When is The Best Time To Paint My Home?

The quick answer is after dawn and before sunset!   Just kidding :)……..Painting the exterior of your house is fine any time of the year since we have such a wonderful climate here is San Diego, CA! Also, the weather is not too hot or too cool, which is favorable for paint job. If you live here in San Diego, you know what I am talking about 🙂  But if you come from from the east coast or north of our great country, you have probably been trained to think in terms of “seasons” for exterior household maintenance like exterior painting.

Here is San Diego, we do not get snow and very little rain so that we successfully paint exterior year round. During the milder months we just plan for shorter days! If rain is in the forecast, we do not apply paint ….but once the weather is clear and wood is below 14% water content…painting is a go!

Ideal Temperature Range for Painting Your House:

The maximum and minimum temperatures, recommended for exterior house painting projects, usually vary depending on the type and particular brand of paint you are using. For example, if you use oil or latex based paints, the recommended temperatures for exterior paint vary. However, the golden rule is to use oil-based paint when the temperature range is between 40 degree and 90 degree Fahrenheit. On the other hand, the ideal temperature for applying latex base paint is between 50 degree and 85 degree Fahrenheit. Humidity level of the air is also an important consideration. The ideal humidity level for exterior painting is 40% to 70%. The best drying will occur in this humidity level. There are several products by major paint suppliers that are formulated to cure nicely outside these ranges…but for house painting in San Diego, we rarely need these specialty products.

A quick story

Peek Brothers has experience painting all over San Diego county….but the most problematic area for painting in La Jolla or any of the San Diego beach cites, has been in La Jolla Shores up on the hill a bit. Down at sea level there is not a problem; but because of Mt. Soledad and the fact that the wind prevails from the north, a pocket of moist air prevails in the area after mid-morning. This weather effect causes a pocket of cooler moist air blowing directly off the ocean. Even on warm nice days, we have had surfactant leaching from high quality paints. We have learned to pay attention to these “micro-climates” and adjust our painting and product choices to prevent problems. Only personal experience over 35 years has taught me this! 🙂

Too Hot or Too Cool Temperature is Not Favorable for Exterior Painting:

Very high or very low temperature can cause the paint to not adhere to the surface properly. This can lead the paint to cracking and peeling in the long run.

In super hot weather: paint on the shady side of the house and plan your work to follow the shade so that surface is within application temperatures. The danger of too hot a surface or too hot an air temperature is that the paint film will cure unevenly and can bubble

In cold weather (below 50 degrees) : paint can sag and allow surfactants to rise to the surface and discolor the paint film. In cooler weather we tend to do prep until mid morning and then paint till about 2pm and paint on the sunny side so that the paint has a chance to set before sundown.