I was hoping to finally get the outer door hung this weekend but there were still a number of things to do. Firstly, the door and seal panel would need painting. I had bought a tin of Sadolin satin white (exterior paint) which I had used to coat some timber cladding on the house and found it to be extremely easy to use. Of course the main issue with painting is the time in between coats which makes the job a lot longer although with the current warm weather this is not too bad. I initially put down a couple of light diluted coats (Sadolin is water based so this is possible) which were very quick to dry so I could easily do on Saturday during the day which left a dry surface to paint one undiluted coat last thing at night. This coat would be ready for over painting at midday on Sunday and I could start thinking about fitting the lock.
During periods while the paint was drying I did manage to do some other jobs, including a thorough clean up of the workshop - my obsession at times. I also made a jig for the hinge positions from the door and transferred this to the door frame and routed the corresponding rebates ready for the door to be hung.
Obviously as this door is open to the outside it needs to be totally secure and I had bought a 3" 5-lever mortice dead lock from Screwfix on Friday as a first level of security. Once the last coat of paint was dry enough to work on I set about installing the lock, which involves making an 18mm x 84mm deep pocket in the edge of the door to accommodate the lock mechanism. With a few holes drilled and a bit of work with the chisels...done. Next, the recess for the lock outer plate to allow it to sit flush with the surface. I used the router here to cut an accurate recess at exactly 5mm deep and squared the corners with a chisel. All good, and once screwed into position all that remained was to make the slot for the key to enter (from the outside only.)
Unfortunately I was running out of time on Sunday so hanging the door would have to wait for another day :-( All that was left to do was have a final clear up, although I did manage to get the four hinges screwed onto the door ready for hanging. Just have to hope that all of my measuring for the hinges on the frame is accurate when I come to fix the door ;-)
Photo (image from later stage but shows the lock):
