28. Hot Dog

Well what would you call it when it's 95 degrees out and then they tell you the heat index is 106?  What the heck does that mean?  Isn't 95 hot enough for ya?

Anyway, this is Roscoe being smart after his hose-shower.  He gets three or four a day and then lies in front of the fan.  I wouldn't want you to think any animals were harmed in the renovation of this house - he gets lots of treats and walks and chew bones... and he truly loves the hose.  Besides the fact that he would rather be glued to my side whether I was in the Antarctic or the surface of the sun, which it has felt like here in Florida for the last couple of weeks.  Rufus is enjoying the peace, quiet, and air conditioning at home.


Speaking of air conditioning, Joey from Broward Heat and Air came by to answer a few questions today and all you potential visitors will be glad to know that a good heat and air system is going to go into the house in a couple of weeks.  Currently there are no ducts into the upstairs where the bedrooms are, so we discussed having his installers put some in - added a little cost but well worth it.  They are going to put a second return (where the air is sucked back in to the system) upstairs as well, which will greatly increase the efficiency of the whole system.  Rob the Builder overheard the whole conversation and confirmed that this was absolutely the right thing to do - the return is even more important than the ducting itself up there.  I figured I'm putting enough into the whole system, I might as well do it right.  And I think it will function pretty well, once I get the windows overhauled and sealed up.  Frankly there will be plenty of time when the natural breeze will be enough, but man when you want it you want it... like today!

Rob started right in this morning on the kitchen ceiling.  Ken finished up the stairs outside, and worked on the supports in the basement.  This was our first peek into the second story - what exactly was up there?  A few things that needed fixing, but overall a sturdy house.  There will be a few 2x4s needed to make the ceiling nice and level - and R&K are going to build "beams" in the kitchen like the one in the foreground of this picture to match the rest of the downstairs.  It got really messy after this....

Here's Ken joining in the messy, sweaty, fun.  These guys are great - they just love what they do and do it well, when their customer just trusts them and let's them work away.  I always hope that people that work with or for me enjoy what they are doing - I think it adds to the light-hearted friendly spirit of the overall project  This is important to me.

Here's how it looked when we finished up today.  The guys hauled off a dump trailer full of crap - and I threw in the last of the junk I wanted to get rid of from the basement and house.

This is the view of the ceiling, after  they added a little depth to the joists, so the drywall we put up will actually be level!  The drape is hanging over a window to protect it from stuff dropping from the ceiling.

Some time between now and Wednesday, I'm going to try to finish the demo so that when Rob and Ken come back they can continue with the framing in of that doorway, and the drywall ceiling.  I'm also going to try to get John the plumber in there before R&K come back, to re-route the sink drain and supply lines.