Doors or Gates - what's the difference?

There hasn't been as much tangible progress on anything in the last couple of days as we would like. Much of yesterday was spent shopping for minivans (and in the evening, some of us went to hear Jasper Fforde -- he was marvelous, and I highly recommend going out of your way to hear him, not to mention reading one of his books, of which the latest is First Among Sequels). And much of today was spent in PTA interactions.

However, that is not to indicate that no progress has been made. Andrew has Hung A Door. (Technically, it's a gate, but we're referring to it as a door.) This was not insignificant to do (problems with less than 90 degree angles and gravity and tiredness -- the first door he made was 7 " too long due to an oversight). And now the frame is causing problems: it is wonderfully straight, but it is 3/4 inch offset from the house "wall" beside it, so it sticks out a little. Andrew has a 1/4 inch tolerance, so this means Measures Must Be Taken. What they will be, I'm not sure yet.

Let me back up. The picture of Andrew in a red shirt was taken last Sunday. This photo predates the stairs; I (the camera) am standing on the edge of the porch, at the head of where stairs up used to be (you can see the outline of them in painted concrete slip along the house wall next to Andrew in the photo).

The second photo was taken about 9:30 tonight. Andrew is in a black shirt, and much sunburnt (it has been hot and dry; it was 92 degrees today). The stairs down are sort of visible -- they are red, Andrew is standing on the top one. The door is framed in properly -- the hefty 4x4 his left hand is resting upon is the lintel. You can see the skeleton of the door hung in the space (the black hinges are a giveaway). The two struts stretching from lintel towards my feet are the props that will support the porch floor when we put it in. The door will be trellis on the top half (to match the trellis elsewhere on the porch) and solid on the bottom half.

We've also decided (one of those Royal "we"s) not to encase the whole unit in plastic as originally intended. Someone pointed out the plastic might be quite noisy in a wind storm, of which we get many; and the winters aren't so bad here that we need to keep the contents of the space warmer than they will be next to the house anyway. The primary need was secure, covered, space, and that we'll have.

Tomorrow: The Porch Floor.