Community
New construction races rising
lake levels

There has been quite a flurry of waterfront activity here over the last several weeks.  No, it is not boating or water skiing, given the cold and wet weather.  This activity has been the constant traffic of concrete trucks and carpenters trying to beat the rising tides.

If you don’t spend a lot of time at the lake in the winter, you miss some pretty interesting preparation.  This is the time of year where property owners take advantage of the winter lake draw down to make repairs to seawalls and piers.  In many cases, this activity can only occur when the lake is dropped to winter pool.  If you are curious about the lake level, go to the Alabama Power Lake Level page and find Lake Martin.

The draw down begins in late fall with the lake reaching its lowest level during December, and the process reverses in late February, which allows three to four months to make waterfront preparations for spring.  This year because of the rainy winter, like so many things in life, there has just not been enough time.

At Russell Lands, we are experiencing that first hand.  We started two beautiful waterfront cottages designed by Mitch Ginn.  One of these homes is located in The Ridge and the other is in Willow Glynn. Both are designed to provide the perfect lakefront setting.  We have combined all of our talent in design, construction and lake know-how to demonstrate the finest in lake homes.

We took advantage of the low lake levels to install rustic new concrete seawalls.  Now, it is hard to imagine a concrete seawall looking rustic, but with a special form, stain and seal coat, the wall looks just like an old railroad tie seawall with a much longer life span.  We were pleased that we finished in plenty of time to put in our piers.

There was just one problem, the lake was filling up and we had to work fast!  Fortunately, we had already been permitted by Alabama Power to install our piers, so we were able to call in the cavalry.  With a flurry of sweat, saws and sawdust, our crews were able to beat the tide on the first pier.  With the aid of a pile-driving barge, we will be able to place the support posts on the other.

This activity was taking place on other new construction projects as well.  Concrete crews were pouring late into the night on one Ridge seawall project, while carpenters were driving the final nails into deck boards on another.  It was an exciting week, seeing all the work being performed on this year’s crop of beautiful new lake homes.

If you want to track the process of our newly-designed “ideal” lake homes, please continue to look for our articles here and the property listings on our website for the latest news.  Each home has a wonderful rustic feel and is fully designed to take full advantage of lake life — best lived in a Russell Lands On Lake Martin neighborhood. 

Several properties will be finished in time for the summer.  If you have the time to see them in person, contact us to find where they are located. But be careful, we might ask you to help us blow up the inner tubes for spring.