Winter construction – pros and cons

Let’s first note the most obvious drawback, which is well understood even by people far from the construction site – it is more difficult to work in cold weather. You have to worry about warm and at the same time comfortable clothes, thick gloves can not only warm, but also interfere with the work. Also, working in the cold can lead to colds. You can’t argue with this minus of the winter construction site, although special work clothes designed to help cope with the cold are not a problem to buy now.

The biggest problems in winter can arise with the construction of the foundation. Although if you take a number of preparatory work, then you can fight the problem of freezing of the foundation.

There is a way out and now you can build a foundation even in winter:

1. Engineering and geological surveys can be carried out in advance, in early autumn, to determine the GWL and prepare for the construction of the foundation;
2. Before laying the foundation, the frozen soil can be warmed up by making fires around the entire perimeter or by building a hothouse, a tent, warmed from the inside;
3. Antifreeze additives, “non-freezing”, which will not allow it to harden, are necessarily introduced into the concrete solution. According to GOST 22266, the “non-freezing” structure includes nitrites and chlorides of calcium and sodium, potassium. But there are also disadvantages: a solution with anti-freeze additives is more expensive. And you still can’t work with it at temperatures below -15 ° C. If the solution is heated without letting it freeze, additional costs arise;
4. The concrete solution, even taking into account the presence of antifreeze additives, will require additional protection:
   • For example, you can use heat-insulated formwork, and insulate the poured foundation with tarpaulin, film, awning. It turns out the “thermos” method, but it will work only if the air temperature is not lower than -4 ° C.
   • Another option is to warm up the poured foundation with electricity by entangling the formwork with a heating cable or laying the conductors directly into concrete during pouring. Cons – you need electricity on the site or a generator. Additional electricity or fuel costs for the generator.
   • The third option is to build a hothouse over the construction site and heat the resulting sealed tent from the inside with heat guns. This method of protecting the poured foundation from frost can be called optimal, it will be much more convenient for the workers in the greenhouse, the snow will not fall on the site. But again there are costs, often significant, for the construction of a tent frame and the purchase of a reliable covering material, for example, tarpaulin.

As you can see, problems with the installation of the foundation in winter, in general, can be solved, albeit through additional costs, although in severe frosts, work will still have to be suspended. The same difficulties await the contractor and developer when laying bricks, for which concrete mortar is also used. In addition, the use of antifreeze additives increases the amount of efflorescence on masonry..

Other disadvantages of building in the winter include:

• Additional electricity costs;
• Short daylight hours will significantly reduce the time that can be used for active work, construction will go slower;
• Snowfall will be the reason that most of the day will have to be spent not on construction, but on snow removal. During the thaw, there will be dirt around the construction site; special equipment may not pass. Will interfere with the delivery of building materials and snowfalls. Temperature changes can lead to ice, ice, cause work stoppages;
• In winter, the risk of various injuries increases. For example, laying corrugated board on the roof in frost is a dangerous undertaking;
• Some processes still have to be postponed to the warm season. For example, it is not recommended to engage in facade plastering, despite the fact that there are formulations with antifreeze additives, experts do not advise to carry out facial masonry;
• Using some building materials in frost will also not work. For example, flexible shingles will be very difficult to install, even with a small minus. Boards crack in the cold if you try to saw them off, and some antiseptics and fire retardants freeze, so you won’t be able to process the wood;
• In winter, you have to pay special attention to the storage of building materials. For example, dry building mixtures are recommended to be stored in a warm room..

Despite all of the above disadvantages, winter construction has its own advantages. The first one is saving money on buying building materials and hiring workers. In the cold season, many construction crews are left without orders, so it will not be difficult to find specialists at an affordable price.

You can also bargain with suppliers, getting a discount on a batch of building materials in the absence of demand. These savings in labor and building materials help offset additional energy costs and special concrete mixes. You can save on building materials and hired workers in the winter on average 10-30%.

In addition, in winter, heavy construction equipment is less likely to break the soil around a house under construction. In general, it is easier to transport everything you need on frozen dirt roads than on a spring thaw.

Separately, mention should be made of the advantages of building houses from timber and logs in winter. It is known that timber harvested in winter is especially valued. According to experts, in winter there is no movement of juices in the wood, humidity is minimal, in conditions of negative temperatures, moisture simply freezes out. Thanks to this, the shrinkage of the wooden house occurs evenly. As a result, if you build a log house from November to February, then in the summer you can start finishing and celebrate a housewarming in autumn.

Another plus – under a wooden house with lighter walls than in the case of using blocks or bricks, you can make a pile-screw foundation. It is easier and cheaper to equip it in winter than a tape made of concrete.

We state: you can build in winter! Of course, it will be more difficult to build a brick or aerated concrete house on a solid foundation. But the construction of a log house or frame house in winter has noticeable advantages.