How to Repair, Reuse and Move a Door to a New Location

I grew up in a home with one and a half baths. Honestly, for a family of four, that was perfectly fine. Turns out, that's not really sufficient for four unrelated people living under one roof. That's a little squishy.

It's not that The Roommates are hard to live with, it's more that it's not quite as kosher to be in the same bathroom with all of the bathroom-y things happening at the same time when you're not immediate family.

That meant, with two new Roommates moving in within the last month, that we needed more than one bathroom - pronto.

We left off in the bathroom upstairs with a shiny "new" vanity that has running water, storage, and lots of counter space - especially when compared with the downstairs pedestal.

Now it was time for yet another door!

Since I know we talked about doors last week (I really do have quite the collection - the original Roommate aids and abets this addiction - I mean, collection - with some regularity), I'll skim over the door a bit for you all.

We had to entirely reframe out the bathroom doorway when we pulled permits to move the wall between the bathroom and bedroom a few inches. The city feels that a second floor bathroom should be accessible so it had to become 32 inches instead of the intended 30 inches I really wanted.

Is it the end of the world? No. Is it a little vexing? Yes, because I couldn't reuse the existing door. That one went into my collection.

Instead, I stole a door from the downstairs living room that divided it from the foyer since I think it was added when Isthmus House was converted from single family to a duplex. Why do I think that? It was signed and dated!

To get the door ready to move upstairs, we had to prep a little. After taking it off the door frame leading into the living room, I pulled off the board covering it up just like the door we exposed in the kitchen. That's when I found the nifty signature above. 

There was also a modern doorknob hole that was both unnecessary and unwanted - large holes are generally frowned upon for bathroom doors.

Filling in a hole in a door is super simple. First, lay the door flat on a work surface. If you're anything like me and a little too lazy to bother getting out your sawhorses, at least protect your floors.

Next, use wood filler to fill the hole - leaving it slightly concave. I used wood weld - a product designed to be a quick filler for wood repairs. You just knead it for a couple of minutes - it smells awful - and then squish it to whatever you need to fill.

It dries really quickly (about an hour) and is rock hard once it does.

After it's all dry, a quick fill with joint compound levels it out.

Since I hate hanging doors with a fiery passion, my contractor took care of that part, complete with egg and dart doorknob and fleur de lis hinges to match the rest of the original doorknob hardware around the house.

So now we have a bathroom door - it even has a lock!

Only one update left before the final reveal! Can't wait!