Do you live in a colder climate and looking to build a new home? You no longer need to wait until Spring to break ground. In fact, there are many benefits to winter home building. Gone are the days of saying no to winter builds. Building technology has greatly improved making it much easier for builders to build during the winter months. In today’s market, most builders are looking to build year-round! We can’t deny, there are some challenges with winter builds, like snow removal and the cold affecting equipment, however, builders are still building in the winter, and taking advantage of it could save you and get you into your home faster, so you can enjoy the next winter season in your new home. We are seeing more homeowners than ever building from November through March in colder climates.
Building in the Winter
Winter builds are much easier when dealing with prefabricated components, such as timber frames, SIPS, and panelized home construction. The beauty of using our prefab components is a drastic reduction in on-site framing time, allowing a home to be weather tight much more quickly compared to stick-frame construction on site. Builders will also love working with prefab components, as it speeds up their outside time so they can be inside working on the interior finishes.
Building in the winter can work in the homeowner’s favor, especially since many builders may offer a discount to keep their crew busy through what used to be a slower season. It may also be easier to find a builder for the winter months. Spring and summer schedules for builders book up quickly, especially lately! Builders who are open to building in the winter will plan to get foundations in before snow flies so that they can build the home in the winter. So as long as you have your general footprint for your new home, they can put a foundation in, so you have the flexibility to build, whether or not there is snow on the ground.
Vermont Barn Home
This Vermont barn home was built in the brutal cold Winter in January 2014. The builder and his crew built this new timber frame home quickly. In fact, the homeowners moved in during the month of June. Although there were some cold days at this high elevation site, the builders didn’t miss one day!
Lakeside in Vermont
This is another Vermont timber frame project that started in the cold month of January in 2017. The job site was lakeside up in the Northeast Kingdom. It doesn’t get much colder than here for New England. The building crew was fantastic and seasoned in winter building. Everything went together fast and smoothly, making the ideal winter build.
Columbia County New York Timber Frame
In the Northeast, February is still cold and many of us are bundled up and hunkering down inside (or skiing). Above is a picture of a timber frame home we worked on in Columbia County, New York last winter, during the month of February! There was a little heatwave (well, for winter) and as you can see there is no snow on the ground and the crew is in t-shirts. You never know when we may have a mild winter!
Lakeside New York Timber Frame
Check out this beautiful lakeside hybrid timber frame home being built in Northern New York. The builder started this project in November and worked right through the winter months, without hesitation. Being near the lake, the wind can be gusty during the winter, but thankfully with prefabricated components, this new home was quickly built on site!
We would love to chat with you about your new timber frame home project. Call us today at 800-636-0993!