Winter Construction Costs: Does Your Bid Carry Them?

If you're building in the mountains, your house will see at least one winter under construction. Probably more than one. A spring start helps, but a custom home can easily run more than a year, and that puts the interior work right in the middle of the next winter.

Winter work costs money in ways summer work doesn't. The question for your bid isn't whether those costs exist. It's whether the builder carried them, how much of them, and what happens when the winter is longer or harder than they assumed.

What winter actually costs

Temporary heat. Once the house is closed in, it has to be kept warm enough to work in and warm enough for the materials. Drywall mud, paint, adhesives, and tile setting materials all have minimum temperatures on the label. Until the permanent heating system is running, that means temporary heaters and the fuel to run them, sometimes for months. Fuel is the part that surprises people.

Snow removal. Plowing the driveway and staging area so crews and deliveries can get in. Shoveling decks, scaffolding, and the roof when it's loaded. On a steep lot with a long drive, this happens every storm, and someone is paying for each trip.

Enclosures and protection. Tarping and framing temporary walls so work can continue inside before the windows arrive. Protecting framing, sheathing, and materials already on site from snow and meltwater. Keeping water out of a house that doesn't have its roof finished yet.

Frozen ground and concrete. Excavating frozen ground is slower and harder on equipment. Footings and foundation walls poured in the cold need ground thaw ahead of time, heated water or accelerators in the mix, and insulated blankets afterward. If your foundation lands in late fall, ask about this specifically.

Lost days and slower days. Storm days, short daylight, and crews working in layers all cut productivity. That shows up as a longer schedule, and on many contracts a longer schedule costs more in supervision and general conditions.

What a bid should say

A bid that has thought about winter names each of these as its own line, with the assumption written next to it. Something like:

Item	What the bid should state
Temporary heat	Months of heat included, fuel type, and whether fuel is in the price
Snow removal	Months or number of events included, and what's covered (drive, site, roof)
Enclosures	Which phases are protected, and for how long
Cold-weather concrete	Ground thaw, heated mix, and blankets, if foundation work could fall in cold months
Schedule	A start date, and a duration that accounts for the winter months it crosses

A bid that hasn't thought about winter either leaves these out entirely or rolls them into one "winter conditions" line with no assumptions. Neither tells you what happens if the job runs longer.

Why the assumption matters more than the number

Say one builder carries four months of temporary heat and another carries seven. The first bid looks cheaper. But if the permanent heat isn't running until spring, the first builder will be back with a change order for the other three months, or eating the cost and looking for it somewhere else.

Neither number is wrong on its face. What you want is a number tied to a realistic schedule for your start date, and a written answer for what happens when the assumption runs out. On a fixed price bid, that answer decides whether extra winter is your cost or the builder's. On a cost plus job, it's your cost either way, so the estimate should carry a realistic amount from the start.

If you're comparing bids, check that every builder assumed the same start date. A builder who assumed an April start and one who assumed July are pricing different winters.

Questions worth asking

• How many months of temporary heat are included, and is the fuel in the price?
• When do you expect the permanent heating system to be running?
• What does snow removal cover, and for how long?
• If the foundation work lands in cold weather, what's included for it?
• What start date is the schedule based on, and how many winter months does it cross?
• If winter runs longer than you assumed, who pays for the extra months?

For the rest of what a complete bid should spell out, see What a complete custom home bid should include.