The Best Time of Year to Paint Home Exteriors
It is the best time to paint a house when weather conditions are free from freezing temperatures, pollen, humidity, heat, or falling leaves. Generally, the idea is to catch each season early before the extreme conditions that each season brings start to heavily affect the weather forecasts.
Ideal weather conditions for house painting usually occur during mid-spring, early summer, and fall. However, perfect weather doesn’t mean painting cannot take place outside of this timeframe. If professional exterior painters are painting your home outside of these timeframes, they should be able to work around and within various conditions with a proper understanding of the product and paint application standards.
Painting During Spring Season
For many reasons, the vast majority look forward to the spring season. As the temperatures increase, the days get longer, and the sun is more prominent, these are perfect conditions for exterior house painting and other outdoor projects. But does pollen affect house painting?
Only extreme cases of pollen exposure will affect a paint film – however, no one wants pollen inside their homes. Before heavy pollen sets in, early spring is the best time to start planning and budgeting for your exterior painting project. Getting paint quotes early offers the best chance to get on a painting contractor’s schedule.
House Painting During Early Summer
If you can get your home painted during the early summer, you are taking advantage of one of the best times to paint outdoors.
Typically, there is less humidity during early summer and fewer chances of painting in the rain and evening thunderstorms. Although applying exterior paint designed for humidity and not painting in direct sunlight will help on hotter days. Extreme heat can also be miserable for your painters. Opening windows and doors to paint them is necessary, but letting in hot air is also less than ideal.
Some types of paint can suffer adverse effects when it’s too hot to paint. So, painting is a little more challenging during this time of year, and DIY’ers should avoid painting during the hot summer months.
Paint Applications in Late Summer/ Early Fall
Early Fall, hands-down, is one of the best times of the year to be outside. The temperatures are less extreme, more manageable, and consistent. But late summer is the best time to paint to avoid falling leaves and potential high morning dew points.
Early transitions between seasons are great opportunities for exterior house painting, but painting during fall is unique. Ideal fall weather conditions are seemingly shorter than in any other season, so the window for perfect painting conditions is much narrower during fall.
During Fall, as winter gets closer, cooler air begins to resist hotter air from the previous summer. The collision with atmospheric fronts causes high dew points in the morning. If you are staining a deck or any other project requiring wood to be as dry as possible, late summer/ early fall is the best time for these projects.
Painting Outdoors During Early Winter
For those who have put off painting their homes, early winter is a last-ditch effort to complete what is needed. Most exterior paints by Sherwin-Williams and other manufacturers can be applied as low as 35 degrees. This kind of paint enables house painters to paint just above freezing without affecting how the paint dries.
If the atmospheric temperature is in the high 30s and the surface temperature (usually on the sunny side) is above 35 degrees, these conditions can also be advantageous.
House paint and caulk apply thicker and dry slower and uniformly in cooler climates. So, if you consider painting a dark exterior with a shiny finish, winter will provide an amazingly uniform finish.
What if Your Painting Indoors?
Exterior weather conditions have little to no effect on interior painting as long as the space is air-conditioned. The thermostat should be set between 69 and 76 degrees with a continuous flow of circling air. Outside walls will take longer to dry during winter as they usually are colder from transferring cold outside temperatures.
Interior painters should never paint over damp walls or when mildew is present. A hot shower before or after painting will also increase wall moisture.
Conclusion
It’s fair to say that house painting is appropriate nearly year-round here in Raleigh, NC. However, planning and budgeting early for the best opportunity to paint and hiring a professional painter for your next exterior house painting project will improve the overall service experience.
Even minor paint updates to shutters, front porches, doors, gutters, or garage doors can revamp your home’s look. Contact us for a free house painting quote. Our professional painters understand what painting products to use, enabling you to count on warrantied painting services.
