At Absolute Painting & Power Washing we often get asked if we can paint your exterior in the cold/wet weather. The answer often depends on many factors. What type of surface are we painting? What is the temperature of the air and the surface to be painted? What is the weather like outside and how much moisture is in the air? Many other factors will affect our ability to get the work done.
We typically prefer to do most exterior painting between March-October in the Portland area when the weather is better. Some surfaces may have more moisture such as cedar siding and may need to dry out longer before painting. Other types of siding like Hardie Plank may have a quick dry out time once the weather turns nice.
If you are selling your home and absolutely have to have it painted in the winter months you should know that it will cost more and take much longer to complete. The paint can have problems if the cold air gets to it too soon so it may not last as long. Our work days from November-February are very short as the daily temps don’t get warm until about 10am and start to drop quickly after 2pm. The paint is much slower to dry in colder weather so we are not able to paint very fast.
Some paint companies including Sherwin Williams have designed paints that are made to be used in the colder weather as it will dry faster. Resilience paint is a newer product that they came out with a few years ago that can handle increased humidity in the air during the winter months. This past year we actually painted an exterior over Thanksgiving week which is a little later than normal for the Beaverton area. It turned out very nice, but was still a tough task.
So in general I am not a fan of painting the exterior of your home in the winter months in the Portland area. Most reputable painting contractors should be able to give you great advice on when it will safe to do exterior painting. If your painting contractor tells you that he can paint in the rain or snow you should be concerned. In my opinion you should wait until average daily temps are reaching 60-70 degrees. Please call us at Absolute Painting & Power Washing for the best advice whether you are having a professional do the work or doing it on your own.
