When to paint a house exterior in Milwaukee, WI
When to paint in Milwaukee, WI
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, Oct.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 5May
- 13Jun
- 17Jul
- 18Aug
- 16Sep
- 5Oct
- 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 | 19° / 34°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 19° / 38°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 29° / 48°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 10 | 37° / 58°F |
| May | 5 | 4 | 16 | 47° / 70°F |
| June | 13 | 11 | 15 | 58° / 80°F |
| July | 17 | 11 | 17 | 65° / 84°F |
| August | 18 | 14 | 18 | 64° / 83°F |
| September | 16 | 15 | 18 | 58° / 78°F |
| October | 5 | 5 | 16 | 45° / 65°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 7 | 33° / 52°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 25° / 41°F |
Deck stain does best in September. Low-temperature paint adds about 50 days a year here.
Towns near Milwaukee compared
Every one of the 6 closest places lands within three days of Milwaukee's 77 a year, so the season here is the regional season. Wauwatosa, Shorewood, Glendale, Whitefish Bay, West Allis, Greenfield are read from the same station as Milwaukee, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Milwaukee | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wauwatosa, WI | 3 mi west | 77 | June to September | same station |
| Shorewood, WI | 4 mi northeast | 77 | June to September | same station |
| Glendale, WI | 5 mi northeast | 77 | June to September | same station |
| Whitefish Bay, WI | 5 mi northeast | 77 | June to September | same station |
| West Allis, WI | 5 mi southwest | 77 | June to September | same station |
| Greenfield, WI | 7 mi south | 77 | June to September | same station |
How Milwaukee ranks in WI
Of 98 WI places with 10,000 people or more, Milwaukee (population 563,531, 1st largest) ranks 20th for painting days, 8 days above the state median of 69. The longest season in the state is Appleton, 111 days, 87 miles north. The shortest is Superior at 29. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 50 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from General Mitchell Internationa (8.1 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.