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

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.

Saturday early evening in November - our living room at Chapin Estate, Lot 45 after closing 2 deals fireside.

Crazy kitten lounging in front of her first home. A 'friend' dropped this kitten off at our home when Ruby was only 3 weeks old - she had been found in a 'have a heart trap' in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Our houses are warm. They are warm because we insulate the heck out of them, seal up any penetrations, and install a thoroughly efficient heating system. While we get a lot of small requests and comments, how warm our houses are in the depth of winter is always a compliment.

Here are some of the options our homeowners have -

Whenever we need to cut down a tree, we chop up the wood and leave it for the new homeowners to enjoy.

A woodstove is a great way to supplement the heat of a house - burning longer, hotter and more efficiently than a fireplace. This is a vintage modern (circa 1940) woodstove at our house in Chapin Estate.

Fireplace ain't a bad way to go either - especially when resparking that romantic flame.

Old school radiators, manufactored in Canada and shipped down here (the shipping costs as much as the radiators).

Lisa and I enjoy the winters as much as the summers - snuggled up by the fire, trying to make it through some Russian literature, not stressing about the garden, the grass or anything else on the 'honey do' list.

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