The Ancient Basement–Small but Satisfying project

All the projects in the basement are so long and I needed a quick win to provide a little momentum for the stone work that we are getting ready to start, so I decided to work on a couple doors.

We are using two doors that used to be exterior doors for the closet under the stairs and the storage room right next to it. We wanted the glass to provide light into the rooms, but it’s unlikely that either the closet or the storage room will be rooms that we want to be visible from the main part of the basement, so I am frosting the glass on the doors. Ideally, we would remove the doors from their hinges and take them outside to do this, but the doors are hanging on really old Victorian cast iron hinges and it’s a project to get them back on the hinges without over stressing the hinges which could break them.

The first thing I had to do was scrape the paint off of the glass on the inside of the door–because this is the side that I am going to frost. Then I wiped off the dust and vacuumed, and taped all around the window. I also had to clean the glass thoroughly with rubbing alcohol to remove any oil from my fingers to ensure that the frosting spray paint would stick to the glass. I put up more tape and paper to protect the surface of the door from overspray.

Then the doors were ready to start measuring and create a level line and center line so that I could apply the window decals (office and not an exit) to the doors. I measured 24″ up from the bottom of the glass and marked it in three places (on the backs of the doors so that nothing would be in the way when I applied the vinyl decals which go on the front of the door.) I also marked the center point of the window. Then I put up painters tape to mark the level line.

I took each decal and marked the center point and lined it up with the center point of the glass and the level line and used painters tape to affix it to the glass temporarily. Only the decal and the three pieces of painters tape are on this side of the glass.

Then it was the moment of truth. I had to remove the backing from the lettering and affix it to the glass and then smooth it and remove the transfer tape. Nerve wracking.

Next steps was to carefully wipe the glass one last time with rubbing alcohol to be triply sure that there wasn’t any oil from my fingers on the glass. Once the glass was cleaned and the alcohol had evaporated, I sprayed the glass on the back side of the door with frosting spray paint. Fortunately, this is extremely fast drying, because it required SEVERAL coats. (This stuff is really fumey, so be sure to use it outside, or open windows/doors.) I removed the tape and paper to reveal the final look.

You might have noticed that the door now says Office instead of Private and the other door has Not An Exit on two lines instead of one. That is because I thought I knew what I was doing, but didn’t. Fortunately, I had another set of vinyl lettering, and as it turns out, I like the lettering better on this set than the set I thought I was going to use. Watch a YouTube video before you attempt this. It will save you some time and money.

Final step was to install the door knobs that I bought to go on the doors so that they will finally stay closed. I used oiled bronze because all the door hardware is going to be dark.

What do you think?