When to paint a house exterior in Monterey, CA
When to paint in Monterey, 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 August, at about 24 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
- 1Mar
- 6Apr
- 15May
- 20Jun
- 23Jul
- 24Aug
- 21Sep
- 12Oct
- 3Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | 1 | 17 | 43° / 63°F |
| February | 1 | 1 | 17 | 43° / 64°F |
| March | 1 | 1 | 16 | 45° / 64°F |
| April | 6 | 6 | 23 | 47° / 65°F |
| May | 15 | 14 | 24 | 50° / 66°F |
| June | 20 | 20 | 25 | 52° / 69°F |
| July | 23 | 23 | 24 | 55° / 70°F |
| August | 24 | 24 | 24 | 57° / 72°F |
| September | 21 | 21 | 23 | 55° / 73°F |
| October | 12 | 11 | 23 | 51° / 73°F |
| November | 3 | 2 | 22 | 45° / 67°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 17 | 43° / 63°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 126 days a year here.
Towns near Monterey compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Salinas (152 a year, 15 miles northeast); 2 get fewer, down to 80 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. Pacific Grove, Seaside, Marina are read from the same station as Monterey, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Monterey | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Grove, CA | 3 mi northwest | 128 | May to October | same station |
| Seaside, CA | 4 mi northeast | 128 | May to October | same station |
| Marina, CA | 8 mi northeast | 128 | May to October | same station |
| Salinas, CA | 15 mi northeast | 152 | May to September | Salinas Municipal Airport |
| Watsonville, CA | 23 mi north | 80 | June to September | Watsonville Municipal Airport |
| Santa Cruz, CA | 27 mi north | 80 | June to September | Watsonville Municipal Airport |
How Monterey ranks in CA
Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, Monterey (population 29,015, 250th largest) ranks 187th for painting days, right at the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 243 miles southeast. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 126 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Monterey Peninsula Airport (2.3 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.