Basement door and moving to the airport

Caution - Man running (with) power tools

Well, for those doubters out there, I did have a plan when I started this project.  My basement is a walkout with a standard 32" door leading out the side of the house.

Lucky for me, this side wall isn't load bearing, so installing a double door shouldn't be a big deal.  Or so I hope.

E Here is the new, double, door that will allow for the egress of the airplane.  (11/2/06)

F This is the outside of the basement door.  First things first, time to get the shovel out and remove some dirt.  (11/4/06)

E A little bit of work with a diamond saw blade, small sledge hammer, and pry bar and the the cinder block is almost completely history.  Tomorrow the dry wall will come down and the header will be replaced.  In a week or two a friend and RV-10 builder will come by to help cut the outside brick and siding.  (11/4/06)

F A little bit of work with a four pound sludge hammer, rip some drywall down, and we are about ready to install the double doors.  I carefully marked all the wires prior to pulling them back.  I must have done a good job as everything worked after everything was reconnected.  (11/5/06)

E Saturday, November 11th, Thane States, Contractor Extraordinaire and RV-10 builder came over to help install the doors.  We started around 9AM, he left around 4PM, and I knocked off around 5:30 because I had to take my wonderful wife out to dinner.  (11/11/06)

F On Sunday, November 12th, I installed the locks, wiring, out side light, insulation, and hung the drywall.  (11/12/06)

What's left to do on this sub-project?  Well...

The concrete pad in front of the double doors is only on one side.  That will get broken out and I put pavers down which means I need to remove some dirt, put crushed stones down and they lay the pavers, angled away from the house to help move water away.

The dirt on the right side of the door will need some type of retaining wall.  The decorative brick facing only goes down so far so it can't just be pulled back and re-graded.

It looks like Lowe's or Home Depot will see a few more of my airplane funds before this is all over.

My only remaining question is, can I include the hours spent on the door in my construction log?

E The day was beautiful so I spent it outside installing a brick entrance way and a retaining wall.  The door sill needs to be painted and in the spring I'll replace the railroad ties on the left side with bricks but for now this will get me through the winter and allow me to finish up the plane.  (11/18/06)

F 1/2 Pregnant - Moved the wings to Goose Creek.  I had to wait until my buddy John had some time because the bed of his truck is over 10' long with the tailgate down and even then, the wings stuck out the back.  The HS and flaps were wrapped in bubble wrap and packed in the truck with the wings.  You can see the HS sticking out of the back of the truck.  The VS, rudder, elevators, ailerons, and some other miscellaneous parts were all stuffed into my truck for the trip.  The day was hot and we drove down the freeway at 50 MPH with our flashers going trying our best to avoid getting run over.  (6/9/07)

F

The pictures, left to right, safety wiring the prop after setting the torque, N941WR takes to the runway for the 1st time, Ron Schreck, myself, and Tad Sargent putting five gallons in each wing, the RV tied down we are ready to start, finally, the first start!  Look ma, no fire and all the parts stayed where they belong.