With a sledgehammer

Risa has sawn off the bottom of the door and is bringing out the grain with a little bit of stain.

One thing a new mudroom wants is its own door. For summer, a screen door, so that a fan can be run in the living room on nights after 90+ degree (F) days and pull air in through the mudroom, without inviting all the mosquitoes and moths in the area to come in. For winter, the door can be equipped with a panel to help prevent heat loss from the living room -- the entire mudroom becomes a dead air space of sorts. The room also provides extra insulation to the two main bedrooms in this way.

"Does this make my ... " Maybe she shouldn't ask!
She's leveling up the door with wooden wedges before installing hinges.

Risa would like to have found a door for this at the recyclers, but all they had was metal ones and the door frame is necessarily only 77 inches high. New wooden ones aren't cheap, though they are cheaply made.

She sawed the bottom end off the door, stained it, and set it in the doorway. Adjustments were necessary, and here the rough and robust nature of the framing carpentry was a bonus. All she had to do was beat on the door posts with a sledgehammer until the door fit!

A brace-and-bit works just as well as any battery powered drill and has far fewer environmental issues.

Level the door with wedges or blocks and install the hinges. Add doorpulls and a latch and spring and you're in business. For a final touch, Risa added a wall-mounted bottle opener next to the door for people on their way outside -- Fifties redux!

Daughter's dog Mojo, who's visiting, checks out the new view.