When to paint a house exterior in St. Helens, OR
When to paint in St. Helens, 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 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
- under 1Apr
- 6May
- 10Jun
- 17Jul
- 16Aug
- 8Sep
- 2Oct
- 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 | 34° / 49°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 33° / 52°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 35° / 58°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 10 | 39° / 64°F |
| May | 6 | 4 | 20 | 46° / 73°F |
| June | 10 | 10 | 18 | 50° / 79°F |
| July | 17 | 17 | 21 | 54° / 86°F |
| August | 16 | 14 | 19 | 55° / 88°F |
| September | 8 | 8 | 19 | 50° / 79°F |
| October | 2 | 2 | 12 | 43° / 67°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 37° / 55°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 34° / 48°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 68 days a year here.
Towns near St. Helens compared
4 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Vancouver (87 a year, 19 miles southeast); 1 gets fewer, down to 39 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. Ridgefield is read from the same station as St. Helens, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From St. Helens | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgefield, WA | 7 mi east | 58 | July to August | same station |
| Battle Ground, WA | 14 mi east | 74 | June to August | Pearson Field Airport |
| Kelso, WA | 18 mi north | 67 | July to August | Kelso-Longview Airport |
| Vancouver, WA | 19 mi southeast | 87 | June to September | Portland International Airport |
| Longview, WA | 21 mi north | 67 | July to August | Kelso-Longview Airport |
| Hillsboro, OR | 23 mi south | 39 | August | Portland-Hillsboro Airport |
How St. Helens ranks in OR
Of 57 OR places with 10,000 people or more, St. Helens (population 14,460, 41st largest) ranks 28th for painting days, 6 days above the state median of 52. The longest season in the state is Portland, 87 days, 23 miles south. 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 Scappoose Indus Airpk Airport (6.1 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.