When to paint a house exterior in Ottawa, IL
When to paint in Ottawa, IL
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 July, 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.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 7May
- 12Jun
- 18Jul
- 16Aug
- 12Sep
- 4Oct
- 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° / 33°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 22° / 40°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 32° / 51°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 9 | 40° / 63°F |
| May | 7 | 4 | 15 | 52° / 75°F |
| June | 12 | 8 | 14 | 61° / 84°F |
| July | 18 | 11 | 18 | 64° / 84°F |
| August | 16 | 11 | 17 | 62° / 83°F |
| September | 12 | 11 | 17 | 57° / 80°F |
| October | 4 | 3 | 13 | 44° / 66°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 5 | 33° / 51°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 26° / 41°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 42 days a year here.
Towns near Ottawa compared
1 gets fewer, down to 67 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. Morris is read from the same station as Ottawa, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Ottawa | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streator, IL | 16 mi south | 67 | July to August | Pontiac Municipal Airport |
| Morris, IL | 21 mi east | 72 | June to September | same station |
| Plano, IL | 27 mi northeast | 73 | July to September | Aurora Municipal Airport |
| Minooka, IL | 29 mi east | 69 | July to September | Joliet Regional Airport |
| Channahon, IL | 29 mi east | 69 | July to September | Joliet Regional Airport |
| Yorkville, IL | 29 mi northeast | 73 | July to September | Aurora Municipal Airport |
How Ottawa ranks in IL
Of 225 IL places with 10,000 people or more, Ottawa (population 18,775, 132nd largest) ranks 195th for painting days, 5 days below the state median of 77. The longest season in the state is Chicago, 131 days, 68 miles northeast. The shortest is Woodstock at 65. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 42 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Mors Municipal-J.R. Wsbrn Fd Airport (21.5 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.