When to paint a house exterior in Rochester, NY
When to paint in Rochester, NY
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 17 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
- 11Jun
- 13Jul
- 17Aug
- 12Sep
- 3Oct
- 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° / 36°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 19° / 39°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 27° / 48°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 6 | 36° / 59°F |
| May | 4 | 3 | 16 | 47° / 73°F |
| June | 11 | 8 | 16 | 56° / 80°F |
| July | 13 | 8 | 14 | 62° / 85°F |
| August | 17 | 11 | 17 | 61° / 83°F |
| September | 12 | 8 | 17 | 54° / 77°F |
| October | 3 | 3 | 12 | 44° / 65°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 5 | 33° / 53°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 26° / 42°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 44 days a year here.
Towns near Rochester compared
2 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Lancaster (76 a year, 56 miles west); 1 gets fewer, down to 58 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. Batavia is read from the same station as Rochester, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Rochester | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canandaigua, NY | 26 mi southeast | 65 | July to August | Penn Yan Airport |
| Batavia, NY | 31 mi west | 63 | July to August | same station |
| Geneva, NY | 38 mi southeast | 65 | July to August | Penn Yan Airport |
| Lockport, NY | 54 mi west | 75 | June to September | Niagara Falls International Airport |
| Auburn, NY | 55 mi east | 58 | July to August | Syracuse Hancock Internationa |
| Lancaster, NY | 56 mi west | 76 | June to September | Buffalo Niagara International |
How Rochester ranks in NY
Of 90 NY places with 10,000 people or more, Rochester (population 207,282, 4th largest) ranks 55th for painting days, 7 days below the state median of 70. The longest season in the state is Kingston, 96 days, 203 miles southeast. The shortest is Olean at 39. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 44 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Greater Rochester Internation (4.7 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.