The Alpen guys came over on Friday and installed a new door panel in the front door. This is a better deal for me than trying to have them paint the old one on site. The old door had a rough finish in places, as if the door was not cleaned all the way when it was painted. We even thought the old one was warped a bit, but I’m not sure whether the door was actually warped or whether it appeared warped in the first install. Alpen has been good about fixing all issues, even if some of them may have been caused by the installers.
Removing the glass from the old door
They used the same pane of glass that was in the first door. All it took was removing the screw plugs and then the frame from the glass around the insert. Then they inserted the glass into the new frame and replaced the screws and screw covers. Finally they dabbed paint over the screw covers so they match the trim. They also removed and installed the lockset in the new door.
Painting the screw covers
Riley told me that dabbing the paint on actually works better than brushing it. The paint has small bubbles in the finish and dabbing it replicates these bubbles. Even if a blob forms it is better to dab it as the blob will fall and will blend in better than a brush stroke.
They left me the rest of the touch up bottle. There are a couple of little places that I will touch up with it after the painters come and redo the brick mold paint that is peeling. And I’ll have an extra bottle–one came with the original doors, for if we scratch one or otherwise damage the finish later.
Riley also had some extra pieces of weather stripping to install on the french doors where the old ones had been cut too short so that there was a gap at the bottom where the doors meet. I was upset that I could see light through that gap–if I can see light then the holes were big enough to let in several cubic feet of cold air in winter, not to mention bugs and even mice! He left the gasket a bit long so I can trim it if it is too long, but it will cover the bottom opening better. I can see a pinprick of light though and think I might dab a bit of caulk in the bottom of the gasket to seal that up.
Next time they come, he said he would bring new strike plates to replace those that are scratched by the lock screw that is not set deeply enough and they will bring a countersink for the metal piece on the edge of the door to bore the hole a little so that screw will be flush with the door. Once the doors are painted, we will buy and install the siding, hopefully before the snow flies.