Ever wonder "When will my landscaping by complete?" or "When will my drive way be finished?"

Items like, driveways, front walk ways, landscaping, detached garages and decks are all considered seasonal items for new home builders. So what does that mean? It means that if the weather isn't permitting, these items will not be completed upon your possession date. Many home owner become concerned hearing this, but not to worry. There are legal procedures in place to make sure that your garage, deck and landscaping will all be completed. When a builder has seasonal items that are incomplete those items are documented as well as their associated costs. The funds for each item are then held-back by lawyers until the builder has proof of completion. That way they can't get paid for the incomplete seasonal items and it gives the builder an incentive to get them done in a timely fashion.

As to when, let's start with concrete. Concrete work can only be completed in Canada between late Spring to early Fall (typically  between late May- late Sept, weather permitting). If concrete work is started before the frost is out of the ground, the soil underneath will move and settle causing cracks and other issues. Not good! If they pour concrete too late in the year and its too cold, the concrete wont cure properly and again you could have cracking, or worse.Also not good! * Side Note- your drive way should always have a full month to fully cure before you start driving on it to ensure it doesn't get ruined* So what happens if you take possession of your home in November? You have to wait until the following Spring, but any work that was unable to be complete before the Fall frost will be first in line. What if you move into your new home in May? You have to wait until all the Fall and Winter homes are complete before they will get to yours. So in the case of concrete patience is a virtue.

Landscaping has a similar type of scheduling. The short temperate seasons making it difficult to complete the heavy demands before the frost. If timelines are a concern for you, discuss it with your builder to see if perhaps you wish to landscape your yard yourself instead.

And last but not least, your deck. A deck may seem like such an easy thing to assembled and ready to go at possession but it is largely dependent on your landscaping. The stairs  leading down from your deck are to be leveled off of your lawn. If your landscaping is not complete, finishing the stairs won't help anyone. The landscaping will change the height of the soil in your yard so your deck would look too short, too tall or crooked not to mention the stairs will probably the wrong height. So some builders will build the deck, and wait to do the stairs and some will wait to do the whole thing.