When is the best time to remodel around DC?

January to March: plan and price while calendars are open

Design, selections and permits take months, which is why the homeowners who start planning in fall and early winter get the spring build slots. January is the month to measure, choose the layout and get a written price, so the cabinets and windows with long lead times can be ordered before anything is torn out.

DC listings peak in March. If you are selling this spring, the kitchen or bathroom refresh has to be finished before the photographs, not started the week the house is listed. See remodels that help a DC house sell and what moves a remodel price.

April to August: the building season

April is the classic month to book a kitchen or a bathroom, early enough to start right away. Summer is the busiest remodeling season, because families work around vacations and school breaks and long days help the work along. Expect longer waits for a start date if you call in June.

Outside, the average last spring freeze in Washington is April 1, which opens the window for decks, siding and additions. The wettest months here are typically May, June and July, so a basement that stays dry through them has told you something before you finish it.

September to mid November: the holiday deadline and the outside window

A second wave of calls comes from people who want the work done before guests arrive, and contractors describe a scramble to finish by mid November. If the room has to be ready for Thanksgiving, count back from there and book in late summer.

Fall is the best window for exterior paint in this climate, which needs around 50 degrees to cure. The average first freeze in Washington is around November 12, so get exterior painting and any rotten trim dealt with in September or October. Nor'easter season starts in September and peaks in December and January, and the rain it drives sideways finds every soft sill and open seam.

Mid November to February: indoor work and next year's plan

Very few people open up a kitchen the week before Thanksgiving. Kitchens, bathrooms and basements are indoor work, though, and they can run in any month. Winter is when contractor availability tends to improve, so a January start can be easier to get than a May one.

This is also when next spring gets decided. A design finished in December is a project that can be ordered in January and built while everyone else is still calling for prices. See how long a remodel takes and living at home through one.

What to settle with any remodeler before work starts

What people praise contractors for is simple. They showed up when they said, kept the lines of communication open, priced the work fairly and up front, and the finished work blended into the house. The complaints are simple too. A job was left messy, or the start time was confusing and then moved. All of that can be settled before demolition.

• The date and the time of the walkthrough, confirmed in writing. When we book one you get a text with the date, the time and the address.
• A written scope and one written price, with every allowance named and given a figure. Ours usually follows the walkthrough within 24 to 48 hours.
• The start date in writing, and the order the work runs in.
• What happens if something is found behind a wall. With us the work stops, you see photos, and the fix is a written change order you approve before anything else is done.
• How the house is protected and left each day: dust control, covered floors and where the debris goes.
• Who you call. With us it is one project manager, from demolition to the final caulk line.
• The warranty term. Ours is 60 to 90 days on our work, named in the written scope.

We answer every day from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Call (240) 695-4415 or start your estimate. Read our standards for the rest.