When to paint a house exterior in Portland, OR
When to paint in Portland, OR
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 19 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
- 11May
- 16Jun
- 19Jul
- 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 | 2 | 36° / 49°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 36° / 52°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 8 | 38° / 58°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 13 | 43° / 65°F |
| May | 11 | 7 | 19 | 50° / 74°F |
| June | 16 | 12 | 17 | 54° / 80°F |
| July | 19 | 18 | 19 | 59° / 86°F |
| August | 18 | 17 | 18 | 60° / 87°F |
| September | 16 | 16 | 19 | 54° / 79°F |
| October | 5 | 5 | 15 | 47° / 68°F |
| November | 1 | under 1 | 6 | 41° / 56°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 36° / 49°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 58 days a year here.
Towns near Portland compared
4 get fewer, down to 39 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. Milwaukie, Vancouver are read from the same station as Portland, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Portland | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukie, OR | 7 mi south | 87 | June to September | same station |
| Vancouver, WA | 7 mi north | 87 | June to September | same station |
| Lake Oswego, OR | 9 mi south | 69 | June to August | Aurora State Airport |
| Beaverton, OR | 9 mi southwest | 39 | August | Portland-Hillsboro Airport |
| Happy Valley, OR | 10 mi southeast | 72 | July to August | Portland-Troutdale Airport |
| Tigard, OR | 10 mi southwest | 39 | August | Portland-Hillsboro Airport |
How Portland ranks in OR
Of 57 OR places with 10,000 people or more, Portland (population 635,749, 1st largest) ranks 1st for painting days, 35 days above the state median of 52. No place in OR has a longer season. The shortest is Klamath Falls at 5. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 58 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Portland International Airport (4.5 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.