the inlet pipe from the house and now it seems to be draining properly. I’ll test the drain and dishwasher over the next few days and see if it’s fixed.

Meanwhile the crew is finishing up on the bathroom and should be done in one day.

I realize I’m getting too old for this drama. Maybe I’ll start living in a tent. 😜

Done!

————————————————

Geeze, I couldn’t open up a box of screws that fast.

Good luck and enjoy it.

jmonroe

Actually they finished 3 hours ahead of schedule.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

That isn’t new. It’s happened for a long time.

But everyone is claiming that used prices are falling off a cliff. Why doesn’t someone tell the dealers?

that is up to the buyers. by letting stuff sit on the lot.

There are many examples of that happening (cars sitting on lots for eons), but, inevitably, most of the time, they are able to eventually find a sucker before the car earns a birthday. Too many suckers out there ruining it for us bargain shoppers.

I just don’t understand the logic. I assume there are floor plan costs to letting a car sit for months. Why not start gradually reducing the price until it reaches the point where there are buyers? The alternative is to sit on a depreciating asset with recurring cost that will reduce your profit even further and then take a big hit sending it to auction.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

So I got a good one for you all…

We have a trade show exhibit that we are doing in Las Vegas next week. My guys will set and take down the booth and I’ll work the show floor with a bunch of others. When we met about the show, I said I’d grab a car since I’ll be in first and leaving last. We have 10 of us, so I grabbed a minivan thinking that if some one got a normal car we would be set. The minivan was a great price versus a large SUV (half price)

Get a Teams message the other day from the boss….

“are you really renting a mini van for Vegas?… you need to change that to an SUV please”

So I looked and it was only 200 more for 8 days and it isn’t my money, but wow those vans really do have a stigma. Booked a Tahoe or equivalent.

Can’t make this stuff up.

Snobs.😄

28firefighter

@tjc78 said:
So I got a good one for you all…

We have a trade show exhibit that we are doing in Las Vegas next week. My guys will set and take down the booth and I’ll work the show floor with a bunch of others. When we met about the show, I said I’d grab a car since I’ll be in first and leaving last. We have 10 of us, so I grabbed a minivan thinking that if some one got a normal car we would be set. The minivan was a great price versus a large SUV (half price)

Get a Teams message the other day from the boss….

“are you really renting a mini van for Vegas?… you need to change that to an SUV please”

So I looked and it was only 200 more for 8 days and it isn’t my money, but wow those vans really do have a stigma. Booked a Tahoe or equivalent.

Can’t make this stuff up.

That’s absurd. Also is his time really best served ensuring you rented a car?

stickguy

Got cheap yesterday and removed a rock wall myself instead of paying the landscaper. 6 carts later of rocks to the back yard pile I was regretting it. It got it done.

They came today to put in a new concrete edge row in front of the beds around the porch. Looks way better and unlike the loose stack rocks grass won’t grow between them. New mulch too. Looks much better.

ab348

Only downside is that now you have a bigger pile of rocks in the back yard which herself will likely harangue you to dispose of sooner or later.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

I assume they are no sales?

I assume so. I'm still new to Maheim, but I see the same cars running through time and again on ACV Auctions.

I don't know why dealers are being stubborn. It is like they keep asking for a card when their hand already busted 21. You just gotta take the loss now cause it ain't gonna get better.

driver100

I was parked next to a Porsche Panamara Tourismo today, man that is one beautiful car;

venture

This has been parked in the driveway of a neighbor a street over from me. I saw it in front of me this morning and caught up when he was turning.

jmonroe1

venture said:

This has been parked in the driveway of a neighbor a street over from me. I saw it in front of me this morning and caught up when he was turning.

————————————————
Looks like a Genny with a puny badge.

jmonroe

tjc78

@28firefighter said:

@tjc78 said:
So I got a good one for you all…

We have a trade show exhibit that we are doing in Las Vegas next week. My guys will set and take down the booth and I’ll work the show floor with a bunch of others. When we met about the show, I said I’d grab a car since I’ll be in first and leaving last. We have 10 of us, so I grabbed a minivan thinking that if some one got a normal car we would be set. The minivan was a great price versus a large SUV (half price)

Get a Teams message the other day from the boss….

“are you really renting a mini van for Vegas?… you need to change that to an SUV please”

So I looked and it was only 200 more for 8 days and it isn’t my money, but wow those vans really do have a stigma. Booked a Tahoe or equivalent.

Can’t make this stuff up.

That’s absurd. Also is his time really best served ensuring you rented a car?

Totally out of character for him too. I just had to laugh….

houdini1

kyfdx said:

EVs are coming. The government supports it (financially), and the car companies have bought in. All you have to do is see the posts in Lease Questions discussions to gauge interest.

Oh, by the way, the internet and mobile phones are also popular.

In other news, used Buick LeSabres are popular with the over-70 demographic.

I wonder if they count hybrids as EVs?

stickguy

ab348 said:

Only downside is that now you have a bigger pile of rocks in the back yard which herself will likely harangue you to dispose of sooner or later.

We back to woods and I already have a little gravel patch next to the shed with a (I think) fire pit, made out of more rocks. Though too close to the trees (and the shed) to use. so maybe it had a different purpose. But there is another stone wall along the back property line (in front of the woods) so I dumped the extra rocks at the end of that.

the prior owners really liked collecting rocks. Including some pretty big ones. Lots of construction going on so there is an unlimited supply or rocks/stones/small boulders of every size to collect. If I never figure out a use for them, eventually the woods will reclaim them.

explorerx4

Those large rocks are prized as landscaping features.
My next door neighbor said he had 3 discovered on his lot when building the house.
One of them got stolen!
BTW, instant backyard today.

sda

jmonroe1 said:

venture said:

This has been parked in the driveway of a neighbor a street over from me. I saw it in front of me this morning and caught up when he was turning.

————————————————
Looks like a Genny with a puny badge.

jmonroe

The shape of the tailights remind me of a 62 Olds. But Olds had two or three on each side depending on model, 88s 2, 98 and. Starfire 3.

venture

explorerx4 said:

Those large rocks are prized as landscaping features.
My next door neighbor said he had 3 discovered on his lot when building the house.
One of them got stolen!
BTW, instant backyard today.

We used to call it gooney-scaping when they used big rocks/boulders.

ab348

sda said:

The shape of the tailights remind me of a 62 Olds. But Olds had two or three on each side depending on model, 88s 2, 98 and. Starfire 3.

All current-day Bentleys share some variation of that same taillight design. I think it is the weakest part of their design. Very underwhelming.

stickguy

another day of manual labor. my large pile of bags of dirt is now gone from the driveway. 20 ended up in the 2 raised planter boxes. the other 6 stacked next to the shed for future use (the wife wants a smaller box to put on the deck to use for her herbs). No more heavy lifting planned for the next few days at least!

also got our front landscape beds spruced up. Had a landscaper but in some nice concrete running blocks to replace the rocks I pulled out yesterday. Came out even better than we hoped. vast improvement, and at least I did not have to do all that digging!

driver100

The interior is not too shabby either:

ab348 said:

sda said:

The shape of the tailights remind me of a 62 Olds. But Olds had two or three on each side depending on model, 88s 2, 98 and. Starfire 3.

All current-day Bentleys share some variation of that same taillight design. I think it is the weakest part of their design. Very underwhelming.

True, but the car has a presence. When you see one, you know it is an expensive car;

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

who can drive 1200 miles with only 1 5 minute stop? most people that is at least 2 days with a stay over at a motel. Plus a couple of meal stops per day. So plenty of other downtime to coordinate with charging.

and you can go past 80% if you want to. it just takes longer for the last % because the charging rate slows down.

In my younger wilder days I would do drives like that.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

another day of manual labor. my large pile of bags of dirt is now gone from the driveway. 20 ended up in the 2 raised planter boxes. the other 6 stacked next to the shed for future use (the wife wants a smaller box to put on the deck to use for her herbs). No more heavy lifting planned for the next few days at least!

also got our front landscape beds spruced up. Had a landscaper but in some nice concrete running blocks to replace the rocks I pulled out yesterday. Came out even better than we hoped. vast improvement, and at least I did not have to do all that digging!

We're going to need pictures

stickguy