When to paint a house exterior in Portsmouth, NH
When to paint in Portsmouth, NH
A short season: book early and expect weather delays. The painting window is July to August, with 2 good months a year. The best month is August, at about 15 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 May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- under 1Apr
- 5May
- 10Jun
- 13Jul
- 15Aug
- 12Sep
- 2Oct
- 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° / 39°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 19° / 41°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 26° / 47°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 7 | 36° / 58°F |
| May | 5 | 4 | 17 | 46° / 70°F |
| June | 10 | 5 | 15 | 55° / 78°F |
| July | 13 | 6 | 13 | 62° / 84°F |
| August | 15 | 11 | 16 | 61° / 83°F |
| September | 12 | 8 | 18 | 54° / 77°F |
| October | 2 | 2 | 14 | 43° / 65°F |
| November | 1 | under 1 | 5 | 32° / 54°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 25° / 43°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 50 days a year here.
Towns near Portsmouth compared
3 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Amesbury (64 a year, 17 miles southwest); 3 get fewer, down to 51 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.
| Place | From Portsmouth | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover, NH | 10 mi northwest | 51 | July to August | Skyhaven Airport |
| Somersworth, NH | 14 mi north | 51 | July to August | Skyhaven Airport |
| Amesbury, MA | 17 mi southwest | 64 | June to September | Lawrence Municipal Airport |
| Newburyport, MA | 18 mi south | 64 | June to September | Lawrence Municipal Airport |
| Rochester, NH | 19 mi northwest | 51 | July to August | Skyhaven Airport |
| Haverhill, MA | 25 mi southwest | 64 | June to September | Lawrence Municipal Airport |
How Portsmouth ranks in NH
Of 11 NH places with 10,000 people or more, Portsmouth (population 22,938, 7th largest) ranks 2nd for painting days, 8 days above the state median of 51. The longest season in the state is Manchester, 63 days, 34 miles west. The shortest is Concord at 37. 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 Pease International Tradeport (2.4 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.