When to paint a house exterior in Lafayette, CA
When to paint in Lafayette, CA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is August to October, with 5 good months a year. The best month is May, at about 20 painting days. Book a painter by June.
If you want the house done in August to October, call for quotes in June 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 Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.
- 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- 3Mar
- 9Apr
- 20May
- 16Jun
- 11Jul
- 13Aug
- 16Sep
- 15Oct
- 3Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | 1 | 15 | 41° / 61°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 17 | 41° / 66°F |
| March | 3 | 1 | 20 | 44° / 68°F |
| April | 9 | 8 | 25 | 48° / 75°F |
| May | 20 | 16 | 24 | 52° / 80°F |
| June | 16 | 16 | 16 | 57° / 89°F |
| July | 11 | 11 | 11 | 59° / 93°F |
| August | 13 | 10 | 13 | 60° / 92°F |
| September | 16 | 15 | 16 | 58° / 89°F |
| October | 15 | 13 | 24 | 52° / 82°F |
| November | 3 | 1 | 22 | 43° / 69°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 13 | 40° / 61°F |
Deck stain does best in May. Low-temperature paint adds about 108 days a year here.
Towns near Lafayette compared
2 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Moraga (163 a year, 3 miles south). 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. Orinda, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Martinez are read from the same station as Lafayette, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Lafayette | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orinda, CA | 3 mi west | 106 | August to October | same station |
| Moraga, CA | 3 mi south | 163 | May to October | Metro Oakland International Airport |
| Walnut Creek, CA | 4 mi east | 106 | August to October | same station |
| Pleasant Hill, CA | 5 mi northeast | 106 | August to October | same station |
| Martinez, CA | 7 mi north | 106 | August to October | same station |
| Piedmont, CA | 8 mi southwest | 163 | May to October | Metro Oakland International Airport |
How Lafayette ranks in CA
Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, Lafayette (population 25,371, 274th largest) ranks 223rd for painting days, 22 days below the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 314 miles southeast. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 108 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Buchanan Field Airport (7.8 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.