So… a few posts ago, I showed you the long hard process of getting a 20 ft laminated beam into my attic through a 12×24″ hole.

That’s only half the job. The other beam lain on my lawn for a few more days, in the rain. So today, I did some work and then goofed off and then when my attic became unbearably hot, I got to work.

Learning from last time. I knew I needed to reduce the friction on the point of greatest friction. So I grabbed a hard plastic sheet that I previously bought from a dollar store. It’s the sort that you roll out for children to sit on and slide down a snow covered hill. I put another piece on the leading edge of the beam. The leading edge scraping up the side of the house is a friction point.

And… done. 2 hours instead of 5.

I should probably do some sort of maintenance.

The truck arrives with my new door at noon, so I get to work. I cut out the wider door opening. Sawsall wood blade mostly and switching to metal blade for cutting nails. Removing the old door was a breeze. It was installed with drywall screws.

Evidence inside the wall shows this isn’t the first time that door was replaced.

The new door, being very heavy, would have been a breeze, but…. never mind. A few hours later and the new door is in. Now… off to Lowes to buy something to plug the deadbolt hole.

For privacy, I cover the glass with clear shelf paper. The sticky kind. This gives the windows a frosted appearance and keeps the pervs, revenues and code enforces from peeking inside. If there is ever a “woman of the house” again, that will get replaced with frilly gauze curtains that have to be washed and ironed every week. But for now, it’s fine.

Hmmm. I could have sworn I ordered a BLACK door.

The old center beam, which is supposed to be holding up my ceiling, but, which is in fact supporting the weight of the roof too, is drooping.

To prove this, I shine a laser along the inside line. At the middle, the laser is a full inch above the indicated edge. That is a noticable amount of droop, as well as absorbing 10.5″ of headroom.

In addition to the beam being cludged together by 2x4s, it is itself unsupported by the floor below it. I will need to correct that if I don’t want my roof to sag, or my ceiling to sag, or my walls to bow outwards.

Raising the ceiling from 6.5 feet to 8 feet will require 2 hard steps. Removing the low hanging beam and lifting each rafter. In order to keep the roof from collapsing or the ceiling drooping into the room, a new beam will need to be installed. The old beam wasn’t even really a beam, but a bunch of smaller pieces nailed together. I’m replacing it with 2 laminated beams and the rafters will hang from it instead of resting on it.

For this lesson, we will be putting the new beams into the attic for later installation. Each beam is 20 feet long and about 100 pounds.

I, unfortunately, haven’t been in a gym in a decade and never was that strong. I do have a vent in the attic that is just the right size.

I eventually settled on a block and tackle from harbor freight and a 2ton wench. By hooking them in tandom, I was able to work each one as needed.

I also built a 2×4 frame to protect my electrical meter from damage if I dropped the large heavy object on it.

Ok. That’s one. It took me about 5 hours, in constant fear of my life from ropes snapping or beams falling on my head. The next one should go faster.

For the record, the pullies I got from harbor freight are sold for deer carcasses. I do not recommend them. Way too much friction in the wheels and ropes touching each other. It took a lot more effort in a 4 pulley system than a single pulley would have needed.

I decided that this house needs a new door. The old one is a simple steel, solid core door, 30″ wide. The new one is 65″ wide and includes 2 sidelights.

So. The wider door will require stripping some siding from the front, stripping back interior drywall and insulation, moving 2 electrical sockets, moving the porch light, and one light switch.

While I’m at it, I never really liked the porchlight. But I did like that it was LED, and that it was both motion activated and light sensing. So I could just leave it turned on, but always have light if anyone approached in the dark.

I went to LOWES to find a sensing module, but they had none. So I stripped the module out of the older light and wired it into some new overhead lights.

The new lights are overhead, where the previous light (you can see the hole next to the door) would shine right into the face of anyone standing at the door.

Running the wires was the hardest part. Having the interior ceiling stripped out greatly helped in this.

Good thing I didn’t rip out the old door yet. LOWES failed to deliver the new door on time. I’ll have to call them and see what the deal is.