When to paint a house exterior in St. Paul, MN
When to paint in St. Paul, MN
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 17 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.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 9May
- 14Jun
- 17Jul
- 17Aug
- 14Sep
- 4Oct
- 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 | 12° / 27°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 12° / 30°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 27° / 44°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 10 | 37° / 57°F |
| May | 9 | 7 | 18 | 50° / 72°F |
| June | 14 | 10 | 15 | 61° / 82°F |
| July | 17 | 12 | 17 | 65° / 85°F |
| August | 17 | 13 | 17 | 63° / 82°F |
| September | 14 | 14 | 19 | 57° / 76°F |
| October | 4 | 4 | 15 | 42° / 61°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 6 | 30° / 45°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 19° / 32°F |
Deck stain does best in September. Low-temperature paint adds about 43 days a year here.
Towns near St. Paul compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in South St. Paul (85 a year, 5 miles southeast); 1 gets fewer, down to 73 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. West St. Paul, Roseville, Little Canada, Maplewood are read from the same station as St. Paul, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From St. Paul | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West St. Paul, MN | 3 mi south | 77 | June to September | same station |
| Mendota Heights, MN | 5 mi south | 73 | June to September | Minneapolis-St Paul Internati |
| Roseville, MN | 5 mi northwest | 77 | June to September | same station |
| South St. Paul, MN | 5 mi southeast | 85 | June to September | South St Paul Municipal-Richard E |
| Little Canada, MN | 5 mi north | 77 | June to September | same station |
| Maplewood, MN | 6 mi northeast | 77 | June to September | same station |
How St. Paul ranks in MN
Of 103 MN places with 10,000 people or more, St. Paul (population 307,465, 2nd largest) ranks 30th for painting days, 5 days above the state median of 73. The longest season in the state is Owatonna, 100 days, 60 miles south. The shortest is Hibbing at 23. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 43 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from St Paul Dwtwn Holman Fd Airport (2.6 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.