When to paint a house exterior in Sterling, IL
When to paint in Sterling, IL
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 July, at about 20 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.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 2Apr
- 8May
- 14Jun
- 20Jul
- 18Aug
- 13Sep
- 6Oct
- 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 | 17° / 32°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 17° / 37°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 30° / 50°F |
| April | 2 | 2 | 11 | 38° / 62°F |
| May | 8 | 5 | 17 | 51° / 74°F |
| June | 14 | 10 | 16 | 61° / 84°F |
| July | 20 | 16 | 20 | 63° / 84°F |
| August | 18 | 15 | 19 | 61° / 83°F |
| September | 13 | 12 | 20 | 55° / 80°F |
| October | 6 | 4 | 16 | 44° / 66°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 6 | 30° / 50°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 23° / 39°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 48 days a year here.
Towns near Sterling compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Bettendorf (86 a year, 43 miles west); 4 get fewer, down to 66 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. Dixon is read from the same station as Sterling, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Sterling | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dixon, IL | 12 mi east | 82 | June to September | same station |
| Clinton, IA | 28 mi west | 71 | June to August | Clinton Municipal Airport |
| Freeport, IL | 34 mi north | 66 | June to August | Albertus Airport |
| Kewanee, IL | 41 mi south | 71 | June to September | Galesburg Municipal Airport |
| East Moline, IL | 41 mi southwest | 70 | July to September | Quad City International Airport |
| Bettendorf, IA | 43 mi west | 86 | June to September | Davenport Municipal Airpt |
How Sterling ranks in IL
Of 225 IL places with 10,000 people or more, Sterling (population 14,535, 170th largest) ranks 53rd for painting days, 5 days above the state median of 77. The longest season in the state is Chicago, 131 days, 104 miles east. The shortest is Woodstock at 65. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 48 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Whiteside County Airport-Jos H Bitto (4 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.