Construction: Days 2.5 - 6

Through the magic of everyone assuming T is in charge of the decision making re the remodel, we didn't have any framers on Monday. This resulted in a panicked phone call to the contractor from yours truly. Turns out that they were at a standstill until the AC system was removed, which meant we would have no heat once they started. So T said not to start until we left town on Wednesday. Awesome. I love being out of the loop!

On Tuesday, the AC guys drove up as I was leaving to take the kids to school. By the time I got back from dropping them off, they were finished. I guess demo doesn't take very long! We were left with a big pile of duct-work and insulation in the front yard, but no framers. T called Eldon this time. Seems that the framers had taken on another job to fill the hole in their schedule, and had gotten a little behind. Awesome.

On Wednesday, the joint was really jumping. The attic was swarming with framers (including one with only one arm. Wow! That kid could lift an entire sheet of plywood with one hand. Amazing!). A hole was cut in the roof to get the new joists in and the new floor support system was well on its way.

T and I were watching TV in the living room and had just gotten up from the couch to go to the kitchen when we heard a loud crash from the attic. I just assumed they had dropped a load of 2x4's. Imagine my surprise when I returned to the living room to find a leg dangling from the ceiling! One of the framers had slipped and poked a 18 inch square hole in the ceiling. The chunk of displaced drywall fell exactly where we had been sitting just the minute before! Yikes! there was much apologizing and many promises to fix it all up. Thus far, they have stuffed a piece of fiberglass insulation in the hole.

At this point, we escaped to the in-laws' house. T's uncle is in iffy health, so we needed to visit anyway. We returned this evening to find all of the new floor supports in, the hole in the roof closed up, and some minimal decking. Also, the new downstairs AC was in and working. The change was pretty amazing.

Not so amazing? The HUGE mess downstairs. They had to cut some holes in the living room ceiling to put in new heating vents so there is drywall dust everywhere. They also demo-ed the skylight in the master bath, so all surfaces in there are swimming in fiberglass, drywall debris and 20 years of accumulated attic dust. Blah! I'm bummed that no effort was made to mask off the living areas. The kids' rooms are okay, but our bed (and everything else in the master suite) is covered in grit. I knew there was going to be mess with the remodel, but the contractor blew a lot of sunshine up my skirt about how it was all contained in the attic and wouldn't affect the downstairs. Ha! More fool me for believing him!

The icing on the cake was that Holly escaped. Again. It was dark when we got home, so we just popped the dogs into the side gate of the yard while we unloaded the truck and checked out the attic. When we were done, T went out back to get the dogs and found that the workers had left the driving gate open. Holly and Blackie were long gone. T pounded through the house shouting orders to grab flashlights and leashes and was gone in a moment.

They hadn't gotten very far - just two doors down to the house with all of the free-range male bird dogs. Holly made a hormone-driven beeline for the boy dogs who, luckily, were with their owner. I think we were able to get her before any puppy making could take place. We got her back to the house where she keeps whining and begging to go outside (presumably to find a willing partner!). I will be so glad when she isn't in heat any more!