When to paint a house exterior in Salem, OR
When to paint in Salem, OR
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 July, at about 18 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
- under 1Apr
- 6May
- 11Jun
- 18Jul
- 17Aug
- 10Sep
- 1Oct
- under 1Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 35° / 51°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 34° / 53°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 5 | 36° / 58°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 12 | 40° / 65°F |
| May | 6 | 4 | 20 | 47° / 73°F |
| June | 11 | 10 | 18 | 51° / 81°F |
| July | 18 | 16 | 18 | 55° / 88°F |
| August | 17 | 15 | 18 | 55° / 89°F |
| September | 10 | 10 | 19 | 51° / 80°F |
| October | 1 | 1 | 13 | 44° / 68°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 38° / 56°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 35° / 50°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 68 days a year here.
Towns near Salem compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Woodburn (69 a year, 17 miles northeast). 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. Keizer, Independence, Monmouth, Silverton, Dallas are read from the same station as Salem, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Salem | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keizer, OR | 5 mi north | 62 | July to August | same station |
| Independence, OR | 10 mi southwest | 62 | July to August | same station |
| Monmouth, OR | 11 mi southwest | 62 | July to August | same station |
| Silverton, OR | 13 mi northeast | 62 | July to August | same station |
| Dallas, OR | 14 mi west | 62 | July to August | same station |
| Woodburn, OR | 17 mi northeast | 69 | June to August | Aurora State Airport |
How Salem ranks in OR
Of 57 OR places with 10,000 people or more, Salem (population 180,406, 2nd largest) ranks 21st for painting days, 10 days above the state median of 52. The longest season in the state is Portland, 87 days, 46 miles northeast. The shortest is Klamath Falls at 5. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 68 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Mcnary Field Airport (1.7 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.