July 2019 Update

The Fourth of July has come and gone and building and renovations are going strong.
Now it is the rush to get our permits in hand and get foundations in before winter hits. This leads me to todays topic.
One of the most common questions I hear is “do you shut down for winter?” or “how important is it that we get the house dried in before winter hits?”

These are great questions and the answer always seems to surprise the people asking them. No, we don’t shut down for the winter and no, it really isn’t that critical to get the house dried in before winter.

Now that said, what are the downsides to not having a roof on the house before winter hits? It can cause delays, we can’t roof a house with snow on it. So when thinking of a start date, we have to consider the location of the build and how likely is it to get snow storms that may cause delays. As we all know, there is not one place in Central Oregon that is exempt from snowfall but there are typical weather trends we can usually rely on that we can use to go by. Sunriver and Black Butte Ranch are obviously more likely to get snow and more of it than Bend and areas east and north.

Most think that winter weather will damage their projects and they feel it is important to get the roof on the house before it snows. It is always good to get the roof on early but not as big of a concern as you might think. I’ve built many a home in the middle of winter and all of them had no lasting winter damage.

So when you think about your timing of starting a new build or home addition, try to get an early start and obviously it is best to get a home dried in to minimize the impact to the schedule. But know that there are options and you don’t necessarily need to wait for spring.