Almost everyone is in the same boat in the northern region and some out east pretty far south ...there is no easy answer do what you can do ...I would definitly take off in day IF IT IS SUNNY ...they will roast in there...and replace in evening...how much damage will be done it will likely depend on how cold it gets for how long each night and your cover material ... if you have only a couple of trees I'd go heavy duty and try to not have the cover touch the tops of plants use stakes or rebar to keep it off ..in my experience if it toucheds it it will damage it with the freeze and as i said get up early if it's sunny and as soon as temps are above about 35 take it off. ...david

Weissman, actually I guess it is the bottom of the U - when I said top, I was thinking of an upside-down U as it's at the top of my kitchen. Does that make sense? You walk into the kitchen and the galley is on the right with the range at the top of the upside-down U shape. I'm one of those spatially-challenged left-handers! Thanks for all of the input. We also have to find a range hood that will work well and fit in the existing space above the range. We will be removing an OTR MW and installing a vent hood - more complications and space/ducting limitations. We are trying to hurry to finish all of this by the end of July when my cooking buddy from New Orleans comes for a week - he and I always have a seafood cookoff while they are here.

If you continue to hire people in the hardwood flooring business who have not kept pace with emerging technology in finishes...well, you will have many of the drying and 'softness' issues of the finish films that you are experiencing with your floors. As for poor sanding jobs and the overall lack of good workmanship...well, you can find that in any business that is subject to 'cutthroat' competition. For the best hardwood flooring job (either installation or restoration) you need to hire an independent contractor who actually performs the work or closely supervises it. He or she lives or dies in the business by the quality of the work, so the work quality usually is of high caliber. Going with a company that sends a salesperson to you to 'sell' the job and then sends a 'sub' or a 'jobber' to do the work,...well that, in my opinion is not the best way to go. Perhaps there are companies that work that way and get excellent results, but I haven't seen it. Flooring work is a skilled 'trade' or 'craft' and there are good tradespeople and good craftspeople in the business. Your job as consumers is to find them, insist on quality materials and then pay them what the work is worth!

1. I would make sure you are getting a matching coil with the air conditioner. 2. I would recommend R-410A. You're replacing the lineset anyway, so it makes sense to future proof. 3. Basements typically add little to the cooling load. A load calculation is certainly the best thing to do. Him disregarding the current unit's size and guessing off of square footage is bad practice and could leave you uncomfortable. 4. Air conditioners and their matching coils are independent of the furnace. As long as you have the proper airflow out of the furnace, you should be okay. Note that higher efficiency A/C's above 14 SEER have a difficult time getting their rating without a variable-speed furnace blower. 5. I'd have the furnaces checked out to make sure the heat exchangers aren't cracked and emitting poisonous CO gas at the very least at that age. Good luck.