When to paint a house exterior in Tacoma, WA
When to paint in Tacoma, WA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is July to September, with 3 good months a year. The best month is July, at about 26 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 Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- under 1Apr
- 7May
- 12Jun
- 26Jul
- 24Aug
- 13Sep
- 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 | 37° / 48°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 36° / 49°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 7 | 38° / 54°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 13 | 41° / 60°F |
| May | 7 | 4 | 21 | 47° / 68°F |
| June | 12 | 9 | 20 | 51° / 73°F |
| July | 26 | 26 | 27 | 54° / 79°F |
| August | 24 | 20 | 25 | 55° / 79°F |
| September | 13 | 13 | 19 | 52° / 72°F |
| October | 2 | 2 | 10 | 46° / 61°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 40° / 52°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 37° / 47°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 66 days a year here.
Towns near Tacoma compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Federal Way (93 a year, 7 miles northeast); 3 get fewer, down to 41 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. University Place, Gig Harbor are read from the same station as Tacoma, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Tacoma | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Place, WA | 5 mi southwest | 84 | July to September | same station |
| Fife, WA | 5 mi east | 41 | July to August | Mcchord Air Force Base Airport |
| Lakewood, WA | 7 mi southwest | 41 | July to August | Mcchord Air Force Base Airport |
| Federal Way, WA | 7 mi northeast | 93 | June to September | Seattle-Tacoma International |
| Edgewood, WA | 8 mi east | 41 | July to August | Mcchord Air Force Base Airport |
| Gig Harbor, WA | 9 mi northwest | 84 | July to September | same station |
How Tacoma ranks in WA
Of 91 WA places with 10,000 people or more, Tacoma (population 228,202, 3rd largest) ranks 40th for painting days, 13 days above the state median of 71. The longest season in the state is Seattle, 108 days, 26 miles north. The shortest is Sunnyside at 27. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 66 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Tacoma Narrows Airport (5.6 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.