In Which a Much Delayed Repair is Finally Effected

The Attic Door Threshold

Way back when we were still working on the upstairs floor, I took off a cheap and flimsy aluminum threshold piece to strip the old shellac. It revealed some bad water damage and a gap between the hardwood and outer wall. We just shellacked over the damage and I've been ignoring the gap and general ugliness since. Given a choice, I would probably never bother replacing the old door sill (despite it being on my todo list since last April) but the wife finally put her foot down, so I guess it's getting done. It's not like it's a ton of work either, I am just lazy and don't care enough about the mostly cosmetic problem to start the project unless I get a kick in the pants.

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Luckily, like I said, it's an easy problem to fix. It is a very deep wall cavity, so the old sill was actually made from two pieces and it still didn't cover the entire flashed area. I cut the old wood out and bought a new oak door sill from Lowes. I cut one of the bevels off and sized and notched it to fit. I had to undercut the doorstop bead so the sill would clear, but it wasn't particularly difficult.

I dug around the pile of wood I saved from demolition and found a piece from the shelves in the basement my friend helped me rip out last April. Since it will be sitting on the angled part of the undersill, I cut a bevel on one face so it will sit flush. I should have cut a steeper bevel, but whatever, it'll be hidden behind a door that none will ever really open.

 

Luckily, the paint on salvaged wood is a pretty good match and the width matches the framing. it's almost like I did it on purpose (but I didn't).

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After waiting for 2 coats of the 2lb/cut shellac from last April to dry (I'm finally almost out) I attached the oak threshold to the under sill and flashing using trim screws.

Turns out I undercut the door bead unnecessarily on the right. Once I squished the flashing down, it slid right in, no problems.

Once the oak threshold was in place, I attached my salvaged threshold flush with the oak threshold. The bevel turned out to be perfect once everything was screwed down tight.

 Tada! Nice and neat. It's almost like I know what I'm doing!

 

Not bad for less than three hours of work, including waiting (impatiently) for the shellac to dry.