Crested Butte home construction continues regardless of the weather that winter brings. It might be contrary to common logic, but building homes is a year-round affair even where snow falls regularly enough to ski, snowboard, snowmobile and snowshoe any day you choose in winter. Two longtime builders, based in the Gunnison-Crested Butte Valley and working on homes for families from Dallas and Oklahoma City at Wilder on the Taylor, don’t think twice about working on projects when snowflakes fly. They offer some wise pieces of advice for those who are considering a Crested Butte home construction project.
“I’ve been building here 40 years and built every winter, it’s part of what you do,” says Steve Cappellucci, owner of Spring Creek Timber Construction located in nearby Spring Creek. “Generally you build year-round here, especially with the houses being built now that take time and have a lot of detail. They are year-long projects at a minimum.”
He notes, “The best advice for anyone involved in a Crested Butte home construction project is to get the foundation in as soon as you can in the spring so you have the summer and fall seasons to get the house closed in. The key is starting early, not late, but we can’t always control the timing.”
For example, the home he is working on for the Dallas couple was started in the fall of 2014, with the foundation dug before frost hit and an expected completion date of late February or early March of this year. Working through the winter does require some extra effort like snow removal and heating to keep tools, features and construction workers warm. For example, completing the masonry work on the fireplaces for this home during winter required tenting both chimneys.
The home Scott Hargrove is building for the Oklahoma family integrates a historic cabin from the area and had an even later start date, mid-December 2014. A March completion date is expected. “It was such a warm, beautiful winter last year,” he notes. “In February it was so beautiful that dirt work was being done with shirts off!”
While that might not be the norm, it’s typical to strive for getting the roof on and the house dried in so the construction team can work on the interior during the winter. “We have the house warmed up and heat on by Thanksgiving. We work on the inside all winter and wait for the nice days to work outside,” says Hargrove, owner of Hargrove Construction in Crested Butte.
“If you don’t figure out how to work during winter, you would be home watching soap operas,” he chuckles. “Sometimes working in the winter is better than the rainy weather of summer.”
Home construction at Wilder on the Taylor is active throughout the seasons, and the blanket of snow on the meadow hasn’t slowed the pace of building this winter. Ron Welborn, development partner at Wilder, says, “We are all anxious to share the warmth and comfort that these beautiful homes will bring to the families at Wilder.”
For more information about Crested Butte land for sale visit wildercolorado.com/. We look forward to speaking with you about life on the majestic Taylor River and why this is a special place to begin your Crested Butte home construction plans.
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