Can a house be framed in winter in the Flathead Valley?

Yes. We framed Morton's, a 6,800 square foot house up at the Homestead, through a Montana winter, and it turned out well. It was a harder job than the same house would have been in summer.

Does winter framing cost more?

Plan on it. Shorter daylight, snow that has to be cleared off the deck before work starts, and slower going in the cold all cut into how much gets done in a day.

Is it better to wait for spring?

It depends on what the delay does to the rest of your schedule. If framing in winter is what gets the building dried in before the next season, it is often worth it. If it just moves the same work into worse conditions for no schedule gain, it isn't.

Guides · Flathead Valley, MT

Framing through a Montana winter

Can you frame a house through a Montana winter?

Short answer: yes. We framed Morton’s — about 6,800 square feet up at the Homestead — straight through a Montana winter. It kicked our butts and it turned out phenomenal. Both halves of that are true and you should weigh both.

The whole house in frame across a wide winter view — sheathed walls and open gable ends standing on snow-covered ground, an excavator parked at the left and snow-capped mountains along the horizon. — Morton's — A 6,800 square foot house framed through a Montana winter, the first home Glacier Basin Builders has framed in the Homesteads north of Whitefish, with timber accents and vaulted ceilings throughout.

A telehandler lifting a sheathing panel up to the wall, with a ground heater trailer parked alongside it on the frozen gravel. — Morton's

What winter actually costs you

Daylight. In December up here you are working a short day whether you like it or not. That alone changes what a week produces.

Snow. Every snowfall lands on the deck you were about to work on, and it has to come off before anything else happens. That is time nobody quotes for.

Snow falling across the site, the sheathed house standing behind a crew working beside a trailer, with a lift and a loader parked in the churned snow. — Morton's

Everything takes longer. Cold hands, heavy clothing, ice on surfaces that need to be walked on with material in your arms. A crew does not move in January the way it moves in July, and pretending otherwise is how people get hurt.

Why you might do it anyway

Because the alternative is often worse. Framing is what gets a building dried in. If waiting until spring means the whole schedule slides a season — and everything behind framing slides with it — then a hard winter on the frame can buy back more than it costs.

That is the actual decision, and it is a schedule decision more than a weather one. What does the delay do to everything downstream? If the answer is “nothing much,” wait. If the answer is “it pushes the finish work into next winter,” it’s worth having the conversation.

What we’d want to know before saying yes

Access, mostly. Whether the site can be kept open, whether a crane can get where it needs to be, and what the approach looks like after a real snowfall. A house that is straightforward in September can be a different proposition in February purely because of the road to it.

A telehandler sunk to its axle in churned mud with one of the crew at the controls and another crouched working on the ground beside it, the site fence running away behind. — Brace Place Dental Office Framing — Framing for the Brace Place dental office, a commercial build for general contractor Compass Construction.

We’ve done it, we’ll do it again, and we’ll tell you honestly if we think your particular job should wait.

Quick answers

Can a house be framed in winter in the Flathead Valley?: Yes. We framed Morton's, a 6,800 square foot house up at the Homestead, through a Montana winter, and it turned out well. It was a harder job than the same house would have been in summer.
Does winter framing cost more?: Plan on it. Shorter daylight, snow that has to be cleared off the deck before work starts, and slower going in the cold all cut into how much gets done in a day.
Is it better to wait for spring?: It depends on what the delay does to the rest of your schedule. If framing in winter is what gets the building dried in before the next season, it is often worth it. If it just moves the same work into worse conditions for no schedule gain, it isn't.

Got a set of plans?

We'll look at them and tell you what the framing side of it actually means — timber, schedule, and what we'd want to know before quoting it.

(406) 270-8642 Send us your plans