When to paint a house exterior in Portsmouth, VA
When to paint in Portsmouth, VA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is September to October, with 3 good months a year. The best month is September, at about 17 painting days. Book a painter by July.
If you want the house done in September to October, call for quotes in July 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, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.
- under 1Jan
- 2Feb
- 4Mar
- 10Apr
- 12May
- 13Jun
- 7Jul
- 12Aug
- 17Sep
- 16Oct
- 4Nov
- 2Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | 7 | 34° / 54°F |
| February | 2 | 2 | 8 | 37° / 58°F |
| March | 4 | 2 | 14 | 42° / 64°F |
| April | 10 | 9 | 19 | 50° / 73°F |
| May | 12 | 7 | 14 | 60° / 80°F |
| June | 13 | 9 | 13 | 68° / 87°F |
| July | 7 | 3 | 7 | 73° / 91°F |
| August | 12 | 6 | 12 | 72° / 89°F |
| September | 17 | 14 | 17 | 68° / 84°F |
| October | 16 | 13 | 20 | 56° / 75°F |
| November | 4 | 4 | 16 | 45° / 66°F |
| December | 2 | 1 | 10 | 39° / 59°F |
Deck stain does best in September. Low-temperature paint adds about 59 days a year here.
Towns near Portsmouth compared
5 get fewer, down to 76 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. Norfolk is read from the same station as Portsmouth, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Portsmouth | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk, VA | 8 mi northeast | 98 | September to October | same station |
| Chesapeake, VA | 13 mi south | 84 | August to September | Chesapeake Regional Airport |
| Hampton, VA | 13 mi north | 76 | June | Langley Air Force Base Airport |
| Newport News, VA | 18 mi northwest | 79 | June | Nwpt News/Wimburg International Airport |
| Poquoson, VA | 19 mi north | 76 | June | Langley Air Force Base Airport |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 19 mi east | 86 | September | Oceana Naval Air Station |
How Portsmouth ranks in VA
Of 39 VA places with 10,000 people or more, Portsmouth (population 96,482, 10th largest) ranks 3rd for painting days, 33 days above the state median of 65. The longest season in the state is Williamsburg, 109 days, 34 miles northwest. The shortest is Front Royal at 49. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 59 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Norfolk Naval Air Station (6.5 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.