When to paint a house exterior in Bismarck, ND
When to paint in Bismarck, ND
A short season: book early and expect weather delays. The painting window is June to August, and even that is thin, with 0 good months a year. The best month is July, at about 11 painting days. Book a painter by April.
If you want the house done in June to August, call for quotes in April 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.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- under 1Apr
- 2May
- 8Jun
- 11Jul
- 11Aug
- 5Sep
- 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 | under 1 | 5° / 28°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 6° / 31°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 18° / 45°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 29° / 58°F |
| May | 2 | 2 | 15 | 41° / 73°F |
| June | 8 | 5 | 14 | 53° / 85°F |
| July | 11 | 8 | 13 | 58° / 89°F |
| August | 11 | 8 | 15 | 55° / 87°F |
| September | 5 | 4 | 17 | 48° / 80°F |
| October | 1 | 1 | 9 | 33° / 62°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 20° / 46°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 10° / 32°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 46 days a year here.
Towns near Bismarck compared
3 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Jamestown (60 a year, 98 miles east); 2 get fewer, down to 29 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. Mandan is read from the same station as Bismarck, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Bismarck | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandan, ND | 6 mi west | 40 | June to August | same station |
| Dickinson, ND | 96 mi west | 29 | June to August | Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt |
| Jamestown, ND | 98 mi east | 60 | June to August | Jamestown Regional Airport |
| Minot, ND | 101 mi north | 56 | June to August | Minot International Airport |
| Aberdeen, SD | 144 mi southeast | 47 | August | Aberdeen Regional Airport |
| Williston, ND | 165 mi northwest | 34 | June to August | Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport |
How Bismarck ranks in ND
Of 9 ND places with 10,000 people or more, Bismarck (population 77,772, 2nd largest) ranks 6th for painting days, 16 days below the state median of 56. The longest season in the state is Jamestown, 60 days, 98 miles east. The shortest is Dickinson at 29. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 46 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Bismarck Municipal Airport (2.2 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.