The impulse to do home upgrades can strike at any time. Some upgrades you can do any time you want. Carpet replacement is not season-dependent. As long as you use low-VOC, water-based acrylic paint, you can do interior painting year round. There are, however, some upgrades that will go off much better in the summer.

Deck Building or Repair

Decks are a functional way to extend your home’s summertime living space. Installing or repairing a deck is a summertime job. Deck installations require holes in the ground for the corner posts. No one wants to dig holes in the frozen soil. Repairs often require you to do some staining and sealing. Stains and sealants almost always need to be applied at temperatures over 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Replace Doors and Windows

New doors or new windows can help shore up your home’s environmental envelope and temperature control. While they can be replaced at any time, in theory, having gaping holes in your walls during the winter isn’t a great play. Summer replacements make temperature control substantially easier and cheaper if you can tolerate some extra heat in the house. Plus, it’s not a crisis if all the finishing touches don’t get finished until the next day. For extra convenience, get a company like Gilkey Windows to come out so the job gets done quicker and easier than doing it yourself.

Refinishing Floors

Much as with deck stains, the varnishes used to refinish floors work best above the 50 degrees mark. Oil-based varnish fumes are potentially toxic, but also flammable. Having a furnace on in the winter to keep temperatures over 50 degrees is a potential fire hazard. While not flammable, water-based varnishes have a substantial odor. You’ll want to be able to throw open the windows to air out the house, which simply isn’t practical or cost-effective in the winter cold.

Concrete Repairs

If you have any damaged concrete at your home, such as a walkway, summer is the only practical time to repair it. Winter isn’t an option because the water in the wet concrete will freeze. This interrupts the chemical curing process that hardens the concrete and leaves you with shoddy concrete. Spring and fall are also problematic because rain exposure is a possibility, which also damages the curing process.

Summer is an excellent time for home upgrades, but it’s especially good for exterior projects and projects involving chemicals or strong odors. Door and window replacement also go more smoothly courtesy of more moderate temperatures. Just remember to consult product instructions or a professional any time you’re in doubt.