When to paint a house exterior in Decatur, AL
When to paint in Decatur, AL
A short season: book early and expect weather delays. The painting window is May, with 1 good month a year. The best month is May, at about 14 painting days. Book a painter by March.
If you want the house done in May, call for quotes in March 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 Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct.
- 1Jan
- 2Feb
- 5Mar
- 8Apr
- 14May
- 10Jun
- 5Jul
- 7Aug
- 11Sep
- 11Oct
- 3Nov
- 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | 1 | 5 | 34° / 53°F |
| February | 2 | 1 | 5 | 37° / 58°F |
| March | 5 | 4 | 12 | 45° / 67°F |
| April | 8 | 7 | 17 | 50° / 74°F |
| May | 14 | 10 | 17 | 60° / 82°F |
| June | 10 | 8 | 10 | 67° / 89°F |
| July | 5 | 2 | 5 | 70° / 91°F |
| August | 7 | 5 | 7 | 69° / 90°F |
| September | 11 | 11 | 13 | 63° / 87°F |
| October | 11 | 10 | 20 | 52° / 77°F |
| November | 3 | 3 | 11 | 41° / 65°F |
| December | 1 | 1 | 6 | 38° / 58°F |
Deck stain does best in September. Low-temperature paint adds about 50 days a year here.
Towns near Decatur compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Huntsville (92 a year, 20 miles northeast); 2 get 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. Hartselle, Athens are read from the same station as Decatur, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Decatur | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartselle, AL | 10 mi south | 78 | May | same station |
| Athens, AL | 14 mi north | 78 | May | same station |
| Madison, AL | 16 mi northeast | 64 | May | Huntsville International/C.T.Jones Fie |
| Huntsville, AL | 20 mi northeast | 92 | May to June | Redstone Army Airfield |
| Cullman, AL | 29 mi south | 64 | May | Huntsville International/C.T.Jones Fie |
| Muscle Shoals, AL | 38 mi west | 79 | May | North West Alabama Regional A |
How Decatur ranks in AL
Of 66 AL places with 10,000 people or more, Decatur (population 57,974, 10th largest) ranks 52nd for painting days, 13 days below the state median of 92. The longest season in the state is Albertville, 149 days, 49 miles southeast. The shortest is Fort Payne at 56. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 50 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Pryor Field Regional Airport (6.1 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.