Cooter, Help! Zambo gets Betty too hot

[Gator By Marriage]

I’ll call this post: you coksucker motherfuker

Looks like a ton of rain this evening so I decided to do an indoor chore instead of applying more stain to the pergola. My daughter’s pocket door has been sticking and damn near impossible to open. So I decided to tackle that.

I love pocket doors and I have installed pocket doors so I know their internals. Based on the behavior of this one, I am thinking the back rollers have somehow come off the track. There is only one way to fix this and I have to cut a hole in the wall for access.

So I make a roughly 6inch by 12 inch hole by the door header where the rear roller should be. I find no issues. Hmmm, maybe the track is somehow bent. So I cut a hole the entire length of the track. Everything is sliding fine.

After opening and closing a few dozen times, I find the problem. The hanging door is not level which is causing some friction. Super easy fix as the rollers have a tiny nut to turn to adjust the height to level. Which I now have easy access to. Make some turns on the nut and it now slides in and out perfectly. I think to myself: I can make one last quarter turn and the door would go from almost perfectly level to perfectly level.

What I should know by now: going back in for a tiny adjustment is usually a bad idea.

I stink my little wrench up there, it slips out of my hand. It falls behind the drywall between the pocket door. Which is maybe a 1 inch gap. I can only stand there in disbelief as I hear it rattling down the inside of wall like the fuking plinko game.

There is about an 1/8 inch crack between the door and the jamb that I can sorta see in there. The wrench has wedged itself in some of the door framing about halfway to the floor. I am so screwed.

I have lots of magnets, maybe I can get it with one of those. Nope. My real fear now is I will knock it loose and it fall even farther. There is only one solution: cut a bigger hole into the wall so I can reach down there and grab it. Which I did. And recovered the wrench.

The problem is the extra hole turned the easy drywall fix into a nightmare drywall fix. But I’ll get it done one day.

At least the door is sliding perfectly now.

This one put me in a bad mood.

A couple of years ago I was at the in-laws house and my MIL asked me to look at a pocket door that was stuck open and wouldn't budge. As my FIL is fairly handy, I figured it was going to be something pretty serious.
I take a look at it and sure enough, it won't budge. Shining a flashlight through the gap between the door and the trim, I can't see anything wrong with the track and can't see any obstructions, but when I try to close it nothing. I don't know made me try this, but I eventually tried closing it by pulling on the actual door at the top a couple of inches from the track. This leads me to discover that whatever is holding the door back is at the bottom, not the top. Turns out my MIL had recently had new base boards put in in the room parallel to the door and the brilliant installers had used finishing nails which were long enough to go through the moulding and the pocket door frame into the actual door, basically nailing it open. Using a metal yard stick it was a simple thing to bend the nails and allow the door to slide as designed. Took much longer to figure out the problem than to fix it! As a bonus, my MIL, for a couple of minutes anyway, thought I was brilliant.

 

[GR8 2B]

As a bonus, my MIL, for a couple of minutes anyway, thought I was brilliant.

She already knew that - you married her daughter.

 

[soflagator]

This might be one of my favorite threads ever

I’ll tell you, I’m torn. On one hand, I absolutely love what you and crosscreekcooter have done and explained. On the other, I’m pretty mad at my own level of incompetence in these matters. Your last story pretty well sums up most of my home improvement ventures. As I’ve said elsewhere, that gene seems to have skipped a generation in my family.

On a positive note, and back to the original point of the thread, I removed some really ugly, but well entrenched, junipers in my front yard and did some of my best sod work to date. Was planning to do another tranche this weekend, but apparently anything harvested is like diamond laced heroin right now, so everyone is out. In the interim, I raised my canopy, cleaned a skylight and didn’t fall off the roof in either event.

But honestly, I love this thread. Whether or not I’m very good at it(previous home in Jupiter says I’m less than stellar), I’m always inspired by this stuff. Also, I’m thinking with 9 and 11 year olds, it’s probably acceptable to repaint much of my interior and possibly redo a downstairs(their)bath. So any thoughts or warnings would be appreciated.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

I’ll call this post: you coksucker motherfuker

Looks like a ton of rain this evening so I decided to do an indoor chore instead of applying more stain to the pergola. My daughter’s pocket door has been sticking and damn near impossible to open. So I decided to tackle that.

I love pocket doors and I have installed pocket doors so I know their internals. Based on the behavior of this one, I am thinking the back rollers have somehow come off the track. There is only one way to fix this and I have to cut a hole in the wall for access.

So I make a roughly 6inch by 12 inch hole by the door header where the rear roller should be. I find no issues. Hmmm, maybe the track is somehow bent. So I cut a hole the entire length of the track. Everything is sliding fine.

After opening and closing a few dozen times, I find the problem. The hanging door is not level which is causing some friction. Super easy fix as the rollers have a tiny nut to turn to adjust the height to level. Which I now have easy access to. Make some turns on the nut and it now slides in and out perfectly. I think to myself: I can make one last quarter turn and the door would go from almost perfectly level to perfectly level.

What I should know by now: going back in for a tiny adjustment is usually a bad idea.

I stink my little wrench up there, it slips out of my hand. It falls behind the drywall between the pocket door. Which is maybe a 1 inch gap. I can only stand there in disbelief as I hear it rattling down the inside of wall like the fuking plinko game.

There is about an 1/8 inch crack between the door and the jamb that I can sorta see in there. The wrench has wedged itself in some of the door framing about halfway to the floor. I am so screwed.

I have lots of magnets, maybe I can get it with one of those. Nope. My real fear now is I will knock it loose and it fall even farther. There is only one solution: cut a bigger hole into the wall so I can reach down there and grab it. Which I did. And recovered the wrench.

The problem is the extra hole turned the easy drywall fix into a nightmare drywall fix. But I’ll get it done one day.

At least the door is sliding perfectly now.

This one put me in a bad mood.

The guy that invented the pocket door should have one shoved up his ass. Have fun matching that orange peel finish and keeping that eggshell paint from flashing.

 

[Detroitgator]

The guy that invented the pocket door should have one shoved up his ass. Have fun matching that orange peel finish and keeping that eggshell paint from flashing.

What a day of sunshine you are!!! You went from "helpful Cooter." To "cv nt" just like that! ;)

 

[bradgator2]

The guy that invented the pocket door should have one shoved up his ass. Have fun matching that orange peel finish and keeping that eggshell paint from flashing.

I can... and have done it.

Within months of moving into our current house.... which we designed and custom built.... the wife asked for a pocket door to be installed at the entrance of a small hallway. I figured matching the eventual huge drywall repair would put a nail in this idea. As luck would have it, we were doing a small reno in an office at work and the drywall master was there. He said he could 100% match the future massive hole I was thinking about putting into the wall. So, I did it. And then watched him work his magic. Which was awe inspiring. Watching him armed me with some techniques that I have honed in over the years.

 

[URGatorBait]

which we designed and custom built..

of course you did.
Fckin rich people

 

[bradgator2]

of course you did.
Fckin rich people

we moved to Ocala in 2009. The market already crashed in Jax, but was just at the peak here. Everyone here had not yet come to grips that their homes were worth 50% of what they thought. So we looked at building.... which was not the original intent. But builders were begging us to use them and starting bidding against each other.... just to build my home. None had any work. Price of materials were cheap. It was a purely logistical decision because we could build our home for half of the price of a comparable home for sale (at that time).

 

[MJMGator]

You home improvement guys are complete dumbasses. Pay a local expert to perform these tasks. You’re supporting the local economy and giving yourself more free time for hookers and blow.

 

[bradgator2]

I’ve had more bad luck than good luck with the experts. Between not showing up, showing up late, not doing it correctly.... at some point you say screw it. Plus, I enjoy doing these things. Our good friends and neighbors had a pergola installed a few months ago that is almost half the size of mine. Between the kit and the experts.... theirs was a $6000 project. I’ll be all in under $750 with a ton of sweat.

I have made the decision with pretty much all car maintenance, except the super basic/easy stuff. It helps we know a great a mechanic.

I think the last “home” expert I paid for was a tree trimmer. 2 grand and he didnt half of what they said they were going to do. So the next time I did it myself. Of course... I dropped a tree on my old truck. But that’s besides the point.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

What a day of sunshine you are!!! You went from "helpful Cooter." To "cv nt" just like that! ;)

I'm not sure what has gotten into me. I am ashamed.
Actually @bradgator2 next time you need to either adjust or replace the rail trucks (and you will), you should't have to cut the drywall. It's much simpler and a lot less destructive to remove the door casing, stop, and one piece of applied jamb and simply lift the door off the track, make whatever adjustment needed to square the door in the frame and replace it. Before you start, check to see which direction the track is cupped to carry the wheels as you will want to remove the trim from this side. If you're careful and score all the joints with a razor knife and carefully encourage the removal of the trim with a putty knife, it can be put back in it's original position and caulked, puttied, (always use putty on nail holes, not caulk) and painted with almost no noticable indication that anyone was ever there. By the way, in the unlikely event the the trucks need replacement, most pocketdoor hardware today that is sold in the big box stores (not specialty hardware vendors) is made by the Stanley Company.

 

[bradgator2]

I'm not sure what has gotten into me. I am ashamed.
Actually @bradgator2 next time you need to either adjust or replace the rail trucks (and you will), you should't have to cut the drywall. It's much simpler and a lot less destructive to remove the door casing, stop, and one piece of applied jamb and simply lift the door off the track, make whatever adjustment needed to square the door in the frame and replace it. Before you start, check to see which direction the track is cupped to carry the wheels as you will want to remove the trim from this side. If you're careful and score all the joints with a razor knife and carefully encourage the removal of the trim with a putty knife, it can be put back in it's original position and caulked, puttied, (always use putty on nail holes, not caulk) and painted with almost no noticable indication that anyone was ever there. By the way, in the unlikely event the the trucks need replacement, most pocketdoor hardware today that is sold in the big box stores (not specialty hardware vendors) is made by the Stanley Company.

thank you sir. I thought about that and almost went that route. Based on my initial diagnosis, I thought it would be simpler and easier to go my way. It obviously backfired. Such is life.... you win some, you lose some.

 

[soflagator]

You home improvement guys are complete dumbasses. Pay a local expert to perform these tasks. You’re supporting the local economy and giving yourself more free time for hookers and blow.

Oh absolutely. Same logic here. Look, I can hang trusses in my sleep. Did once, in fact. But what kind of a selfish human being would I be if completely cut out the local contractors all because I’m great at these things?

No, I couldn’t live with myself.

Little known fact: I’m actually the guy that invented pocket doors. Don’t like to talk about it due to some online threats I’ve received as a result.

 

[bradgator2]

 

[bradgator2]

Today’s project was a fuking chicken coop. Sorry... no step by step pics. I just made it up as I went.

The other side has hinged openings to get in there. And I need to install some wheelbarrow wheels where that dolly is. And build a ramp for them to get up into their home.

 

[URGatorBait]

I’ve had more bad luck than good luck with the experts. Between not showing up, showing up late, not doing it correctly.... at some point you say screw it. Plus, I enjoy doing these things. Our good friends and neighbors had a pergola installed a few months ago that is almost half the size of mine. Between the kit and the experts.... theirs was a $6000 project. I’ll be all in under $750 with a ton of sweat.

I have made the decision with pretty much all car maintenance, except the super basic/easy stuff. It helps we know a great a mechanic.

I think the last “home” expert I paid for was a tree trimmer. 2 grand and he didnt half of what they said they were going to do. So the next time I did it myself. Of course... I dropped a tree on my old truck. But that’s besides the point.

And then fixed it......yourself. More money you took out of the local economy

 

[AugustaGator]

Today’s project was a fuking chicken coop. Sorry... no step by step pics. I just made it up as I went.

The other side has hinged openings to get in there. And I need to install some wheelbarrow wheels where that dolly is. And build a ramp for them to get up into their home.

Don’t you need chickens?

 

[bradgator2]

Don’t you need chickens?

Our first attempt at raising some. It’s been a fun project for the kids with their extra time:

 

[AugustaGator]

Our first attempt at raising some. It’s been a fun project for the kids with their extra time:

You’ll have to give updates how well this goes. The next stage will be messy I hear. Eventually you’ll get them outside.

 

[bradgator2]

You’ll have to give updates how well this goes. The next stage will be messy I hear. Eventually you’ll get them outside.

Well, several neighbors have them. So I picked their brains to learn all their mistakes and regrets. That coop should solve most, if not all, of their problems.

Specifically regard the mess, that’s why I built my coop mobile. Well, as soon as the wheelbarrow wheels go on. Every few days, simply lift the handles and move a few feet to a fresh patch of grass. I have several acres of grass this can moved around in.

Raccoons, foxes, hawks, squirrels are some of the others issues this should solve. I’ve already had two neighbors stop by as they were walking the neighborhood last night and asked me to build them one