Painting the exterior is a tricky task that can’t be done any time of the year. Ever seen someone up the ladder painting the outdoors in the dead of winter? Yeah, no one wants to spend the whole day outside in the cold painting. Notably, extreme weather conditions are not ideal for painting either. There is a season to everything and painting your exterior home isn’t winter unless you reside in a moderate climate. So what are the ideal seasons and time to decorate your exterior?

The season for painting

The best season to paint your exterior is dependable on your local conditions. People living in a northern climate and experience snow should wait until late spring to give your house time to dry out. Late fall and early summer are good months for exterior painting. With warm temperatures and low precipitation, paint cures at the recommended rate. This ensures the paint dries smoothly and correctly.

Most people think that the best painting season is summer. As summer brings warm temperatures and calm days, it can be windy as well. You would hate to have wind carrying dust and debris sticking on your fresh paint. Also if you get knocked off your ladder, just remember one thing, I warned you.

Summer may not have lots of rain, but it comes with intense heat. The paint dries quickly when the exterior is extremely hot. This could sum up to a shoddy job as clumps of dried up paint could be deposited on the fresh paint from the painting brush. Most of the times you will see ugly brush marks on the freshly painted surface. Furthermore, who wants to paint outside under the hot sun and extreme heat?

Painting when temperatures are variate

Paint is unhappy when temperatures of the day are 102 degrees and all over sudden drops to 45 degrees at night or in the evening. Temperature fluctuations are a crucial integer in getting the most from your paint. For this reason, early fall proves ideal for painting as daytime, and nighttime temperatures don’t vary significantly. A substantial change in temperature causes the paint to have a rough surface and in time starts to crack or peel off.

Luckily, the paint quality has improved in the recent years, and they have a minimum temperature point. For quite some time paint manufacturers recommended that when the surrounding outside temperatures are 50 degrees, don’t paint. Nowadays it’s around 40 degrees with some premium paints (thanks to improved paint technology) applicable to 35 degrees. You are cool so long as you do it above the said minimum temperature.

If you have plans to paint your house, have a look at the weather report daily. The perfect day for painting is when the temperature will remain moderately warm from 50-85 degrees Fahrenheit with little wind. Oil-Based paint will give you good results even between 40-90 degrees Fahrenheit. A cloudy or partly cloudy weather is better compared to sunny weather due to cracking of the painted surface. Night temperatures should be above the dew point. Ensure the conditions will be stable for at least two days for the paint to cure perfectly. If you are wondering whether or not to do it yourself, contact local Lafayette CO painters to help you with your decision.

Note that paint should not be applied on wet surfaces. Touch the surface, and if it feels wet to the touch, then it is wet in. Remember even the dew forming in the early evenings and overnight is enough moisture to ruin your painting.