Our screen door was basically unusable for the past few months.  Even though we're past spring and into the summer when we have the A/C going quite a bit, we're in Wisconsin, so there are cooler days when we'd like to open the windows and doors to get a breeze without also inviting in all the bugs and bees.  So, we managed to get the door off the track and took a good look.  What we found was interesting.  Take a look at this picture of the roller:

It turns out that the months of abuse leading to the failure of the door had scrapped off a significant portion of the circular plastic roller, making it basically flat on one side.  Obviously, this is not going to roll very well.  This can happen because we can overpower the door and force it to slide and scrape rather than roll in the track.  Too many repetitions of that exercise and the roller is basically toast. 

Luckily, the fix is pretty simple.  These rollers are replaceable, being held to the door by just one screw.  So, for $2 each, you can buy new metal rollers.  Install these puppies and then you can reinstall the door.  We found immediate improvement in the door movement and were able to use the screen again.  The only trick is to use the adjustment screws to carefully re-center the door in the frame.  It can take some doing and fine-tuning, but in the end, you have a decent working door.  Remember to lubricate the track while you are at it.  WD-40 will work wonders.  

Posted by Caeli at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

To build a pergola or not to build a pergola, that is the question.  The previous owners of our house obviously thought it was a good idea to build a pergola over the top tier of the three-tiered deck they attached to the back of the house:

As you can tell from the leaves littering the deck, there are LOTS of trees in our yard.  Plenty of shade.  What is the purpose of a pergola?  Well, among its decorative purposes, it is meant to give shade. 

We did not really need the shade.  In fact, the excess of shade in our backyard was causing the deck to turn green.  Plus, the pergola was serving a further function: it was home to spiders.  I really hate spiders.  I don't like walking under them or through their webs every time I go out the back door.  I don't like wasps either, who build their nests inside the crevices of pergolas sometimes.  Birds also like to make nests there, which isn't so bad unless you want to have birds swooping at you every time you walk out into your yard, or don't mind cleaning up after them. 

I also didn't appreciate all the shade our pergola was casting through the deck doors into what is now our dining room (since we remodeled our whole first floor - there will be more blog entries forthcoming about that).

So I offer this reflection to anyone who may be considering building a pergola.  Ask yourself, do I really want shade in the places the pergola is going to cast them?  Do I hate spiders, wasps, and other creepy things that make their homes right above our heads in pergolas?  Do I care if birds have a perfect place to build a nest right outside my patio door?  Think this through carefully, because you may otherwise find yourself doing this to your pergola someday:

Trust me, the view to the backyard is much improved sans pergola.  The sunshine coming into the dining room is great too.  So at least when it comes to an attached deck, I vote no to building a pergola.

Posted by Caeli at 03:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)