A Closed Door

As I mentioned before, for a while now, we have been attempting to replace our patio door. It is something that will have to be done before we even try to sell this house and get a larger one. The patio door has almost always been horrible to open. I don't really worry about anyone trying to break in through it because it often takes a lot of hefting, grunting, and wiggling to get it open just enough for the dogs to go out.

So we went to Lowe's, tra la la la, after measuring and found the one we wanted. When you have one of the large home stores install a door or window, you first have a 'detail' done. This involves plopping down $35 and going home to wait on a call from their contractors. They then send a person out to scratch his chin, measure, scratch his chin, and then say "hmmm." He then goes away to wherever he goes. The store calls again saying they have his measurements and we get to go in, plop down more money, and then wait for another call at home. This time, though, you wait to get an appointment for them to come out and put it in. Sounds simple enough, huh.

Yeah.

Apparently a 'standard' door is probably the LEAST COMMON door in homes. I have come to the conclusion that they essentially lure you in with a low price on these doors that do not exist in any home on the face of the earth so they can sell you special order doors. We went in to purchase our door at Lowe's and found out that having brick on your house requires a special order door. Excuse me. I counted as we drove home that day and I think there may have been 4 houses without brick in our large neighborhood. So it would appear to me that brick is the standard door size. The special order door was going to cost $400 more than the door we were going to buy! That was over double the cost.

So Hubbie started calling before he went into shock from the pricing. Home Depot had a special order door that had the wider jam for brick that had not been accepted by the customer. They were going to give it to us for a little less than double the original door at Lowe's. So, okay, that's better and if this is going to be a pain, maybe it can be a little less expensive. The detail man comes out again. We don't even get a "hmmm" out of him. Forever later, we finally call the store and find that they have our measurements. We go in, pay for the door, and find that they are going to set up an appointment to install. When they finally call, we are told it isn't happening. The door opened out and apparently there was nothing there that would provide the strength it needed to handle swinging outward. Huh?

In the time that it took to find out they had our measurements, Lowe's had called because the installer could build out our jam and therefore use a 'standard' door. Now that Home Depot was a bust, we went back to Lowe's and verified that the installer could do that. Yes, he apparently does it quite a bit. Okay, back in business. We picked out the door, paid for it, and went home. They called almost immediately to set up an appointment to install it. Good tidings, right.

So here they came yesterday morning. I knew something was wrong when he stepped back inside shaking his head. He was annoyed because he was going to have to take back the door he had and get one that was small enough (width wise now) to fit. First it is too big and now it is too small. He reiterated that it was a 'standard' size so they should have the correct one in stock.

Did they? Nope. Now I have to go back and get refunded yet again. I am literally ready to brick the thing up.

What have I learned: 'standard' size doors only fit on houses without brick and into holes that are larger width wise than a standard door (which we were assured by both installers and several salespeople is what we have) AND you can only put doors that swing inward on a slab foundation house (???) or something like that.

What have I really learned: if you want to get a door, stock up on migraine medicine.