Expensive and difficult in winter. However, experienced specialists know all the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.

Winter construction of frame houses is often more predictable and more enjoyable than summer construction, and modern technologies make it possible to eliminate all the difficulties associated with low temperatures.

1. Reduced prices for building materials and labor
2. No queues in construction, large selection of construction crews
3. High quality building materials (winter wood)
4. Weather conditions (no rain or mud)
5. Hard winter road (driveways)
6. Possibility of checking the insulation of the house
7. Opportunity to use a new home in the summer

1. Foundation (pile and screw)
2. Construction of the frame
3. Exterior finishing
4. Roof finishing

Advantages of building a frame house in winter

Among the advantages of erecting frame frames in the cold season, a considerable number of points can be highlighted. Below we will look at each of them in detail.

1. Reducing the price of building materials and labor

The cost of building materials varies throughout the year. In winter, demand drops significantly (seasonal decline in sales), and, consequently, manufacturers reduce prices. Discounts can be up to 50% of the summer cost of goods. Agree, the savings are significant.

Significant discounts on lumber appear as early as December. In January, price reductions are usually at their maximum. And starting in February, the cost rises, reaching its peak by May

Prices for delivery of building materials in winter also fall (this is due to the fact that fuel is cheaper during this period). And if in summer the speed of building a house can be influenced by factors such as weather and delivery times of building materials, then in winter construction proceeds faster, since supply disruptions are excluded.

2. No queues in construction, large selection of construction teams

The cost of work for a construction crew during the so-called “off season” is also reduced. There are no queues in winter - this means that there will be no delay in the start of construction of the facility.

In addition, during the winter months there is a greater choice of construction crews. This means that the house will definitely be built by the company’s professionals without the involvement of additional hired workers from outside. That is, in winter, the likelihood that the “frame” will definitely be assembled correctly and with high quality increases.

3. High quality building materials (winter wood)

Timber harvesting usually takes place from November to April. Therefore, when you buy lumber in winter, you get “fresh” wood. Winter wood differs from summer wood in having lower humidity, greater hardness, lighter weight, and resistance to fungus and rot. In addition, winter forest is easier to process (it is easier to remove the bark and saw it).

4. Weather conditions (no rain or dirt)

Working in winter is cold, that's obvious. However, considering this a disadvantage of winter construction is not entirely correct. After all, working in the summer can be hot, and this is also unpleasant. A warm work uniform, the creation of good living conditions - all this makes winter construction quite comfortable and enjoyable.

In winter there is no rain - this is the main thing. This means that work will definitely not stop, but the snow can always be removed. In addition, the construction site is clean, the boards are dry and light, which has a positive effect on the work process and the quality of the constructed frame.

5. Hard winter road (driveways)

There is an opinion that it is difficult to organize access roads in winter due to snow. As a rule, this is not the case.

The road can be cleared by hand or with a bulldozer once and then transport materials across the frozen ground without any problems. But in the summer and off-season, muddy roads due to rain can stop construction altogether. In addition, there is a risk of spending on additional equipment in order to pull out cars stuck in the mud.

6. Possibility of checking the quality of home insulation

During the winter months, you can immediately check whether your home is properly insulated. This is done using a thermal imager.

It is important that the quality of the building’s insulation can be checked even before the interior finishing, because at this stage everything is much easier to fix

In the summer, it is almost impossible to understand that the house does not keep warm. All problems will become clear only with the onset of cold weather, and the customer will most likely have to fix them on his own.

7. Possibility to use a new house in the summer

This is perhaps the most pleasant moment of winter construction. Having started building a house in the cold season, in the summer it will be possible to enjoy all the delights of country life in your own comfortable and cozy home.

Winter technologies for building frame houses

The construction of buildings, like any process, has its own characteristics. in winter it also has some nuances - we will consider them further.

1. Foundation

Almost all the difficulties in building a frame house in winter are associated with the need to carry out “wet” work at subzero temperatures.

In frame house construction, “wet work” means the construction of a monolithic foundation

This is the only workflow that is best avoided during the winter months. Alternatively, you can prepare the foundation in the warm season, and start building the frame with the onset of cold weather.

However, there are situations when laying a monolithic foundation in winter cannot be avoided. In this case, special winter construction technologies are used. Special anti-frost components are added to concrete, and electric heating is also used. In this situation, there can be no talk of saving.

A monolithic foundation for a frame house can be poured in winter, but it will be difficult and expensive

But with a pile-screw foundation, things are different. Installation of screw piles in winter is almost no different from summer work. The only condition is to clear the area of ​​snow. At the same time, the pile-screw foundation has good performance characteristics:

• Doesn't settle.
• Reliable.
• Suitable for places with difficult terrain.

In frame house construction, as a rule, the pile-screw technology of foundation construction is used.

2. Construction of a power frame

The construction of the frame does not cause any difficulties for workers in winter - the boards are dry and clean, the frame turns out neat.

Treatment of boards with antiseptics is not required in winter.

The only point that you should pay attention to is that when working at height, you should not use towers, since they are not very stable on icy and snowy surfaces; it is better to use scaffolding.

3. Exterior finishing

When is the best time to build a frame house?

For individual developers, up-to-date information, When is the best time to build a frame house? to reduce the cost of work. To do this, you should take into account weather conditions, readiness of the foundation, organizational issues of construction companies and other nuances of construction technologies. For example, in winter, most companies provide discounts, as the volume of work decreases sharply. However, in the absence of a ready-made foundation, the construction budget becomes unreasonably high.

Choosing the timing of the construction of the “framework”

Traditionally, the construction season is considered to be spring/autumn with nighttime temperatures not falling below zero. Winter monolithic foundation is at least 20% more expensive than usual. The building box itself is installed using power tools in the absence of precipitation, regardless of the street temperature. Many professionals deliberately leave the roof on during the winter so as not to sit idle. However, temporary shelter may be required, which will automatically increase the cost.

Winter and summer foundation for frame structure

The foundation estimate does not increase in winter only for screw piles. Any monolithic construction technology is more expensive, since special antifreeze reagents and heating of the formwork/concrete are required. The fallen snow can be swept away, but the ice will have to be removed with steam or scraped off.

If the foundation is left in the winter, the following options are possible:

• Without conservation, in the fall puddles accumulate inside, freezing in the cold, tending to tear the structure
• without load, foundations on clay soils are pushed outward, warped, and cracks open in the concrete

In summer, it is enough to provide concrete care (watering or a wet compress) to obtain brand strength in accordance with the design.

The nuances of constructing “frame” walls

• moisture after summer rain dries out on its own, and workers clear snow and ice from lumber, wasting time
• in cold weather, wood is fragile, and workers involuntarily speed up in order to warm up at the workplace or quickly get to a warm shed
• winter overalls are not so comfortable and the risk of injury increases

Therefore, discounts from contracting companies “burn out” on such nuances. In case of non-critical frosts (minus 5 - 15 degrees) in the absence of daily snowfalls, the cottage will actually be commissioned faster, and the load-bearing frame will be made of better quality. The customer should familiarize himself with the long-term forecast before signing the contract.

In summer, by default, antiseptics and fire retardants are absorbed into wood faster. With irregular working hours for crews, foremen spend longer on the construction site every day. Delivery is simplified. Loading and storage of materials, marking and cutting of boards and timber.

When to re-roof a frame cottage?

Many craftsmen prefer to make roofing pie in winter, but only with sufficient qualifications. Some claddings are prohibited from being installed at sub-zero temperatures. Therefore, roofing technology becomes a decisive factor here.

Building a house in the fall is no longer just a developer’s usual whim or the builder’s desire to earn additional money.

Today's technologies have not only stepped into the world of electronics and computer technology, but also make it possible not to stop construction during the cold season. Construction of a house in autumn: features, advantages and disadvantages. This is exactly the topic of our publication.

Construction in the fall: 5 reasons not to stop

The first reason that you are not doing construction on hot summer days is, first of all, the desire to complete what you started in the summer. Moving to a new home may be delayed because the rainy season or inclement windy weather with squalls prevented the foundation from being poured or the walls from being laid properly. Accordingly, the entire period of construction of the house was postponed. That is, autumn-winter construction may be due to a lack of time to complete what has been started. But in fact, there are five important reasons why sometimes construction in autumn more profitable:

1. Autumn ideally shows all the features of the territory, in particular hydrogeology: the presence of water flows through the site, swampy soil;
2. Reducing the cost of work, since during this period the supply from companies selling building materials increases. That is, in this way you can save a little. If you manage to get a good discount, then only the materials, when purchased in the fall, can significantly reduce the cost of your construction;
3. Great opportunity to choose quality construction specialists. The autumn period is almost a lull in construction, because a large number of skilled workers are released and they can be invited for construction. In addition, in this case, construction schedules are not so tight and the quality of work increases.
4. If you are building a house in the fall, then the foundation of the house will not be subject to uneven drying, that is, the foundation of the house will be stronger and more durable without additional costs;
5. And the most important reason not to stop at the construction site in the fall - by spring you can have a completely finished house! The deadline for handing over the house will not stretch out endlessly, and thus will reduce cash costs.

Benefits of building in the fall quite important, but they also have one technological feature. It is important that those who work with mortar, concrete screed, prepare and pour the foundation, and install the roof know the specifics of working in autumn conditions. If this does not happen, then you risk getting the opposite effect. Therefore, it would not be superfluous to invite construction work specialists with experience. Specialists of the InnovaStroy company offer turnkey construction, performing individual types of construction services of the widest range. Before making your final choice, you can order a free consultation with the company’s specialists.

Construction of a wooden house in autumn

If you decide to start construction in the fall, then it will take you a lot of time to build a brick house or a house made of concrete materials. You are unlikely to be able to make it before severe frosts. At a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius, any work with building mixtures or concrete is not advisable. This is primarily due to the same effect as in very hot weather - the mortar liquid can quickly freeze out and masonry or concreting will take place under conditions of uneven drying, and in this case, moisture freezing. If you dare to continue, you will have to use antifreeze additives, otherwise the stability of your foundation is in question.

Such additives can significantly increase not only the cost of materials, but also the cost of work for builders, who clearly will not feel comfortable from such working conditions. Therefore, in the cold autumn it is unlikely that it will be possible to build a complete house with brick walls. There is another important point. Brick laying is also possible in very cold weather. But at the same time, the solution itself should be no colder than +15C°. This is the maximum value at -20C°. That is, if the air temperature does not drop to strong negative levels (at least -5C°), then construction can move forward at a very fast pace. Which corresponds to the temperature regime of late autumn.

The most important thing is to lay the foundation you choose for your home. This is where the positive feature of autumn construction manifests itself. Cool autumn weather is ideal for the concrete to harden well and therefore your foundation will be very well done. Now it's time to build the walls. The most profitable option may be to build a wooden house in the fall. Modern wooden houses are not afraid of autumn rains and building a house in the fall is quite possible. The times when huge logs were brought to a construction site and had to be sawed and laid into logs are gone. Although, of course, you can do this, new technologies will not only speed up construction, but also save you from unnecessary hassle and huge time costs.

On the contrary, if you decide to build a light and durable frame house from wood, then you can meet the severe frosts in time. It will only remain in a warm box, doing finishing work.

Dry timber is the key to strength and durability

It is important that if you build a wooden house in the fall, you will be able to purchase so-called winter wood for construction. At this time, a tree appears in store warehouses, which is cut down after the movement of sap along the trunk has stopped. This kind of wood:

• drier, and therefore its shrinkage is minimal, and this, in turn, is the key to strong and precise connections of the house structure;
• such wood is better processed during construction work;
• dry wood is less susceptible to breaks and splits, and is more resistant to constant loads;
• treating wood beams with antiseptic solutions in dry, cool autumn is an ideal way to protect a house from rotting.

Autumn is not a hindrance for profiled timber

With modern processing technologies, a wooden house made of timber can be built in a matter of months, since after the foundation is erected, the walls are installed using the tongue-and-groove technology. Such tenon joints are manufactured in a factory and are semi-finished blanks, which significantly reduce the time required to build walls. They are very easily and quickly connected to each other without the complex procedure of marking, knocking out and then fastening the beams in place. Houses made of profiled timber, despite their low cost and relatively simple construction technology, have many positive qualities, for example, a favorable climate for humans. Such houses do not require additional finishing outside and inside. Thus, autumn construction can be completed much earlier, reducing the time for plastering and other interior and exterior finishing work.

In addition, such a house looks very attractive, despite the use of not the most expensive materials, since the use of wood emphasizes the elegance and reliability of the building, its uniqueness in comparison with block structures. A useful property of such profiled beams is their increased moisture resistance. Therefore, rain will not be a hindrance when laying walls. And the construction of the frame itself will not take much time. The main thing is to do everything according to technology.

Construction of a frame house in the fall

Among houses that are just as quick to build, but no less durable and comfortable to live in, there is a type of frame structures using not only wooden, but also other enclosing walls. The essence of the design of such a house is not new, but is implemented using new building materials. As in some houses dating back to medieval cities, and in ultra-modern constructive concepts of architectural masterpieces, the foundation of the house is laid in the form of a frame. It is on him that all the loads fall. And the protection of the insides of the house from moisture, cold and wind is placed on the walls.

To build such a house, you can use not only conventional building materials, but also so-called sandwich panels. They are ideal for working with frame houses. These panels are already sheathed at the factory with an insulating layer of polymer and protected with oriented strand boards, which have increased strength and thermal insulation. There are a lot of varieties of filling for such sandwich panels and they depend on the area of ​​application in construction.

Typically, such frame houses are partitioned inside with plasterboard partitions, which, as is known, are quite easy to assemble and install. Floors and ceilings can also be assembled from pre-fabricated panels. An important feature of such frame houses is an effective and cost-effective construction system, which allows you not to make the walls too thick, since such walls do not need to support the building structure. Reducing the thickness of the walls by only half or lightening the beam structures, reducing the calculated volumes of the foundation, leads to large savings in building materials.

Frame structures are suitable for both one-story and two-story construction. Houses with more floors can also be built. For a frame structure, the most important thing is a strong, pre-calculated house structure, designed professional engineers. Not only the ease of construction, but also the durability of the construction of such a house depends on this.

It should be noted that if you nevertheless decide to suspend construction in the autumn, the frame buildings can be covered with a special awning and wait until spring without any problems. Such awnings are highly resistant, including to heavy snow accumulation. That is, there is no need to fear for the safety of the construction site under the influence of snow, wind or rain.

Building a house in the fall: disadvantages

But building a house in the fall also has negative properties, which we have partially mentioned. We have already talked about the main risk - unskilled actions of builders or too cold weather.

There are a number of other factors influencing construction at this time of year:

• Special care for poured foundations. If the foundation falls under prolonged precipitation, this may cause unwanted washout of the concrete base, dissolving or weakening the connections;
• The inability to use certain building materials during construction that are installed only in the warm season, including a number of roofing materials with a polymer or bitumen base;
• There is a danger of being held hostage by too changeable weather, which will not allow you to complete what you planned. By the way, this also applies to materials, because it is possible to work under an awning covering, but not all insulating mixtures, for example, can be used effectively when the humidity of their installation is high;
• In the autumn, especially during constant rains, it is not recommended to carry out construction and installation of communications. This will significantly worsen the quality of the work performed, since the soil can give a strong settlement, and sometimes the soaked soil is simply impossible to keep on the slopes of the trenches.

Actually, these are all disadvantages that can significantly affect the ability to engage in construction in the autumn. And therefore we can summarize.

Pros and cons of autumn construction site

Autumn construction of a house will have many advantages, including:

• efficiency;
• quality improvement;
• obtaining a solid foundation;
• short time;
• a good basis for completing construction with brick-and-mortar or concrete wall materials by the spring season.

But don't forget that autumn is the time of year when warm days alternate with cool and long weeks of gloomy gray rainy days, so you need to be prepared for a lot of weather conditions to interfere with your plans. And here technology will not be able to help you. But if you are not afraid of bad weather, are ready to withstand the weather, thanks to the knowledge of professional builders, boldly go towards the goal - building your own house or cottage, then autumn is a wonderful time to make such a dream come true.

Autumn. The summer season has come to an end, the harvest has been harvested and the final preparations are underway for the site for wintering, for a kind of “hibernation”, as many might think. However, right now is the time for construction or. We will consider in more detail why “it’s time” in autumn/winter, as well as the pros and cons of autumn-winter construction.

When constructing a low-rise country house, we recommend dividing the work into stages by season:

• Autumn - construction of the power unit;
• Winter –, internal and basic;
• Spring – engineering and final finishing work;
• Summer – arrangement and relaxation in a new home.

A certain stereotype has developed regarding autumn and winter as not the most successful time for construction, mainly due to weather conditions. Indeed, some aspects become more complicated. For example, at sub-zero temperatures it is not recommended to build or use a soft roof for roofs - under the influence of low temperatures it can crumble. However, these problems are easily solved by using modern construction technologies and materials.

Plus number 1. Saving money

It is much cheaper to build houses in autumn and winter. Money is saved both from building materials and from payments for the services of construction organizations or private construction teams.

At the beginning of the “construction season” (late winter - early spring), the demand for building materials increases significantly, which is why prices rise significantly compared to the prices of the previous season. In addition, an increase in demand for materials is most often accompanied by shortages and, in extreme cases, even shortages. This is why the completion date of the project, like your long-awaited housewarming party, is postponed indefinitely.

Savings on construction companies come from all kinds of discounts and bonuses on orders. Such programs are mainly provided by organizations that operate year-round, rather than seasonally. Moreover, these discounts are provided not by reducing the quality of work, but by reducing their own profits, so as not to waste time during downtime. For example, at the moment - until November 30, our organization provides a 20% discount on the construction of all types of foundations.

Construction of country houses, cottages and dachas in autumn and winter will help save your money, which can be used to greater benefit. For example, instead of a 6x6m house, which you will be able to afford next spring, by starting construction now, by this very spring you will be able to build a 6x8m house*.

Plus number 2. High quality material

This applies to wooden housing construction. For the construction of a wooden house, wood harvested at the beginning of winter is best suited - it dries faster and more evenly, and also cracks less and shrinks less. In addition, at low temperatures, the secretion of juices in the tree stops (the tree does not grow and therefore does not need to receive nutrients) and it does not rot, but becomes dry and denser. All this improves the overall quality of wood as a building material and reduces the time required for shrinkage of the house. By summer it will be possible to complete all repair and finishing work.

Equally important is the resistance of the winter forest to various types of rot, bacteria and bugs, which increases due to the natural conditions of harvesting, processing, storing and transporting wood during the cold season. Temperatures below zero allow us to minimize the natural processes of wood rotting under the influence of heat and oxygen. You can safely build in autumn and winter, eliminating unnecessary work to protect the material, which will ultimately reduce overall costs.

Plus number 3. Save time

However, the most important argument in favor of building a house in autumn and winter can be considered saving time. By spring, the beginning of the dacha season, your house will be built and ready to receive guests. Winter time will not be a simple “hibernation”, but will work for you. With the beginning of the season, it will be possible to begin arranging the house and territory, taking care of the beds and lawns, and not construction issues.

Minuses:

1. Foundation problem. If you need a concrete foundation, and you did not have time to lay it in the fall, in winter you will have to use special additives for cement and winter concrete. An alternative option is that it can be erected at any time of the year without any restrictions.
2. Additional snow removal services may be required to deliver materials to the site. Main roads to residential villages and towns must be cleaned in winter, but to get to your site you may need to hire a tractor for an additional fee. In any case, these problems are solved by the construction organization.

Construction in autumn and winter

Having considered all the pros and cons of autumn-winter house construction, we can confidently say that it is more profitable to build during this period. By saving money on materials, reducing prices for the services of construction organizations, and providing them with discounts and bonuses, building a house in the fall and winter will also save you time, which you will not have to spend on construction work in the spring and summer. And the best quality of the material used will increase the life of your home by decades.

* - this example is not a commercial offer

AUTUMN and WINTER are the best times to build a country house!