When to paint a house exterior in Rochester, NH
When to paint in Rochester, 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 14 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
- 1Apr
- 4May
- 8Jun
- 13Jul
- 14Aug
- 9Sep
- 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 | 18° / 37°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 17° / 40°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 25° / 48°F |
| April | 1 | under 1 | 6 | 35° / 59°F |
| May | 4 | 4 | 17 | 45° / 73°F |
| June | 8 | 7 | 14 | 54° / 80°F |
| July | 13 | 7 | 13 | 61° / 86°F |
| August | 14 | 10 | 16 | 59° / 85°F |
| September | 9 | 7 | 17 | 52° / 78°F |
| October | 2 | 2 | 11 | 41° / 65°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 4 | 31° / 53°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 23° / 42°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 49 days a year here.
Towns near Rochester compared
2 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Biddeford (75 a year, 31 miles east); 2 get fewer, down to 33 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. Somersworth, Dover are read from the same station as Rochester, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Rochester | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somersworth, NH | 5 mi southeast | 51 | July to August | same station |
| Dover, NH | 9 mi southeast | 51 | July to August | same station |
| Sanford, ME | 14 mi northeast | 33 | July to August | Sanford Regional Airport |
| Portsmouth, NH | 19 mi southeast | 59 | July to August | Pease International Tradeport |
| Concord, NH | 30 mi west | 37 | June to September | Concord Municipal Airport |
| Biddeford, ME | 31 mi east | 75 | June to September | Wells Reserve |
How Rochester ranks in NH
Of 11 NH places with 10,000 people or more, Rochester (population 33,598, 5th largest) ranks 6th for painting days, right at the state median of 51. The longest season in the state is Manchester, 63 days, 32 miles southwest. The shortest is Concord at 37. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 49 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Skyhaven Airport (3.1 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.