The Rainy Season: Dealing with Portland Weather During a Move or Remodel

Portland Moving Plans? Here’s Your Go-to Guide for Moving in the Rainy Season

Summer has come and gone, but tons of Portland home listings are still popping up around town. And while renovation work and home remodels have slowed, construction is still happening here in Portland. Worried about the rain hindering your upcoming move or home remodel project? Here are a few tips to help you make sure your hard work doesn’t go to waste when the rainy season begins in PDX.

Tips for Moving in the Portland Rain

While summer is the busiest time for buying and moving homes in Portland, the autumn and winter seasons tend to offer less competition and better prices – making this a great time to buy a home. One challenge, however, is braving the potential for bad weather on moving day. Hauling an entire home’s worth of furniture in the rain is tough, but here are a few tips to help make sure your hard work doesn’t go to waste when the weather gets wet.

• Cover large pieces of furniture with shrink-wrapping to keep them dry and clean. Ryan Day at All Service Moving shares that, “plastic shrink wrap is essential for rainy day moves, it helps protect wood furniture from the elements – it’s more effective than moving blankets in the rain.”
• Minimize your time spent outside in the rain. As you move items into your home, try to create the shortest amount of distance between your home and the moving truck. Another tip? Transfer all of the moving boxes into the garage; that way, you can do most of your heavy lifting under the cover of your roof.
• Prepare the inside of your home for wet-weather moving. As you carry items through the rain, it’s inevitable that things will get a little wet, but you can prevent damage inside your home by placing old sheets on the floors. That way, movers won’t trek water, dirt and mud, and the elements inside your home. Pro tip: place some of the sheets beneath bigger pieces of furniture as they dry out.

How to Stay on Track During Rainy Day Construction

In the Pacific Northwest, it’s impractical to forgo construction in the rainy season – too often, there aren’t enough dry months in the year to limit construction to just the sunny days in Portland! So how can you minimize damage to your home during outdoor remodel projects? Start by following these tips.

• Stay realistic. Build in extra time to your construction schedule, and anticipate that there will be days where your home remodel project will be put on a temporary hold, potentially even for a week during heavy rains.
• Set up a temporary shelter to cover your construction site from the elements. Take a little extra time on a sunny day to prepare your site with tarps and tools to keep your project dry when the rain hits.
• Watch closely for mold. Bradley Vaughan, at Lovett Services Construction Company, recognizes that water is a reality for most Portland job sites. Vaughan recommends that you “keep an eye out for moisture once the rain settles and gives way to sun. Be sure to dry out any exposed framing before any walls are sealed.”

Know Your Resources

Here at Options, we’ve seen it all, and we’re here to help you make sure that your rainy season moving adventures and remodel projects go as smoothly as they possibly can. We’re here to help homeowners (and potential homeowners!) with other things, too.

If you won’t let strong winds or heavy rains deter your renovation plans, don’t let financial burdens stand in your way either. Options offers a host of financial tools, like our Dream Home Renovation program or our Renovation Loan program, that can help you make your renovation dreams a reality – even in the height of the rainy season.

Or if you’re gearing up to buy a home in Portland’s upcoming rainy season, let us help you make your dreams of homeownership come true. Whether you need moving tips or a mortgage loan, Options is on your side.