When to paint a house exterior in Santa Fe, NM
When to paint in Santa Fe, NM
A short season: book early and expect weather delays. The painting window is July to September, and even that is thin, with 0 good months a year. The best month is August, at about 10 painting days. Book a painter by May.
If you want the house done in July to September, call for quotes in May 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 Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 2May
- 5Jun
- 6Jul
- 10Aug
- 8Sep
- 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 | under 1 | 19° / 47°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 22° / 53°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 27° / 62°F |
| April | 1 | under 1 | 12 | 33° / 70°F |
| May | 2 | 2 | 24 | 42° / 78°F |
| June | 5 | 4 | 11 | 52° / 89°F |
| July | 6 | 3 | 7 | 58° / 91°F |
| August | 10 | 5 | 11 | 56° / 89°F |
| September | 8 | 5 | 20 | 49° / 84°F |
| October | 1 | under 1 | 19 | 38° / 71°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 27° / 58°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 20° / 49°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 75 days a year here.
Towns near Santa Fe compared
5 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Española (102 a year, 24 miles north); 1 gets fewer, down to 23 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.
| Place | From Santa Fe | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Española, NM | 24 mi north | 102 | May to September | Los Alamos Airport |
| Las Vegas, NM | 43 mi east | 37 | June to August | Las Vegas Municipal Airport |
| Rio Rancho, NM | 48 mi southwest | 62 | May | Albuquerque International Sunport Airport |
| Albuquerque, NM | 54 mi southwest | 62 | May | Albuquerque International Sunport Airport |
| Los Lunas, NM | 75 mi southwest | 41 | May | Belen Rgnl Airport |
| Farmington, NM | 144 mi northwest | 23 | September | Four Corners Regional Airport |
How Santa Fe ranks in NM
Of 19 NM places with 10,000 people or more, Santa Fe (population 90,551, 4th largest) ranks 15th for painting days, 12 days below the state median of 46. The longest season in the state is Española, 102 days, 24 miles north. The shortest is Gallup at 15. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 75 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Santa Fe Municipal Airport (6.8 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.