Thank you, All. My next door neighbor is from South Bend, and good friend from Crown Point. Ralph, I don't recognize your aerial view... San Jose? There are, of course, those who think Palo Alto might be the capital...
The cut-and-splice method sounds like my best, perhaps only, alternative. I believe the bottom row is attached at one end, sort of. I might even have to miter a corner and continue up a few inches.
Thank you again, and I'll be looking for gasket material... which is thick enough, but not too thick.
Kate