When to paint a house exterior in Traverse City, MI
When to paint in Traverse City, MI
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 August, at about 15 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
- 1Apr
- 3May
- 8Jun
- 15Jul
- 15Aug
- 11Sep
- 3Oct
- 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° / 33°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 17° / 35°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 24° / 44°F |
| April | 1 | 1 | 4 | 33° / 56°F |
| May | 3 | 2 | 12 | 43° / 71°F |
| June | 8 | 6 | 15 | 53° / 80°F |
| July | 15 | 10 | 16 | 59° / 85°F |
| August | 15 | 11 | 16 | 59° / 83°F |
| September | 11 | 10 | 17 | 54° / 77°F |
| October | 3 | 2 | 11 | 43° / 63°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 5 | 32° / 49°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 26° / 39°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 42 days a year here.
Towns near Traverse City compared
4 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Mount Pleasant (68 a year, 90 miles southeast); 1 gets fewer, down to 36 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. Cadillac is read from the same station as Traverse City, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Traverse City | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadillac, MI | 36 mi south | 56 | July to August | same station |
| Mount Pleasant, MI | 90 mi southeast | 68 | June to September | Mbs International Airport |
| Escanaba, MI | 99 mi northwest | 36 | June to August | Delta County Airport |
| Marinette, WI | 102 mi west | 67 | June to August | Meone-Marinette Twin County Airport |
| Midland, MI | 103 mi southeast | 68 | June to September | Mbs International Airport |
| Two Rivers, WI | 106 mi west | 62 | July to August | Manitowoc County Airport |
How Traverse City ranks in MI
Of 90 MI places with 10,000 people or more, Traverse City (population 15,782, 62nd largest) ranks 85th for painting days, 13 days below the state median of 70. The longest season in the state is Alpena, 105 days, 108 miles east. The shortest is Escanaba at 36. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 42 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Cherry Capital Airport (1.3 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.