The back door off the kitchen to the back yard was installed yesterday. Today, mid-day, after hanging the door at the back of the garage, Cris and Kevin from Ranserve install a third exterior door at the side of the kitchen.

The doors are fiberglass — smooth, no fake wood grain, conforming with the “modern” look-and-feel that Jacquela and Steven are instilling into Emerald Hill, predrilled for locks, with big center glass “lights” — double-pane glass for energy efficiency and compliance with the Austin Energy Green Building program — manufactured by Endura, warranteed for life — delivered by BMC West.

As the label says, the doors are “rot proof.” This was a spec ordered up by Ranserve after observing the original exterior doors. The original doors are now removed. They were wood and, in some cases, penetrated and damaged by water and bugs.

As one example, termites chewed through the lumber around the windows at the back of the family room — and the only thing preventing that wall from failing was the back door, bent out of position by all the weight it was not designed to carry.