Catskills - Sullivan County - Ulster County Real Estate -- Catskill Farms Journal

Our first mini-house is moving right along. Above is a picture of the underground electric after we ran it 18" under ground, along with the phone wire. Red roof, board and batten siding, square columns out front, some salvaged beams framing the front door inside and out.

Here's old man Bill, the excavator. His company Diehl Construction, was brought in as a relief pitcher after we (for lack of a better phrase) fired the first excavating contractor. In construction, lots of people and companies get hired and fired, because, in the end, everything they do wrong, or everything that is left incomplete, is ultimately my financial responsibility - and lord knows the homeowners don't accept excuses.

At Catskill Farms, we ultimately believe we do a good service by buffering our clients from real life (and work ethic/work quality) in Sullivan County - which can be pretty brutal for the uninitiated.

Big toys on a slippery path on a rainy, foggy morning.

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RJ Electric/Plumbing/Heating and All Around Home Improvement and his pimped out ride.

Here is RJ Jr. trying to get my basement toilet to work. Since it is below ground and toilets work with gravity, this system required a pump - well, the pump wasn't working that well, and RJ Sr. tried to convince me I had bought a 'two-flush' toilet, meaning it wasn't his work that was deficient, but actually the toilet style I chose. Talk about thinking I just fell off the turnip truck.

It's late November, and too be honest we had a great run of 12 months of weather. Last winter was a breeze, pretty dry most of the year, and a great fall. But now, everyday is overcast, cloudy, rainy - Construction is like movie-making - dependent on a LOT of factors - labor, weather, schedule, lots of people and temperments, lots of dinero. It's a constant battle against impending and imploding chaos. Cold and wet - the ground is soft, everything gets muddle, trucks get stuck, dozers and excavators can push around dirt, house framers sit at home waiting out the rain. In all, in multiples more difficult than dry weather. And the real problem is now that it's November, it won't dry out until the spring - there is no purpose waiting for a sunny day and stiff breeze. It complicates things for us because we have a lot of dirt to move and push on our new project. If we don't get it done (especially septics) before the ground freezes, then I can't sell the house when I am finished in February - have to wait until May when the ground unfreezes and the mud dries up - since this is unacceptable both to my clients and my pocketbook (I would be paying interest on finished houses - big bucks). Friday we are trying to power through it and 'er done.