Not looking forward to winter? It happens to the best of us. Driving to and from work in the dark hardly motivates you to tackle big projects. The cold weather only leaves you with the desire to get home and curl up under a blanket with a hot chocolate in hand.
Yet while this may be the best time to catch up on that much-needed rest you’ve missed out on the past few months, it can also be the best time for a little repair and home maintenance. And there are a number of reasons why winter is the best season for home remodeling.
Contractor Availability
During the warmer months people head to the great outdoors, play longer hours. It sends you outside to fire up the BBQ and makes you dream of designing your outdoor dream deck. It allows you to throw open the windows for fresh air and see how messy your basement really has become.
Yes, warm weather and spring send us all rushing and planning to take full advantage of the warmer days ahead. We start dreaming. We start planning. And we begin to take action. It’s human nature.
Spring is the busiest time of year for a contractor. It’s the time of year where they dust off their calendars and start laying down the groundwork for the months ahead. Contractors are slower in the winter months. They schedule less to make up for their time during the warmer seasons. Which means winter is the perfect time to get your home improvement project dusted off and put into play.
Avoid Spring Increases
In many cases, you can work with a reputable contractor at reduced rates, and receive more focus and more concentration on the project at hand simply because they have less on their plate.
Find Better Inventory
Don’t you just hate it when you find the perfect appliance or faucet or fixture you have your heart set on it, only to return the next weekend to find it out of stock? Then no matter how much searching you do, you simply can’t find another?
Fixtures don’t move off the shelf space quite as quickly in winter months – especially without the hordes of people vying for the same products. It gives you a chance to shop around more and find exactly what you are looking for.
You can spend more time talking with sales people to ensure the quality of a product. You can do a little more research to make sure your final selection is the right choice for you.
Get Approval Faster
Contractors aren’t the only people operating a little slower in the cold, winter months. You’ll find people at your town government offices are a little less busy. Which means it may take you less time to get all the permits you need to complete the job from beginning to end. And for your major projects, finding an inspector can be a little easier, which means you can move from phase to phase in shorter periods of time.
Consider Other Projects
If you are working hand in hand with a contractor, this may be the perfect time to bring up those extra projects – you know, the deck expansion you’ve always wanted to do… or the sunroom you’ve wanted to add.
Yes, they will require outside work. And it’s difficult to complete those outside projects in the middle of a snowstorm. But when the weather clears for weeks, it may be the perfect time to get started and get them finished before the rush.
Some things are better off waiting for spring; you wouldn’t want to paint your exterior when cold temperatures still prevail. But building a deck or adding a porch can take place in the winter. All they need is a little extra planning and the desire to work with your contractor to see the project through to completion.
Get started on your project today.
If you need a home builder in New London County CT to work with you on a winter renovation project for 2016, Graf Enterprise will be happy to schedule a meeting with you and answer all your questions.