When to paint a house exterior in San Rafael, CA
When to paint in San Rafael, CA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is June to September, with 4 good months a year. The best month is August, at about 23 painting days. Book a painter by April.
If you want the house done in June to September, call for quotes in April or earlier; a job pushed past September is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.
- 2Jan
- under 1Feb
- 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 4May
- 14Jun
- 20Jul
- 23Aug
- 18Sep
- 6Oct
- 1Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2 | 2 | 3 | 41° / 58°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 11 | 38° / 62°F |
| March | 1 | under 1 | 12 | 40° / 62°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 20 | 42° / 66°F |
| May | 4 | 4 | 23 | 46° / 72°F |
| June | 14 | 14 | 27 | 50° / 78°F |
| July | 20 | 20 | 26 | 52° / 81°F |
| August | 23 | 23 | 27 | 53° / 82°F |
| September | 18 | 18 | 24 | 53° / 80°F |
| October | 6 | 5 | 19 | 47° / 76°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 12 | 40° / 65°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 40° / 57°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 118 days a year here.
Towns near San Rafael compared
3 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Corte Madera (163 a year, 3 miles south). 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. Larkspur, San Anselmo, Novato are read from the same station as San Rafael, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From San Rafael | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larkspur, CA | 3 mi southwest | 90 | June to September | same station |
| Corte Madera, CA | 3 mi south | 163 | May to October | Metro Oakland International Airport |
| San Anselmo, CA | 3 mi west | 90 | June to September | same station |
| Mill Valley, CA | 5 mi south | 163 | May to October | Metro Oakland International Airport |
| Novato, CA | 8 mi north | 90 | June to September | same station |
| Richmond, CA | 8 mi east | 106 | August to October | Buchanan Field Airport |
How San Rafael ranks in CA
Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, San Rafael (population 59,961, 151st largest) ranks 242nd for painting days, 38 days below the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 332 miles southeast. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 118 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Petaluma Municipal Airport (19.3 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.