There is a stubborn myth in the GTA renovation world that the moment the first snowflake hits the ground, the construction industry shuts down. Homeowners often assume that because they can’t pour a driveway or replace a roof in January, their interior projects need to go into hibernation too.
We hear it all the time: “Shouldn’t I wait until spring when it’s warmer?”
The short answer? No. In fact, waiting until spring might be a strategic mistake.
While spring and summer are chaotic with bidding wars, supply chain hiccups, and contractors booked six months out, winter offers a unique “Goldilocks” window for interior work. But—and this is a big “but”—it requires a different approach. You cannot treat a February drywall install the same way you treat one in July. The physics are different. The air is drier. The materials are colder.
At Ontario Drywall & Taping, we don’t pack up for the winter; we just change our protocol. Here is the reality of how winter affects your walls, why professional expertise matters more now than in the summer, and why you might want to book your project while everyone else is waiting for the thaw.
The Science: How Cold Affects Your Walls
To understand why winter renovations require care, you have to understand what drywalling actually is. It isn’t just screwing boards to studs; it’s a chemical process. We are applying wet compounds (mud) that need to dry and cure to form a monolithic surface.
When the temperature drops, that chemistry changes.
1. The “Curing” Threshold
Standard joint compound relies on evaporation to harden. If the ambient temperature in your home drops below 13°C (55°F), that evaporation slows to a crawl. If the water in the compound freezes before it evaporates, the bond fails completely. This is why you see DIY winter jobs where the tape starts peeling off the walls a year later—the mud didn’t dry; it froze.
The Professional Fix: We don’t guess. We treat the workspace like a laboratory. We use industrial electric heaters (never propane, which adds moisture) to maintain a consistent baseline temperature 24/7 during the taping phase. We also frequently switch to chemical-setting compounds (“hot mud”) which harden via a chemical reaction rather than evaporation, making them immune to the cold air.
2. The Humidity Paradox
Winter air in Toronto homes is famously dry due to forced-air heating systems running overdrive.
- The Good News: This can actually help thick layers of mud dry faster than in the humid, sticky days of August, allowing us to work efficiently.
- The Bad News: If it dries too fast, it shrinks rapidly, leading to hairline cracks.
- The Fix: It’s about balance. We might run humidifiers or adjust our coating thickness to ensure the mud cures at a steady pace. It’s a delicate dance that requires an experienced hand.
3. The “Frozen Lumber” Issue
This is a detail many general contractors miss. If you are framing a basement in winter, the lumber might be cold. If you screw drywall into frozen studs, the screws hold fine—until spring. When the wood thaws and expands, it pushes the screws out, creating “nail pops” (those little round bumps you see in cheap drywall jobs).
The Professional Fix: We strictly adhere to the 48-hour acclimatization rule. We bring the drywall sheets and framing materials into the heated space at least two days before installation begins. This allows the materials to expand to their “living size” before we fasten them, preventing pops down the road.
The “Winter Advantage”: Why Smart Homeowners Renovate Now
If you can navigate the technical challenges (which is our job, not yours), winter offers logistical advantages that you simply cannot get during the peak season.
1. The “Dry Framing” Benefit
For basement finishing, winter is arguably the best time to build. In the summer, lumber sitting in a lumberyard is often swollen with high humidity. If you build walls with swollen wood and drywall over them, the wood will eventually shrink in the winter, twisting and cracking your nice new drywall. In winter, the wood is already at its driest. We are framing with stable lumber. Once we board it up, it isn’t going to move. This results in a straighter, more crack-resistant wall long-term.
2. Skipping the Line
Come April, every homeowner in Ontario wakes up and decides to renovate. Phones ring off the hook, and wait times stretch into months. In winter, the schedule is fluid. You are more likely to get your preferred start date. You get the “A-Team” crews who aren’t rushing between three different job sites. You get more attention to detail simply because the pace of the industry has slowed down.
3. Ideal for “Messy” Work
Drywalling is dusty. Sanding is unavoidable. In the winter, your windows are closed, and your HVAC system is filtering the air (and we use dustless sanding equipment). It’s actually a great time to contain the mess to one zone of the house without worrying about dust blowing in from open windows.
Seasonal Comparison: When Should You Renovate?
To help you decide, here is a breakdown of how the seasons stack up for drywall projects.
| Season | The Advantage | The Challenge | Best For… |
|---|---|---|---|
| WINTER | Best Scheduling. Lumber is dry and stable. Lower humidity means faster drying times for heavy fills. | Requires strict heat control. Materials must be acclimatized. Exterior work is impossible. | Basements, Garages, Interiors, Repairs. |
| SPRING | Moderate temperatures. Good for ventilation. | High Demand. Rain can delay material delivery. Pricing tends to peak. | Additions, Whole-home Renos. |
| SUMMER | Long daylight hours. Windows can be open for ventilation. | High Humidity. Mud takes longer to dry. Contractors are busiest. | New Builds, Cottages. |
| FALL | Balanced weather. Good “last chance” before winter. | Rush to finish before frost. erratic temperature swings. | Exterior Insulation, Garages. |
Our Winter Protocol: How We Guarantee Quality
We don’t change what we do in the winter; we change how we do it. To ensure a Level 5 finish even in February, we follow a strict cold-weather checklist:
- Vapour Barrier Integrity: In basements and on exterior walls, the vapour barrier (poly) is critical in winter. If warm indoor air hits cold concrete, you get condensation and mold. We inspect every inch of that poly seal before a single sheet of drywall goes up.
- Temperature Logs: For larger commercial or residential projects, we monitor the site temperature overnight to ensure it never dips below the safety threshold.
- Winter-Grade Compounds: We utilize specialized compounds formulated to bond better in lower temperatures.
- Insulation Upgrades: Winter is the perfect time to open a wall and realize, “Wow, this is cold.” We often pair drywall repair with insulation upgrades (batt or spray foam) to immediately improve the comfort of the room.
Is Winter Right for Your Project?
If you have a basement that is currently just cold concrete storage, a garage you want to insulate and fire-rate, or unsightly wall repairs you’ve been ignoring, don’t wait for the spring thaw.
Winter renovations allow you to take advantage of better contractor availability and get the messy work done while you are stuck inside anyway. By the time the warm weather hits, your renovation will be painted, finished, and ready to enjoy, while your neighbors are just starting to call for quotes.
At Ontario Drywall & Taping, we have the equipment and the experience to handle the Ontario climate. We don’t just slap board on the wall; we engineer a finish that lasts.
Ready to start? Contact us today to discuss your winter project. Call: (647) 878-4466 Email: info@ontariodrywallandtaping.ca
