When to paint a house exterior in Washington, DC
When to paint in Washington, DC
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is May to June, with 3 good months a year. The best month is September, at about 16 painting days. Book a painter by March.
If you want the house done in May to June, call for quotes in March or earlier; a job pushed past June is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- 2Mar
- 6Apr
- 12May
- 13Jun
- 5Jul
- 9Aug
- 16Sep
- 11Oct
- 2Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 30° / 49°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 32° / 54°F |
| March | 2 | 1 | 12 | 38° / 62°F |
| April | 6 | 5 | 17 | 48° / 72°F |
| May | 12 | 7 | 15 | 57° / 79°F |
| June | 13 | 10 | 13 | 66° / 87°F |
| July | 5 | 2 | 5 | 73° / 92°F |
| August | 9 | 7 | 9 | 71° / 90°F |
| September | 16 | 13 | 16 | 65° / 84°F |
| October | 11 | 9 | 20 | 53° / 74°F |
| November | 2 | 2 | 15 | 41° / 62°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 6 | 34° / 54°F |
Deck stain does best in September. Low-temperature paint adds about 59 days a year here.
Towns near Washington compared
4 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Hyattsville (111 a year, 5 miles northeast). 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. Alexandria, Falls Church are read from the same station as Washington, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Washington | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyattsville, MD | 5 mi northeast | 111 | May to September | College Park Airport |
| Takoma Park, MD | 5 mi north | 111 | May to September | College Park Airport |
| Alexandria, VA | 7 mi southwest | 76 | May to June | same station |
| College Park, MD | 8 mi northeast | 111 | May to September | College Park Airport |
| New Carrollton, MD | 9 mi northeast | 111 | May to September | College Park Airport |
| Falls Church, VA | 9 mi west | 76 | May to June | same station |
Washington in DC
Washington is the only place of 10,000 people or more in DC in this data, with 702,250 residents and 76 painting days a year.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Ronald Reagan Washington Natl (4.1 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.