What’s the Best Time of Year to Build a New House?

Once you’ve made the choice to build your own home, there are a number of decisions that follow, including the contractor you’ll use, the kinds of design options you’ll choose, the materials you’ll go with and, of course, when you’ll actually start building.

Timing out your home construction project is important, because the proper timing will help you to avoid some delays in the construction process, which also helps you to avoid some unplanned costs that might arise from those delays. The biggest consideration, obviously, will be the weather. You’re going to want to get most of the construction done at a time of year when the temperature in your area is ideal. But there are other factors to take into account as well.

Here’s some information from a custom home builder in Pennsylvania about how you can properly time out your new home construction.

Make sure you have the timing correct

You can expect the average house to take six to 12 months to complete, depending on its size, complexity, the type of home and other such factors, as well as the availability of the various building supplies you’re using.

People tend to mistakenly assume the best time to build is over the summer, but that’s not actually the case. You may not realize that extreme heat can cause just as many delays as cold, snow or rain. There are some days where it may just be too hot to get any work done. Therefore, it’s actually helpful to time out your project so you don’t have to rely on getting the bulk of your work done during the hottest parts of the summer.

People who live in parts of the United States that have milder winters would actually be well served by starting their build during the winter. Unfortunately, that won’t apply to most people here in Pennsylvania, where we get plenty of snow and cold. That leaves you with three seasons to choose from to begin your build.

The main advantages of starting your building in the spring or summer is that the days will be longer and the weather is a bit more reliable, which means construction might go faster. Starting in the spring is probably your best bet if you’re hoping to get the project completed as quickly as possible, because the weather is mild enough that you won’t have to worry about heat or cold delays, and because your workers will be able to take advantage of the increasing amount of daylight.

However, if your priority is to save more money on labor and materials, then you should consider starting construction in the fall. Fall tends to be the “off” season for residential construction, which means there’s lower demand for both labor and materials. This means you’ll be able to get some deals on pricing that might not be available if you started in the spring or summer. Lumber prices tend to soar in the spring before tailing off in the fall and winter. The disadvantages of the fall are that the amount of daylight steadily decreases and winter follows right after it, but if you’re not in as big a hurry, you can definitely stand to save some money by beginning work in the fall.

For more information about the best time of year to work with a custom home builder in Pennsylvania, we encourage you to contact WSL Incorporated today.