Wet weather in Limestone County has affected everything from schools and roads to farmers and local homebuilders.

Several homebuilders have said the rain is a bit of problem, but it’s something they deal with, and they’ve continued to stay hard at work as the county continues to grow.

Rainfall amounts so far this month are 11.58 inches at the Athens Water Treatment Plant in Elkmont, according to the National Weather Service in Huntsville. Rainfall at the same location for the entire month of February 2019 was 12.97 inches, the NWS said.

The same area received about 8 inches of rain in January and a total of about 72.5 inches in 2019.

Keith Griffin, president of the Athens-Limestone Home Builders Association and owner of Keith Griffin Contractors, said starting the footing on new homes, getting cement and gravel trucks to a home and installing utilities with all the groundwater has been difficult. He remains optimistic, though, saying the last few winters have been about the same.

“People tend to forget,” Griffin, who is currently working on eight new homes in the county, said about the rain. “Homeowners, in general, don’t pay attention to how much it rains until they’re building a house.”

Griffin said homebuilders have to do what they can when they can when it comes to the weather.

Paxton Schrimsher, president-elect of the Home Builders Association, feels the same way. He said right now he has a home that will be finished on the inside next week, but the outside still needs work, including siding, gutters and a sprinkler system. The driveway was poured Monday during a break from the rain.

“It’s kind of crazy if you think about it,” he said. “You do what you have to do to get the job done.”

Schrimsher said the rainfall affects everybody, not just homebuilders, and it slows them down. He works hard to keep homeowners happy while battling the weather. At times, he said, it feels like he’s working on two homes — the inside and the outside.

Another homebuilder said January didn’t hurt too bad, but February slowed work down a little.

“Fortunately, we had homes in the ground and were able to move forward,” said Lynn Persell of Lynn Persell Homebuilders.

Persell’s crew, which is currently working on about a dozen new homes, hasn’t missed a lot of time due to the rain, but admitted the rainy weather is to the point it needs to stop. He said his biggest problem is being able to get jobs such as landscaping finished so homeowners can move in.

“The weather will break real soon,” Persell said, adding he does outside jobs when the weather cooperates and will hold back the inside jobs for when it rains.

“By and large, we are doing OK,” he said. “We could use a little dry weather to finish things up.”

Growth

The county’s growth is one reason area homebuilders stay so busy. The real estate market in the county is already booming, and homebuilders are working to keep up with the demand.

Schrimsher believes the area will only get bigger, adding there’s thousands of people predicted to move here over the next several years for work.

“The number of single-family lots and multifamily residential units in the pipeline that have received initial approvals from the city’s Planning Commission has reached 3,632,” said Athens City Engineer Michael Griffin. “Of that number, 914 have been approved to start development, and 369 have received final approval, meaning the lots can be sold.”

Limestone County Engineer Marc Massey said there are a number of lots that were approved in the county, but numbers are harder to gauge because the county does not have building permits.

“There have been 411 lots approved in the last 12 months,” Massey said. “Any number of them could currently be under construction, plus there could be homes that are being built on large tracts that do not have to come through our subdivision process.”

Keith Griffin thinks the growth is amazing.

“Everyone is saying we are just scratching the surface of what’s to come,” Keith Griffin said. “I really believe that.”