Since my last post my brother did help me with the door that first time to get it on the table. Since then I made a template for the pet door, marked it on the door, drilled holes in every corner, cut a hole for the pet door (but battery ran low on my router so it started to tear the steel instead of cut). I had to use a dremel tool to trim up the steel but it didn't cut as well as I'd hoped. It still did OK. I had to straight out some of the cuts that were curvy. I attempted to put tape over the foam to cover it but ended up getting tape stuck to itself and to me several times before deciding to nix that idea for now. I'm a total monkey when it comes to tape. I'm still going to use it at some point though. I made sure the deeper ring that goes on the inside of the house fit inside (although it warps a bit so I will have to see about using tape to hold it in place properly). I realized that the screws that came with the pet door were not going to work since they would anchor in to foam & they were meant to anchor in to wood. So I went out and got some #6-32 bolts. Longest they had was 2" and they barely go through. Either they didn't come with nuts or I misplaced them (I'll look for them later) I have an idea where I put them if they were included. If they can't fit what little protrudes through I will have to special order some bolts, but at least I got the holes lined up. LOL. I had to make some of the holes through the steel a little larger to allow some wiggle room. I think because the inner ring warped a bit it made it so the holes weren't as widespread as the ones for the rigid piece with the door flap. But I got them in & have it in place temporarily. I will need to take pictures later. My phone has been losing battery at an extraordinary rate so I have it charging.
Right now I have the pet door bolted in, but I'm going to remove it, do a little cleanup on the inside edges of the hole, use some tape to hold the inner ring tight to the edge & seal over the foam (I'm going to bring a better knife down this time to cut the tape because it won't tear with my hands & it sticks to scissors). I'm going to paint the door before I permanently install the pet door. I want to do some touch-up on the primer first and see if it will help disguise some of the scrapes & dings the door got when I had to flip it over a few times. There's a heavy sanding machine up on the work table that I couldn't seem to move out of the way (I think it might be bolted down) & it hit it a few times when I was flipping the door by myself. Some wasps have been getting in to the workshop somehow- not sure where their entry point is, but I have an idea. I annihilated one with a mallet the other day. Nailed one yesterday with a piece of scrap wood. I feel like Mickey Mouse bragging about swatting flies. LOL.
I think I spent 3 hours in the workshop yesterday trimming up the edges of the steel with a dremel tool to make stuff fit better. I had to take 3 tries and twice the battery ran out so I let it charge overnight and was able to get it cleaned up. It didn't help that I realized that I'd been gripping the dremel tool over the buttons for the battery release. LOL. Kind of lowered the power until I realized I'd pulled the battery loose. I made sure to wear gloves and eye protection when using the dremel and it was a good idea. Sparks were flying so the gloves protected my hand- and it saved my hand from when the tool slipped and the metal cutting blade hit my finger (I sort of derped and halfway dropped the tool and it slid toward my hand-- glove wasn't damaged & I didn't even feel it so it was OK).
Today I think I'm going to do a little more cleanup on the edges of the steel to see if I can take the warp out of the more malleable side of the pet door & attempt to tape it in place. I'm going to take a moving blanket down to put underneath the door and over anything that might scrape it up. It's going to be an exterior door so its ok for it to have some dings though.
My mother wants the front door painted the same color as the back door-- she picked out Behr marquee Deep River color as her favorite. It's expensive paint though so I'm going to take her with me to the store to get the military discount. I also need to grab some primer for touch-ups (and if she wants me to paint the front door I will need primer for it since the wood has a dark stain. If it wouldn't have to be off the house for a prolonged period of time, I'd pop the hinge pins & take the door to the workshop.
For now I'm trying to focus on working on the back door though. She stayed up all night again so she doesn't want to go to the store today as she's just now going to sleep.
I need to take updated pics, but I took pictures of the door when I first marked the template & drilled holes in the corners & then after I cut the piece out. You can see where the steel started to tear and fold instead of cut. I flattened it a little bit, but the foam doesn't give me much of a good surface for hammer. LOL.
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