PaintDays

When to paint a house exterior in La Mesa, CA

When to paint in La Mesa, CA

A long painting season, with room to reschedule. The painting window is April to October, with 7 good months a year. The best month is May, at about 29 painting days. Book a painter by February.

If you want the house done in April to October, call for quotes in February or earlier; a job pushed past October is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.

  1. 3Jan
  2. 4Feb
  3. 10Mar
  4. 18Apr
  5. 29May
  6. 26Jun
  7. 24Jul
  8. 20Aug
  9. 21Sep
  10. 21Oct
  11. 8Nov
  12. 3Dec

Month by month

MonthPainting daysStaining daysWith low-temp paintAvg low / high
January322742° / 70°F
February442543° / 72°F
March1083047° / 73°F
April18182852° / 76°F
May29293157° / 74°F
June26262661° / 82°F
July24242465° / 87°F
August20202066° / 89°F
September21192164° / 86°F
October21192456° / 83°F
November882846° / 77°F
December332642° / 70°F

Deck stain does best in May. Low-temperature paint adds about 122 days a year here.

Towns near La Mesa compared

2 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in National City (219 a year, 8 miles southwest); 1 gets fewer, down to 179 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. Lemon Grove, El Cajon, Santee are read from the same station as La Mesa, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.

PlaceFrom La MesaPainting days a yearWindowStation
Lemon Grove, CA3 mi south187April to Octobersame station
El Cajon, CA4 mi northeast187April to Octobersame station
Santee, CA6 mi north187April to Octobersame station
San Diego, CA7 mi northwest208April to NovemberMontgomery Field Airport
National City, CA8 mi southwest219March to NovemberNorth Island Naval Air Station
Chula Vista, CA10 mi south179May to OctoberBrown Field Municipal Airport

How La Mesa ranks in CA

Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, La Mesa (population 60,767, 147th largest) ranks 129th for painting days, 59 days above the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 142 miles northwest. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 122 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.

Where these numbers come from

Daily records from Gillespie Field Airport (4.8 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.