When to paint a house exterior in Olympia, WA
When to paint in Olympia, WA
A short season: book early and expect weather delays. The painting window is July to August, and even that is thin, with 0 good months a year. The best month is August, at about 11 painting days. Book a painter by May.
If you want the house done in July to August, call for quotes in May or earlier; a job pushed past August is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- under 1Apr
- 2May
- 5Jun
- 9Jul
- 11Aug
- 4Sep
- under 1Oct
- under 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 | 34° / 49°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 32° / 50°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 33° / 56°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 6 | 36° / 62°F |
| May | 2 | 1 | 20 | 42° / 71°F |
| June | 5 | 4 | 20 | 47° / 76°F |
| July | 9 | 8 | 23 | 50° / 82°F |
| August | 11 | 10 | 22 | 50° / 83°F |
| September | 4 | 4 | 19 | 47° / 75°F |
| October | under 1 | under 1 | 6 | 40° / 64°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 35° / 53°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 33° / 47°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 86 days a year here.
Towns near Olympia compared
4 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in University Place (84 a year, 20 miles northeast). 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. Tumwater, Lacey are read from the same station as Olympia, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Olympia | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tumwater, WA | 4 mi south | 31 | July to August | same station |
| Lacey, WA | 5 mi east | 31 | July to August | same station |
| Yelm, WA | 14 mi southeast | 43 | July to August | Gray Aff Airport |
| Shelton, WA | 16 mi northwest | 43 | July to August | Sanderson Field Airport |
| Lakewood, WA | 19 mi northeast | 41 | July to August | Mcchord Air Force Base Airport |
| University Place, WA | 20 mi northeast | 84 | July to September | Tacoma Narrows Airport |
How Olympia ranks in WA
Of 91 WA places with 10,000 people or more, Olympia (population 56,271, 24th largest) ranks 86th for painting days, 40 days below the state median of 71. The longest season in the state is Seattle, 108 days, 47 miles northeast. The shortest is Sunnyside at 27. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 86 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Olympia Airport (4.7 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.