As a wedding gift for Yosef and Rachel, we gave them a new front door for their 100 year old house. Now, I had installed another door in their house and was pleased to find that the door opening was a standard size. And so, when I measured up the existing door and discovered that it was a 36″ door, I was very pleased. The new door should just drop right in.

Well, life isn’t that simple. When we pulled out the old door, we made a startling discovery; the old door was 7.5′ high while our replacement door was the standard 6.5′ high.

Rats!!! I needed to make up an additional foot some how. Since transoms fit the era, that seemed like the most logical choice. But the chance of finding a transom to fit that opening would be a one-in-a-million shot, so my next plan was to create a false transom.

The false transom would be framed just like a real transom. But, instead of glass, it would have lumber.

Fortunately, there was a store in the neighborhood that that sold used building materials. So, we decided to check it out.

When we walked in, we asked for a transom. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any. So, we decided to walk around the store and look for a substitute.

One item that caught our attention was a side window for a door. It was thermal pane and just the right dimensions. So, after a quick chat with one of the store clerks, the window was ours. YES!!!

And while I still had to build a frame to hold the glass, we at least had the filler that we needed. A day later and another trip to the lumber yard, the window was installed.

It still needs to have the trim installed, but at least it will with stand the weather.