· by Michael Blair, Nashville's Remodeling
Late September is when a lot of Nashville homeowners decide the kitchen, the addition or the basement finally happens this year, often with a finish date around the holidays in mind. The calendar pushes back in a few specific ways. Concrete, exterior paint, caulk, roofing and even drywall mud all have temperatures below which they do not cure properly, and Middle Tennessee usually sees its first frost somewhere between late October and early November. The trick is sorting the project into the parts that have to happen before the cold arrives and the parts that can fill the winter indoors.
What the cold actually stops
Fresh concrete has to stay above freezing while it cures, and cold slows that cure down even when it does not freeze. A footing or a slab poured in November can be done properly, but it takes insulated blankets, sometimes a heated enclosure, sometimes an accelerating admixture, and a close eye on the overnight forecast. Every one of those is a cost the same pour in September does not carry.
Exterior paint, stain and sealant list a minimum application temperature on the can, and that number covers the night after as well as the afternoon you apply them, because the film is still curing when the sun goes down. Asphalt shingles rely on a strip of adhesive that the sun softens so each course bonds to the one below. Laid in the cold, they can sit unbonded until spring, which is exactly when the straight-line winds arrive.
Getting the shell closed in
On an addition, the goal before winter is to be dried in: roof sheathed and covered, windows and exterior doors set, house wrap on. Winter here is wetter than it is snowy, and framing, subfloor and sheathing that sit through weeks of cold rain swell, stain and hold moisture that later shows up as squeaks, nail pops and mildew behind the drywall. Once the shell sheds water, the rest of the job can carry on through January with temporary heat.
Temporary heat is its own decision. Drywall compound, tile setting materials and wood flooring all want a warm, reasonably dry room. Open-flame propane heaters put a lot of water vapor into the air as they burn, which works against drying, so indirect-fired or electric heat is the better choice inside. Running the house’s own furnace during drywall sanding pulls fine dust through the blower and the ducts unless the returns are sealed and the filter is changed often.
- Footings, foundations and slab pours
- Exterior concrete: steps, walks and patios
- Roofing, especially on an addition
- Exterior paint, stain and caulk
- Grading, downspouts and drainage around new work
Work that suits the cold months
Kitchens, bathrooms and basements that do not open an exterior wall are natural winter projects, since almost nothing about them depends on the weather. The trade-off is living with the windows shut. Dust and the smell of finishes stay in the house, so plastic barriers, a negative-air fan exhausting out of a window, and low-odor products matter more in January than in May.
Older houses add one more item. In East Nashville, Sylvan Park and other neighborhoods with vented crawl spaces, the supply lines under the floor are exposed to outside air. A remodel that opens an exterior wall or takes the insulation off crawl space pipes during a cold snap can freeze a line that has been fine for decades. Our crews reroute or insulate those runs before the weather turns, not after the first burst.
The holidays, and planning for spring instead
From late November through New Year, suppliers slow down, cabinet and window lead times stretch, inspections are harder to book and crews take time off. A kitchen demolished in mid-October with a Thanksgiving deadline is rarely a realistic plan, particularly when the permit review with Metro Codes or the county codes office still has to happen first. If the room has to be usable for guests, it is better to start after the holidays than to host in a half-finished kitchen.
The alternative is to use the fall for everything that is not construction: design, drawings, the structural engineer, the permit review and ordering the long-lead materials. A project with a permit in hand and cabinets on order by February can start demolition in March, before contractor calendars fill with spring work and before the hail season sends roofers off to storm repairs.