Joni's Re-Hab, Part Four

Joni is another day closer to completion. Gary put the finishing touches on her removable plexiglass window mounting yesterday, installed the weatherstripping, and tested it for fit. No problems. The window is installed by inserting it into the window frame from the outside, and then securing it inside with a strip of aluminum flat bar and wing nuts. Easy in, easy out. Then it was time to install the air conditioner. It has been test fitted MANY times already, so there was no doubt it would fit. Once the air conditioner was bolted to it's wooden mount, it was thoroughly caulked to prevent any water leakage. To go one step further, an exterior wooden surround was attached to the main part of the mounting. This will stop most of the rain water before it even gets to the part of the air conditioner that was caulked. In addition, the exterior surround dresses up the opening, and hides the unsightly mounting hardware for the air conditioner, and the gaps between the air conditioner and the surrounding window frame. The air conditioner is considerably harder to get in and out than the plexiglass window is, but it is do-able. Joni was vacuumed out to remove all of the construction debris, and Gary was about to put the hinged plywood base for her bed in place, but noticed that two of the three hinges are broken. So now he has another unexpected thing to fix before things can go back together permanently. There's still a couple of little things to do as well, but Joni is 98% completed at this point. She has been one surprise after another, but I guess the same could be said for me when Gary first started my renovation. At least Joni didn't smell like a wet and dirty dog, and was so badly coated with nicotine that it had to be bleached several times. Yep, I was pretty disgusting. When Joni is finally completed, Gary will take her outside and water test her for leaks, and then she will be ready to go home. The time is drawing near.