Burglar? Nope just Steven being stupid

It has been a while since either of us has posted. So I thought I would do it since I have been in the thick of it. Our insurance company has been breathing down our necks to get the flooring finished in the dining room. Not that there is anything wrong with what is there now but they have threatened to cancel our coverage over it. WE HATES NATIONWIDE! Upon removing the floor I notice something odd about the wall and remove the panel to find the post holding up a steel girder with a corner degraded by either rot or termites. YAY! I will be posting the removal and replacement process because I am sure that will be entertaining.

However, this post is not about floors or structural framing. No No. This post is about how Steven (me) is a dumbass and the repairs that needed to be made after.




Monday morning while letting the dogs back in and going on to work I forgot my house keys in the door where we let the dogs out. I follow a routine of leaving through the garage door and lock the door behind me by turning the nob and shutting it hard. On my way home for lunch to let the dogs out, I realize that I can't locate my keys and I can't remember where I put them. This immediately rings bells in my head chiming, "Dumb Dumb Dumb!" To get into the house I lean into the door of my garage three times until the jamb cracks wide open. To my surprise the process seemed way to easy.


So I spent Monday night and Tuesday after work replacing the jamb that I broke in half.

Strangely enough the jamb was built in two parts and the shiny things in the center are metal pins that align the two sections. No Fasteners or glue holds the jamb in one piece. Furthermore, the jamb was in no way fastened to the door frame. Its only connection was the head board and the surrounding casing. WHO MAKES A DOOR LIKE THAT! The jamb would give way immediately because loads can't be distributed any where but the weakest point. So, I decided to beef up the jamb.

I first shimmed and ran a 3" decking screw into the header to support the top, since it was floating.

I then removed the original jamb and ripped a new jamb with my saw. The ripping bar attachment is AWESOME!
 

 

I fastened the jamb to the door frame using 3" decking screws and scrap wood left from ripping. The wood didn't fit exactly so I used a hand plane to shave a few fractions off.

Added a larger strike plate  to help distribute loads away from the weak spot in the jamb.

 

The last thing I did was I filled the gaps with expanding foam. I love Great Stuff! I shaved down the foam that expanded pas the frame and tomorrow I will put the casing trim back on to cover up my fixed boo boo.