When to paint a house exterior in Dubuque, IA
When to paint in Dubuque, IA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is June to September, with 4 good months a year. The best month is August, at about 18 painting days. Book a painter by April.
If you want the house done in June to September, call for quotes in April or earlier; a job pushed past September is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 5May
- 14Jun
- 18Jul
- 18Aug
- 13Sep
- 3Oct
- 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 | 13° / 29°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 13° / 35°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 27° / 49°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 9 | 35° / 61°F |
| May | 5 | 4 | 15 | 48° / 73°F |
| June | 14 | 10 | 16 | 58° / 83°F |
| July | 18 | 13 | 18 | 62° / 84°F |
| August | 18 | 16 | 19 | 59° / 82°F |
| September | 13 | 13 | 20 | 54° / 78°F |
| October | 3 | 3 | 12 | 40° / 64°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 28° / 49°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 20° / 38°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 41 days a year here.
Towns near Dubuque compared
2 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Monroe (96 a year, 55 miles east); 1 gets fewer, down to 66 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 Dubuque | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platteville, WI | 20 mi northeast | 77 | June to September | Platteville Municipal Airport |
| Clinton, IA | 51 mi southeast | 71 | June to August | Clinton Municipal Airport |
| Marion, IA | 55 mi southwest | 70 | June to September | The Eastern Iowa Airport |
| Monroe, WI | 55 mi east | 96 | June to September | Monroe Municipal Airport |
| Freeport, IL | 57 mi east | 66 | June to August | Albertus Airport |
| Cedar Rapids, IA | 62 mi southwest | 70 | June to September | The Eastern Iowa Airport |
How Dubuque ranks in IA
Of 41 IA places with 10,000 people or more, Dubuque (population 58,987, 11th largest) ranks 11th for painting days, 1 day above the state median of 72. The longest season in the state is Council Bluffs, 118 days, 279 miles west. The shortest is Le Mars at 54. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 41 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Dubuque Regional Airport (7 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.