The drier conditions lately have been a welcome change for people across the state, especially those whose business depends on the weather.

A small group of workers shoveled dirt recently on either side of a newly-poured sidewalk inside a new subdivision in Roswell, just north of Atlanta. It was a rare event; for most of the year they’ve been shoveling mud.

“The forecast is one of those things that’s always on your mind,” said Shane Roach, a partner at Brightwater Homes. His company is completing the brand new set of custom homes. “Building a house is a sequence of events that’s carefully lined up if you do it right. Where you have rain that affects the schedule, it’s not just the one person that it’s affecting, it’s the 20 people behind them that you have to reschedule.”

Roach said they’ve had to reschedule a lot this year.

Not surprising, given the 52 inches of rain that have fallen in the Atlanta area this year, according to the National Weather Service. Normally, the area would see 35 inches by now. In July along, it rained 17 days.

“We’re finally getting a few little dry spells here, but it’s a much needed break,” said meteorologist Adam Baker. “Basically it’s been above normal [precipitation], basically from the start of the year.”

Roach said some homes he planned to complete in five to six months have stretched into seven- or eight-month jobs, which costs his company money.

Just last month, Julie and Chris Mizer moved into their new Brightwater home in Roswell, barely on time. The couple said the rain slowed things down considerably.

“It was a little frustrating,” Chris Mizer said. “We wanted to get started. We had already sold our last house. We were in a smaller place and we were worried about hitting that target date.”

His wife said watching the lack of progress was stressful.

“For me, coming out and just watching the mud [I thought,] ‘There’s no way we’re going to get on time,’” Julie Mizer said.

Tags: construction, National Weather Service, rain, Georgia rainfall, Georgia weather, rainfall, roswell, bad weather, brightwater homes, shane roach, adam baker