When to paint a house exterior in Bellingham, WA
When to paint in Bellingham, WA
A short season: book early and expect weather delays. The painting window is July to August, with 2 good months a year. The best month is July, at about 24 painting days. Book a painter by May.
If you want the house done in July to August, call for quotes in May or earlier; a job pushed past August is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- under 1Apr
- 6May
- 12Jun
- 24Jul
- 20Aug
- 7Sep
- 1Oct
- under 1Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 33° / 49°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 33° / 48°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 36° / 55°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 10 | 40° / 60°F |
| May | 6 | 4 | 19 | 47° / 67°F |
| June | 12 | 7 | 19 | 51° / 71°F |
| July | 24 | 24 | 26 | 55° / 76°F |
| August | 20 | 17 | 24 | 54° / 77°F |
| September | 7 | 5 | 16 | 50° / 70°F |
| October | 1 | 1 | 7 | 43° / 61°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 38° / 53°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 33° / 47°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 60 days a year here.
Towns near Bellingham compared
3 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Sedro-Woolley (91 a year, 20 miles southeast); 1 gets fewer, down to 64 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. Ferndale, Lynden are read from the same station as Bellingham, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Bellingham | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferndale, WA | 9 mi northwest | 69 | July to August | same station |
| Lynden, WA | 14 mi north | 69 | July to August | same station |
| Anacortes, WA | 20 mi south | 64 | July to August | Padilla Bay Reserve |
| Sedro-Woolley, WA | 20 mi southeast | 91 | June to September | Skagit Regional Airport |
| Burlington, WA | 21 mi south | 91 | June to September | Skagit Regional Airport |
| Mount Vernon, WA | 24 mi south | 91 | June to September | Skagit Regional Airport |
How Bellingham ranks in WA
Of 91 WA places with 10,000 people or more, Bellingham (population 95,860, 12th largest) ranks 50th for painting days, 2 days below the state median of 71. The longest season in the state is Seattle, 108 days, 79 miles south. The shortest is Sunnyside at 27. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 60 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Bellingham International Airport (4.1 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.