Ideal Conditions
Paint drying is related to temperature and moisture. So while it’s obvious that you don’t want to paint your house while it’s raining outside, you also don’t want to paint when the temperature outside is extremely cold or hot. Extreme temperatures can cause paint to dry unevenly, lead to clumps, or expose brush strokes in the paint while it’s drying. Generally, the months in the middle of winter or summer aren’t great for painting your home exterior.
Humidity is an important moisture factor to consider and often gets forgotten because it isn’t a direct form of moisture like rain or snow. Your house may look completely dry from the curb, but porous materials like wood and mortar might be damp because of humidity. Whenever you paint, you’ll want a warm and dry day and to ensure that all of the surfaces you’re going to paint are dry as well.
Know Your Window
Having ruled out the extreme months of summer and winter, we’re starting to get a window of time to work with. It is important to remember that depending on where you live, this window might be different. While exterior painting in Texas might be possible until December, it might only be viable until October in Michigan! It’s important to know your window where temperatures won’t be extreme, but will also be fairly static. This means that temperatures won’t fluctuate too much from daytime to nighttime, as this confuses paint as it’s trying to cure. Generally, good windows for painting are early summer months and early fall months because of minimal rain and temperature fluctuations.
Planning and Prep
Plan, plan, plan! With all the factors that go into your painting project, you need to make sure that you have everything straight before you start. So what are some things to think about and prepare for? Most importantly, you need to plan for the weather. However, this involves more than just picking a few clear days for your painting window. You’ll need to ensure that the days leading up to and after painting are dry so that your house can dry out, and so that your paint doesn’t get rained on while it’s drying. You’ll also want to check the weather for the nights in your painting window. Sometimes people forget that paint is still dying at night!
The weather isn’t the only thing to plan for. Different types of primer, paint, and finish can affect when you should paint your house – and there are A LOT of paint options out there. Need help prepping for your exterior painting project? From deciding what type of paint is best for your home, to settling on the right time to begin painting, our professional painters want to help!
Call us today! Whether you just need help starting, or you’d like us to handle your whole project, Foothills specializes in excellent customer service, prompt and clear communication, and extreme attention to detail. We won’t leave until you’re 100% satisfied with our work!
