When to paint a house exterior in Mill Valley, CA
When to paint in Mill Valley, CA
A long painting season, with room to reschedule. The painting window is May to October, with 6 good months a year. The best month is July, at about 30 painting days. Book a painter by March.
If you want the house done in May to October, call for quotes in March 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
- 1Feb
- 3Mar
- 10Apr
- 22May
- 27Jun
- 30Jul
- 27Aug
- 24Sep
- 15Oct
- 3Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | 1 | 12 | 43° / 60°F |
| February | 1 | under 1 | 18 | 43° / 64°F |
| March | 3 | 2 | 18 | 46° / 65°F |
| April | 10 | 10 | 25 | 49° / 69°F |
| May | 22 | 17 | 27 | 52° / 70°F |
| June | 27 | 27 | 28 | 55° / 75°F |
| July | 30 | 30 | 30 | 57° / 74°F |
| August | 27 | 27 | 27 | 58° / 76°F |
| September | 24 | 24 | 24 | 56° / 78°F |
| October | 15 | 15 | 25 | 52° / 76°F |
| November | 3 | 2 | 21 | 45° / 66°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 14 | 42° / 60°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 106 days a year here.
Towns near Mill Valley compared
5 get fewer, down to 90 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. Corte Madera is read from the same station as Mill Valley, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Mill Valley | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larkspur, CA | 2 mi north | 90 | June to September | Petaluma Municipal Airport |
| Corte Madera, CA | 2 mi northeast | 163 | May to October | same station |
| San Anselmo, CA | 5 mi north | 90 | June to September | Petaluma Municipal Airport |
| San Rafael, CA | 5 mi north | 90 | June to September | Petaluma Municipal Airport |
| Richmond, CA | 10 mi east | 106 | August to October | Buchanan Field Airport |
| San Pablo, CA | 12 mi east | 106 | August to October | Buchanan Field Airport |
How Mill Valley ranks in CA
Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, Mill Valley (population 13,904, 335th largest) ranks 159th for painting days, 36 days above the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 330 miles southeast. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 106 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Metro Oakland International Airport (21.8 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.