Dirk the carpenter

Today Claudia asked me to build a door for one of the pig houses. The doorframe already existed so I would have to make sure my door will fit. I suspected bad things to come… I already know about the local building and material quality so I counted on a twisted doorframe with different widths and angles at the corners. I was proved right… So I took the doorframe’s measurements and checked the two pieces of timber… they were crooked, what else, with a thickness of almost 50 mm on one side and 35 on the other, plus they were twisted… “Oh my, how was I to build a door from these pieces?”, I thought to myself. Then I sketched a plan.

After that I took a deep breath and started my work. Measure, saw, nail, a bit of swearing and soon my freestyle door was ready. It looked like crap but when I checked, it fit the doorframe for some unknown reason. I then cut a piece of metal sheet to nail it on the timbers. Then I carried the door inside the pig house where Alfred helped me attach the hinges at the right position so that the door would later open and close. We had to fiddle for a couple of minutes and I couldn’t prevent myself from cursing again but after some ZEN-breathing I managed to fasten the door. Yes, it truly works! I must have inherited some of my father’s architectural genes…

Today I’ve earned my lunch, indeed!

my sophisticated plan…

Alfred prepared the timbers with varnish to protect them from the termites

A saw, or two (actually, I even used three of them), a knife, a hammer, timber and a fistful of nails… what more does one need to build a door…

then I cut some piece of metal sheet and nailed to the wooden frame

le voilà – the door’s ready to be mounted…


with some kind assistance from Alfred I then attached the hinges


fits perfectly… even though there’s nothing square… Am I an architect’s son or not?

and now: “Znüni neh”

btw. for sophisticated woodwork call Dirk! ;-)