a home project

The side yard door we had since the house was built some 8 years ago had been sagging on one side and the wood panel deteriorating with age, I decided to replace it.

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I ordered a metal gate online and got it in a week. Assembling was not too hard, except they sent wrong screws for some parts I had to figure out and get the right ones from a local hardware store.

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Dismantling the old door was not too hard either.

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But I had to get rid of those big long bolts sticking out from the concrete block columns after the old wooden posts were removed.

A little hacksaw blade could do the big job of sawing off the bolt, given time; but I didn't really need to saw it all the way down, just about one third of the way, then knocked it off with a hammer.

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Now came the hard part: carving out a seam between the concrete block column and the ground for my new metal post's base to tuck in.

I made my own “improvised cutting device” after learning it from a YouTube video by attaching a disc blade to a drill gun. 

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It worked for a while, giving me some headway into the hard solid block column I wanted. 

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But then it kept breaking down: the rickety home-made device just not sturdy enough to stand the constant jerking and shaking my forceful cutting action created.

After some online research, a couple visits to the local hardware store, and advice from a kindly store helper, I bought this power oscillating tool, along with a diamond grit concrete cutting blade to attach to it.

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That did the job, cutting a seam about 5 inches wide, 2 inches deep, at the base of the column.

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So I could tuck the metal post in.

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Along with the gate.

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The only problem now was my opening was just about one inch too narrow for the door handle and its backstop to "kiss" and close properly. 

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So I detached and reattached the backstop plate to the other cheek of the post, and now the door handle and its backstop clap flawlessly together.

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Welcome to my yard!

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