When to paint a house exterior in Santa Barbara, CA
When to paint in Santa Barbara, CA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is June to October, with 5 good months a year. The best month is July, at about 25 painting days. Book a painter by April.
If you want the house done in June to October, call for quotes in April 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 May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.
- under 1Jan
- 1Feb
- 2Mar
- 5Apr
- 12May
- 19Jun
- 25Jul
- 25Aug
- 21Sep
- 13Oct
- 2Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | 18 | 42° / 67°F |
| February | 1 | under 1 | 16 | 42° / 67°F |
| March | 2 | under 1 | 19 | 45° / 68°F |
| April | 5 | 3 | 23 | 48° / 71°F |
| May | 12 | 10 | 23 | 51° / 70°F |
| June | 19 | 19 | 21 | 55° / 73°F |
| July | 25 | 25 | 25 | 58° / 75°F |
| August | 25 | 25 | 25 | 58° / 78°F |
| September | 21 | 21 | 22 | 57° / 78°F |
| October | 13 | 13 | 22 | 52° / 78°F |
| November | 2 | 1 | 23 | 43° / 72°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 17 | 40° / 67°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 130 days a year here.
Towns near Santa Barbara compared
4 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Santa Paula (181 a year, 37 miles east). 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. Goleta, Carpinteria are read from the same station as Santa Barbara, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Santa Barbara | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goleta, CA | 9 mi west | 125 | June to October | same station |
| Carpinteria, CA | 12 mi east | 125 | June to October | same station |
| San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA | 28 mi east | 170 | April to October | Oxnard Airport |
| Oxnard, CA | 32 mi southeast | 170 | April to October | Oxnard Airport |
| Port Hueneme, CA | 34 mi southeast | 170 | April to October | Oxnard Airport |
| Santa Paula, CA | 37 mi east | 181 | May to October | Camarillo Airport |
How Santa Barbara ranks in CA
Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, Santa Barbara (population 87,291, 94th largest) ranks 192nd for painting days, 3 days below the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 69 miles east. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 130 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (7.5 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.