Anyone who has taken a wrong turn sledding down a frozen winter’s hill or wiped out on a frosty morning hike has learned the hard way how much harder the ground seems this time of year. The same principle applies to excavation — digging through frozen turf and soil would seem a more daunting task.
Perception, though, might not be reality in this case. For the top layer of earth to be frozen, temperatures would have to dip below freezing for weeks, which is not a common occurrence in the Tri-State. So excavation projects, especially those that precede building a structure, can be not only doable but in some cases more efficient in the wintertime.
Here is a look at some reasons why winter excavation is a viable option:
Less busy time of year for professionals
Construction and excavation companies may have some downtime in the winter. That will allow a team to prioritize your project and put it at the top of the to-do list.
More workers available
In concert with the previous point, with less activity ongoing comes more contractors and professionals looking for a project. As many hands makes light work, so more workers will shorten the timeline to completion.
Moving your project along
Even as our area experiences mild and short winters compared to much of the midwest, the northeast, the plains and other points north, winter is too long to wait to get your project off the ground. Even if the work can be a bit slower due to the weather, proceeding during the winter should get your project squared away much more quickly than trying to wait out Frosty.
Being ready to roll when weather is good
If you are building a structure, it will benefit you greatly to have the excavation work finished and out of the way and be ready to start your build by the time the weather breaks. This could allow you to, at least to some degree, avoid the other extreme — sweltering heat — and be finished long before the cycle completes and it’s time to bundle up again.
To expand on this last point: if you wait until spring to begin the process, you will be competing with others who chose to wait out bad weather for resources, including the workforce, and that can do nothing but slow your timeline. And having the dirty work out of the way before the weather breaks — specially in places that get a lot of spring rain, such as ours — can save some time on that end.
Ultimately, in the name of efficiency and treating time as money, winter excavation can be a cost-effective option as well as one that gets your project rolling toward completion as soon as possible. And isn’t that the point?