When to paint a house exterior in Ithaca, NY
When to paint in Ithaca, NY
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 August, at about 13 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
- 8Jun
- 13Jul
- 13Aug
- 6Sep
- 2Oct
- 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 | 17° / 35°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 17° / 39°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 24° / 46°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 4 | 34° / 58°F |
| May | 4 | 3 | 14 | 45° / 72°F |
| June | 8 | 6 | 15 | 53° / 78°F |
| July | 13 | 7 | 14 | 59° / 84°F |
| August | 13 | 8 | 17 | 57° / 81°F |
| September | 6 | 4 | 15 | 51° / 75°F |
| October | 2 | 2 | 9 | 41° / 64°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 4 | 30° / 51°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 24° / 41°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 47 days a year here.
Towns near Ithaca compared
3 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Auburn (58 a year, 34 miles north); 2 get fewer, down to 41 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. Cortland is read from the same station as Ithaca, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Ithaca | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortland, NY | 20 mi northeast | 48 | July to August | same station |
| Elmira, NY | 29 mi southwest | 41 | July to August | Elmira/Corning Rgnl Airport |
| Endicott, NY | 33 mi southeast | 57 | July to August | Greater Binghamton/E A Link F |
| Auburn, NY | 34 mi north | 58 | July to August | Syracuse Hancock Internationa |
| Corning, NY | 35 mi southwest | 41 | July to August | Elmira/Corning Rgnl Airport |
| Johnson City, NY | 35 mi southeast | 57 | July to August | Greater Binghamton/E A Link F |
How Ithaca ranks in NY
Of 90 NY places with 10,000 people or more, Ithaca (population 33,768, 20th largest) ranks 77th for painting days, 22 days below the state median of 70. The longest season in the state is Kingston, 96 days, 133 miles east. The shortest is Olean at 39. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 47 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (3.3 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.