When to paint a house exterior in Bakersfield, CA
When to paint in Bakersfield, CA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is April to May, with 3 good months a year. The best month is October, at about 18 painting days. Book a painter by February.
If you want the house done in April to May, call for quotes in February or earlier; a job pushed past May is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov.
- 1Jan
- 1Feb
- 5Mar
- 13Apr
- 17May
- 6Jun
- under 1Jul
- 1Aug
- 9Sep
- 18Oct
- 6Nov
- 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | under 1 | 17 | 41° / 62°F |
| February | 1 | 1 | 18 | 41° / 68°F |
| March | 5 | 2 | 22 | 46° / 73°F |
| April | 13 | 13 | 23 | 51° / 81°F |
| May | 17 | 15 | 19 | 58° / 87°F |
| June | 6 | 6 | 6 | 66° / 97°F |
| July | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 73° / 102°F |
| August | 1 | 1 | 1 | 71° / 100°F |
| September | 9 | 9 | 9 | 66° / 95°F |
| October | 18 | 13 | 23 | 56° / 84°F |
| November | 6 | 5 | 25 | 45° / 71°F |
| December | 1 | under 1 | 19 | 39° / 62°F |
Deck stain does best in May. Low-temperature paint adds about 104 days a year here.
Towns near Bakersfield compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Tehachapi (100 a year, 36 miles southeast); 1 gets fewer, down to 43 a year. A gap like that between towns is usually elevation, a coast or a lake, which is why a painter from a few towns over can be on a different schedule. Shafter, Arvin, McFarland, Wasco are read from the same station as Bakersfield, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Bakersfield | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shafter, CA | 13 mi northwest | 77 | April to May | same station |
| Arvin, CA | 16 mi southeast | 77 | April to May | same station |
| McFarland, CA | 24 mi northwest | 77 | April to May | same station |
| Wasco, CA | 25 mi northwest | 77 | April to May | same station |
| Delano, CA | 31 mi northwest | 43 | September to October | Porterville Municipal Airport |
| Tehachapi, CA | 36 mi southeast | 100 | April to May | Mojave Airport |
How Bakersfield ranks in CA
Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, Bakersfield (population 417,468, 9th largest) ranks 266th for painting days, 51 days below the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 72 miles southeast. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 104 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Meadows Field Airport (5.7 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.