We’ve heard it said that we overbuild the things we create. That’s true without a doubt, but then again we don’t get any failures. I volunteered to build the garden door for the North Star suite of the Hazelnut Inn. I did some quick sketches and the favourite version was approved… then it was time to build. The door was to be built of welded steel with plenty of rivets to ‘hold’ it together. The front side of the door has recessed letters identifying the suite. To make sure the lettering stood out I decided to cut the pieces from 3/16” (7 gauge) steel plate. There’s thirty-four pieces of steel in the door (not including the hundreds of rivets). As the door came together on the fabrication table in the shop it quickly became obvious that this thing was going to be really heavy. REALLY, REALLY HEAVY! It took three of us to wrestle the door into place today. We welded up some heavy duty hinges with grease fittings and anchored them securely onto the eight inch thick concrete wall. A 1/4” thick welded steel frame was then fabricated in place around the door to ensure a perfect fit. The door swings easily and smoothly and closes with a click. It is going to be the perfect detail for the private little courtyard at the base of the stairs. And it will stand the test of time for a very long time to come - just like the rest of the Hazelnut Inn .