When to paint a house exterior in Brainerd, MN
When to paint in Brainerd, MN
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 16 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
- 1Apr
- 4May
- 11Jun
- 16Jul
- 15Aug
- 11Sep
- 2Oct
- 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° / 23°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 4° / 26°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 20° / 41°F |
| April | 1 | under 1 | 6 | 31° / 54°F |
| May | 4 | 4 | 15 | 45° / 70°F |
| June | 11 | 7 | 15 | 56° / 80°F |
| July | 16 | 11 | 18 | 60° / 83°F |
| August | 15 | 11 | 17 | 58° / 80°F |
| September | 11 | 10 | 18 | 52° / 73°F |
| October | 2 | 2 | 12 | 39° / 57°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 26° / 41°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 13° / 28°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 44 days a year here.
Towns near Brainerd compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Alexandria (72 a year, 65 miles southwest); 1 gets fewer, down to 51 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.
| Place | From Brainerd | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sartell, MN | 51 mi south | 61 | July to August | St Cloud Regional Airport |
| Sauk Rapids, MN | 53 mi south | 61 | July to August | St Cloud Regional Airport |
| St. Cloud, MN | 57 mi south | 61 | July to August | St Cloud Regional Airport |
| Alexandria, MN | 65 mi southwest | 72 | June to September | Chandler Field Airport |
| Grand Rapids, MN | 69 mi northeast | 51 | July to August | Grand Rapids/Itasca County-G News |
| Cambridge, MN | 72 mi southeast | 63 | June to August | Rush City Regional Airport |
How Brainerd ranks in MN
Of 103 MN places with 10,000 people or more, Brainerd (population 14,400, 77th largest) ranks 93rd for painting days, 12 days below the state median of 73. The longest season in the state is Owatonna, 100 days, 163 miles south. The shortest is Hibbing at 23. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 44 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Brainerd Lakes Rgnl Airport (4.7 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.