Welcome!

The garage door constituted a lot of eyeball real estate in that replacing it made a big difference in the overall appearance of the house. The exterior of the house had the power to control exactly how I felt about myself. Without a nice yard and entry, I was without pride. Next up: the front door. The light that shone through the splits in that old door, shot directly into my soul and showcased my embarrassment.

Old threshold and trim. Yuck!	This is not inviting.

We researched Tudor entries and stained glass windows and fell in love with a reproduction door sold in the UK. We didn't want our door painted and weren't going to have it shipped over the ocean, which meant that we needed to get creative.

Inspiration.

When it comes to doors in Seattle, there's really only one major player in town and they are THE WORST. I won't name them here, but you can  do an Internet search for doors in Seattle and piece it together. Let me tell you, the staff is rude, they give poor advice, and are wholly unreliable. Nevertheless, we determined that with precise instruction, it would be fine. We took in a sample of our mahogany trim that we hoped to match along with a photo of our inspiration and detailed drawings of the proper arch of the window and molding profile for the drip cap and dentil shelf. We  ordered a mahogany door along with the molding pieces. When the door was ready, we discovered that the mahogany was an entirely different, much darker varietal that would never match our trim even with the right mixture of stain. Additionally, the drip cap and dentil shelf had the wrong profile. So much for detailed instructions overpowering ineptitude. A bit of nastiness later, and the door store agreed to re-do our door in fir so that we'd be able to stain it to our liking. At this juncture, they admitted that they could not create the drip cap and dentil shelf we wanted. I guess they thought we wouldn't notice before...think again, Frank.

Nick contacted several lumber milling companies and selected one that could do the drip cap and dentil shelf. Next, we visited a reputable stained glass company and began work on our design. With creative direction from Nick and the expertise of the designer at the store, we landed on a design that everyone was happy with.

Nick stained the door.	New hardware.

Nick and his trusty assistant (ahem!) installed the door. Upon ripping up the old door frame, we discovered that the only thing really holding it in place was the brick molding. Nick created proper blocking for the frame to anchor into and I primed and painted the new door frame and molding. Although the old door handle was actually pretty neat, it wasn't quite right for our new door, so we ordered a new brass handle that met our liking and Nick used a chemical treatment to give it a patina. My self esteem increases one point every day that I go in and out of this door! It took us months to get this just right and Nick worked hard on the design, staining and installation. What a guy!

Fini.