Along with oldcrafty.... thank YOU for giving all of US a great story, many of us have been the working end of WE, and can chuckle along with the story. When the long winter ends and the days of pride begin, veterens day, 4th of July, Memorial etc, YOU and YOURS will feel the pride and love you have put into that wonderful smoker,... thanks for building it with all those friends and sharing it with us...hugsssss ginnyp

We might get ours done before Dec., but there are no guarantees on that since we are doing it ourselves, and deer season starts in Sept, so who knows when my husband will have time to do anything after that. We still have to finish landscaping and build our firepit before we start on the grill area. We've been thinking about the vents, and I've been worried about water getting through them when it rains. We'll have a gap at the bottom where it can drain out, but we are going to put some less expensive refrigerators in the island (instead of the $500-$1000 ones that are specifically made for outdoors), so I'm concerned about the water in that area. We'll raise them up some, but I stll think we need to restrict the water from coming in. Any thoughts on vents that can do this? We got the charcoal tray too. I thought that was a pretty neat option since we had been looking at doing an additional grill in the island for charcoal. I still think that we will eventually build a smoker though. I've found some doors that I can order from Lowe's that I think might be a little cheaper. How much was the curved door?

We use a citrus cleaning solution for ceiling tiles. Just don't paint over the ceiling tiles. Here's an overview of how we clean our commercial ceiling tiles in Kitchener. Here is a link that might be useful: commercial ceiling cleaning in Kitchener

Really appreciate all the good feedback! I love Gardenweb! When DH and I went out to the site last evening, sure enough, a small wire enclosure had been put up and there were a few, "token" items inside. DH and I had four plastic trash sacks, so we proceeded to fill each one of those with what I would term "personal trash"--cans, bottles, cigarette packs, fast food containers, etc. etc. We policed the entire site, inside the house and outside, as well as the vacant lot adjacent to ours, which will be built on by good friends. Then we pulled all the plastic wrapping materials, soggy cardboard, etc. etc., from the various piles of scrap/discarded wood, and this junk we put in the wire enclosure. After 2 1/2 hrs., the sacks were full to the brim, as was the small enclosure. We were filthy and hot--this is Texas I'm talking about. When I got home and got cleaned up, I sat down and emailed our builder, thanking him for having the enclosure erected but telling him that it was already full with what we had picked up and suggesting that he will either need to have this enclosure emptied soon and often or erect more. I told him that I could live with the various and numerous piles of scrap wood, though of course I actually feel that all of this ought to be contained in a dumpster. I've not heard back from him. Nephew advises not to bring up fact that among soda cans and plastic water bottles I also found beer cans and bottles. "If the guys want to drink a beer at the end of a hot work day, so be it,"says nephew. DH says same. I am a fuddy-duddy and think they should wait to drink their beer after going home and worry that they're drinking while working with power tools, and besides, alcohol is not a good or effective way to hydrate in 105 degree weather..... DH and nephew scoff at me. BUT, anyway, I do appreciate all the great input. I feel slightly better; it's helped to "vent" here and, again, great feedback from all of you! In six mos. or so I'll send pix of our beautiful new home! The three framers ARE doing a super job on the framing and so the "important" things are getting done.