I’ve been framing for 10yrs but I have never did it in the winter( one advantage of having a framing and trim company) How do you guys keep everything running well and keep your guys from freezing.
As always any and all comments appreciated.
Greg Werner- Werner Building & Remodeling
Huntingdon PA
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pep talks and thank yous
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Dress the right way and keep moving and don't sit in the truck with all your cloths on with the heat on at coffee and lunch break and then get out complaining that your cold.
Work faster! I've been working outside in Maine all my life. Many days, it will get up into the teens and twenties, which isn't too bad. -20° and below gets uncomfortable. If we weren't working we would be skiing, snowmobiling or ice fishing. It's just a matter of dressing right. As long as you are active, you can stay comfortable. If you don't have good cold weather gear or have exposed skin at the low temperatures things can get serious.
Everyone has their special combination that works for them. What keeps my buddy warm, may freeze me. You can't pile on too many layers, you can't move or you sweat. My combo starts with two pair of socks, one light ,one heavy. I like my LaCrosse Ice Man boots. They have wool/polypropo liners. I have two pair of liners, one is by the wood stove drying out for tomorrow. I'm not fussy about my long underwear, some swear by Damart. I only wear bottoms when it's close to 0°. Most days I wear jeans but on cold days I wear some loggers pants, lined heavy nylon. Others like wool or coveralls. On top I like a thermal long sleave top, sweater and a down jacket. You need a hat that covers your ears. Gloves are the hard part for carpenters. They always get wet and they don't last. I keep mittens in my pocket for real cold days. The cheap brown jersey gloves are popular for handling nails, etc.
We generally have a kerosine space heater on the job, the type you see blowing on the football players, but not that huge. The ones they have are monsters. Mine is 112,000 BTU's and burns about 5-6 gal. of K1 if running all day. You can warm up for a minute, thaw out materials and toast your sandwich, if they're running clean. You have to take a sledge hammer to the lumber yard so you can bust the piles apart. The one good thing about HD, lumber is inside and dry. You lose time due to ice and snow clean up. Somedays, you just have to chip and break the ice away in order to work.
We use a lot of poly to cover window openings, masons build tents to work in. A few years ago they built a motel completely under cover. They used one of those air inflated tents and could control the temperature and work out of the weather. One day the tent came down and, voila, there is a finished motel. Haven't seen that since. On a large school a couple of years ago we had to run propane heated blankets to drive the frost out of the ground for concrete work. That was expensive.
You have to be smart during winter. Keep the site well organized with no junk or scrap laying around. You have to expect the worst every night. Costs go up, things go slower, you lose time to storms and clean up. It only lasts about eight months up here. Our motorcycles have real low mileage. We all move to Florida when we retire.
Drove in yesterday morning, 10 degrees and job still covered with 2-3 inches of ice[ we didn't get snow]. No one showed. We might have around 20ish hours on this check.
I didn't do it....the buck does NOT stop here.
Tiz,
Do you enjoy the time off, or do you get restless and want to get back to work? I like it when we get a day or two off, but more than that and I get restless.
Yesterday it was about 65° and I was in shorts again. I just cannot believe how warm it was. Cooling down a little today. High might be 50°
Dress warm.
I don't frame for a living. But I have framed and done all sorts of farm/outdoor stuff in the winter.
For starters, I always keep the sun and wind in mind. Working out of the wind is a HUGE plus in the cold.
If it's not windy, I try to work on the east and south side in the morning, and save the north and west sides for the afternoon.
I think it's important to have a place to warm up once in a while. In the summer you need to cool off occasionally. And in the winter you need to warm up. But as someone has pointed out - Not so warm that you sweat too much. Then ya freeze when ya go back out.
Keeping an eye on the weather can help. Like if it's gonna be nice on Monday but terribly windy on Tuesday - Put ply on the roof Monday, and work on blocking, stairs, or basement framing on Tuesday. Obviously that won't always work, but sometimes will.
That's all I can think of at the moment...
Layer up on clothes and keep moving.
Like Framer said don't hide in the warmth unless you have too or when its time to get back out there you'll be colder than before.
I wear these gloves that are mittens but you can fold back to expose your finger tips. They work great for me.
Speakin of hidin in the truck. I gotta get back out there!
___________________________________________
Common sense is a gift from God that cannot be taught.
Hi Tim. 65 degrees eh? I kinda enjoy rain/snow days every now and then,get to take naps, complain there's nothing on TV, dabble with my Construction Master, get bored, log on here...you get the picture.lol
I didn't do it....the buck does NOT stop here.
Thanks for all the help. I love framing. Always have, hopefully always will but I've never done it in the winter. I usually spend my winter months trimming.
You've all beeen a big help. Thanks again.Greg Werner- Werner Building & Remodeling
Huntingdon PA
Look at the bright side Greg,
Another one to three inches tonight yet. My outdoor activities are limited to onwe three day field problem a month but in the past I've framed through many a cold winters.
Take care of your stuff. You Compressor and generator and nail guns need to be in good shape. We always make a shed out of plywod scraps to contain the heat.
Layers, lots of layers. I like Doufold long John bottoms and any old thermal top. I bring tons of pairs of gloves every day and a few pairs of socks. Two pairs of boots if you can swing it. Keeping your feet and hands dry is important. A hat too. I like a hat and a hood but as long as you have somethig holding the heat in on your head your good.
Don't drive to work cranking the heat. Cold is partially relative and riding in a 80 degree truck won't make 5 degrees feel any better. Also, leave some stuff off for the ride there. Might be purely in your head but you'll feel better getting out of a 55 degree truck and piling on the last few layers before going to work.
Stay cold (so to speak anyway). It is no good to get warm and then get cold and then get warm and then get cold all day. It wreaks havoc with your head. I learned long ago to only seek comfort when I could stay comfotable for some period of time. Even in the worst of winters I ate lunch outside sitting on the lumber pile. I also ahve never built a fire.
Know when to pack it in. Picture in your mind a work pace when it no longer makes sesne for you to be there. When you slow to that pace, go home. I can and have worked in -20 degree weather. But, if your not making any head way and that type of weather only happens once in a while, why do it. Try again tomorrow.
Stay out of the Go-Go bar. it's warm in there and you'll never leave.
Looks to me like your near Altoona? I'm west of Allentown and work at Ft. Indiantwon Gap. How's the weather for you guys? starting to shape up like real winter over here.
Get tough and do it. With the materials they have now days and a little smart layering it's a lot easier for me then it used to be. I don't mind the weather down to about zero. Then I dream of better places.
It really is 90 percent attitude. I'm never realy cold until the whining from other guys gets loud enough. Then I start to think about it, but it's still not that bad, I'm pretty sure now that I don't work up north or out West anymore that I will always have had worse winters then any I'm going to have, and I came through them unscathed. (If that makes sense)
Anyway I've worked through a few hundred below days with the wind chill factor so nothings gonna kill me now. That's the attitude that works for me.
Who Dares Wins.
we lose alot of time in the winter because our company is framing only. we usually only work about 3-4 days a week in jan and feb. But the key to stay warm is to keep moving. Dress warm but dont over do it. I tried wearing on of those carhartt coveralls and I was sweating my butt off in 20 degree weather. Then I got sick. we only take one half hour break for lunch. I think the less breaks the better when its cold because you lose alot of time when youre going in and out of the cold, taking clothes on and off.
Starting the compressor in the morning when its cold is a whole other battle, sometimes it takes us 15-20 minutes just to get it started. But when we do get it going we build a big box around the compressor to keep our liquid nails warm. This was a great idea. Before this I thought that by the end of winter I would have popeye forearms from squeezing the glue gun with the semi-frozen liquid nails.
PL Premium is a much bette winter glue and it goes further than LNs
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Are you confident with the bond using liquid nails in freezing temps? I found it was hardening as it was coming out of the tube almost instanly. Working in CT during this frigid time is definitely a challenge and I hope to have learned my final lesson this time with all the lost time , discouraging weather, chipping ice off of the lumber, breaking the lumber apart, keeping myself warm, tools failing, trying not to slip and bust my butt, shoveling snow off of the roof, etc on and on. next year I wont do it I'll hopefully have planned inside work or I'd be just as happy sitting home. Shotsy