The winter months are a tough time for home builders in areas of the country that face harsh temperature decline. While many home building companies choose to stop their work until warmer weather returns, some are making the decision to build all year round. There are benefits to both decisions, but understanding the risks that come along with winter home building will help you decide which choice is right for you.
The Benefits
The benefits of winter home building can be seen mainly in the increased ability for productivity. By working all year round, builders have time to complete more projects. The projects they do take on typically get finished faster since they aren’t taking months off in between. This increased productivity and speed gives builders an edge up on their potential competition, which often means increased profit margins.
The Risks
While we discussed the possibility of increased profit from less competition, it’s important to note that the winter building itself tends to be more expensive. These rising costs will cause the increased profit margin to dwindle as the project goes on quickly. Temporary heat sources and snow removal from the work site are the two most common costs the winter builders face. The cold weather can quickly slow down the foundation digging stage as the builders have to work through frozen layers of the ground, but spring rains bring a different muddy issue to that scenario as well. Finally, cold weather can decrease worker productivity. Workers will be faced with extra tasks when setting up heating and lighting equipment to compensate for the cold weather and shorter days. These increased tasks and uncomfortable temperatures lead to a drop in employee morale, resulting in slower work. Of course, slow work is more productive than no work at all during the winter months.
When deciding if it makes sense to build homes during the winter months, it comes down to evaluating the costs versus the potential profit to determine if it’s worth it for your company or not.
