Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Pear shaped...

Yes, it's all gone pear shaped.

The marvellous door I've been slaving over for the pantry is looking like this...


That is quite a big gap. On facebook I've received sympathy, ideas to remedy the situation and heard that someone was reduced to tears of laughter.

The problem I think, is that I didn't measure anything. I used the old door, ripped off the front and back and clad over the frame. I never noticed the old door being this much smaller than the frame so perhaps I got a bit over zealous with the sander. Who knows...

It gets worse. The door is also warped. I think I should have laid it flat after I made it but I stood it up against a wall. Space saving...

Another problem I have is that the kitchen drain seems to have become strangely blocked with wallpaper paste. Much internet searching hasn't offered up much advice. Other than ''Don't pour your wallpaper paste down a drain.''

Bit late for that.

I was going to show you my cool secondhand finds. I'm not now. I'm tackling this door and I hope to make it work. I got rather disheartened yesterday when I realised the door was warped on top of everything else but today I feel more positive. Warped and ill fitting doors sound like they belong in a delightful English cottage don't they? Why yes they do! And who wants perfect factory jobby doors anyway? Not me. I shall call them rustic.


I'll leave you with a blast from the past. Sometimes I feel a bit like this...



Remember NOT to dispose of wallpaper paste down the drain guys. I'm off to pour some fluid down there that dissolves flesh on contact. I had to sign a document before they let me have it. What could possibly go wrong?



24 comments:

  1. Yay, rustic is the way to go for sure. Whatever the result it'll be better than Reg's efforts.
    I need to see your cool secondhand finds please.

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  2. Oh Fiona, I don't think I've got the strength to take pretty pictures!

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  3. Wonky doors and blocked drains, welcome to my world and the joys of living in a 250 year old house! I'm sure with your talents that you'll fix it in the end.
    Now, c'mon, show us your secondhand finds. xxx

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  4. Rustic and warped is definitely more authentically country-cottage-like than straight. Who wants straight?!

    Can you hang the door flush at the top and have the gap at the bottom? I reckon that would be much less noticeable, and could even look like it was done on purpose. Or add a trim of some kind to the bottom- either wood or fabric of some kind. Like a door skirt. xxx

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  5. Oh no! I wish I had some wise words of advice ... I once blocked my kitchen sink with coco pops, they backed up and started coming up through the shower drain when I was taking a shower! I chucked a load of caustic soda down it and prayed it wouldn't blow the back of the house off (it didn't). There probably are lots of things you could do to fix the door ... I'm SURE there are ... I just can't think of any right now, sorry ...

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    1. Haha! I once lived in a flat where we had food waste coming out of the shower plug hole! Something got badly blocked. I think it might have been a banana peel I put in the waste disposal.
      Some people never learn. xxx

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  6. Blimey! You must've been going a bit to sand off that much!!!
    Nah, really...rustic, a gingham door skirt...new door, it'll be lovely!!
    Sorry, not really being cruel! Says the girl who cut her wallpaper upside down!
    Wood ('scuse the pun) a wooden trim maybe help with the warping?
    Oh yes, pictures please of your new, old, finds.
    Zxx

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    1. I did think about a wooden trim to elongated the door... so many possibilities. That's the beauty of stuff ups. xxx

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  7. OH NO Em....no not the door.....not showing your finds this week (loved the vid, I had almost forgotten about Reg) xxxxxx

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  8. I thing a slightly warped door is just what you need in an older home! I sincerely hope you can make it work after you put all that time into it, Emma! And I shouldn't laugh, but I'm picturing some bad things happening with that clogged drain of yours. I used to pour premixed drywall compound down the drain until I found out that was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Best of luck with it all, but I'm sure you'll have that door looking spiffy in no time at all. :o)

    Vickie

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    1. Do you know Vickie, that's just what I found. A whole load of polyfilla down there! (I think similar to your stuff.) Who could have done such a thing?!

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  9. Don't get too despondent ... every great artist/creator gets it wrong sometimes!
    Doesn't a pantry need a gap for ventilation??!!
    In our 220 year old house I don't think we have a single door that doesn't have a gap or warp.
    My hubby would flip if I put wallpaper paste down the drain ... he doesn't even like it when I rinse gravy off a plate in the sink!!
    Have a lovely weekend. M x

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    1. Yes, I now understand your husband with his irritation and I've installed a little crumb catcher in the plughole. What I had to do to clear the drain made me retch... x

      Glad to hear about the doors. I'll pretend mine are 220 years old. :)

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  10. Bugger! Hope you can get the door sorted. I swear there's not a single straight surface in our house, so we live with plenty or warp and wonk. xxx

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  11. I'm the drain unscrewer and cleaner in this house , so I tend to chuck some boiling water down the kitchen sink at least once a day, and a mixture with washing soda down wash basins & shower trays. What I really really hate is the outside gutter drain which stops 3" above the hole in the ground. It fills with mushy leaves and slugs until the gutter won't drain until I stick my hand up it and pull yuk out. I have a hole in the grass by a wall ( which I suspected of being a rat tunnel) that I pour sludgy paste, paint dregs etc in to. It's worth the walk to think I'm discouraging them.

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    1. Eew, could you make a chicken wire cover to keep the leaves out? It's such a gross job. xx

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  12. I once poured homemade glue down the drain at work... A jugful of it. Not my finest moment! x

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  13. Rustic is the way to go - keep going with your house.

    Lizzie's Daily Blog

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