When to paint a house exterior in Wilmington, DE
When to paint in Wilmington, DE
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is August to September, with 3 good months a year. The best month is September, at about 15 painting days. Book a painter by June.
If you want the house done in August to September, call for quotes in June 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
- 3Apr
- 9May
- 14Jun
- 10Jul
- 14Aug
- 15Sep
- 5Oct
- 1Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 26° / 45°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 27° / 49°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 6 | 33° / 57°F |
| April | 3 | 2 | 13 | 43° / 68°F |
| May | 9 | 5 | 16 | 53° / 77°F |
| June | 14 | 10 | 14 | 62° / 85°F |
| July | 10 | 6 | 10 | 69° / 90°F |
| August | 14 | 8 | 14 | 67° / 88°F |
| September | 15 | 11 | 17 | 60° / 82°F |
| October | 5 | 4 | 17 | 48° / 71°F |
| November | 1 | 1 | 8 | 36° / 60°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 30° / 50°F |
Deck stain does best in September. Low-temperature paint adds about 49 days a year here.
Towns near Wilmington compared
3 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Chester (77 a year, 11 miles northeast); 1 gets fewer, down to 64 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. Newark, Elkton are read from the same station as Wilmington, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Wilmington | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester, PA | 11 mi northeast | 77 | May to June | Philadelphia International Airport |
| Newark, DE | 13 mi west | 71 | August to September | same station |
| West Chester, PA | 16 mi north | 64 | July to August | Pottstown Limerick Airport |
| Elkton, MD | 18 mi southwest | 71 | August to September | same station |
| Darby, PA | 19 mi northeast | 77 | May to June | Philadelphia International Airport |
| Lansdowne, PA | 20 mi northeast | 77 | May to June | Philadelphia International Airport |
How Wilmington ranks in DE
Of 6 DE places with 10,000 people or more, Wilmington (population 73,176, 1st largest) ranks 3rd for painting days, right at the state median of 71. The longest season in the state is Dover, 73 days, 40 miles south. The shortest is Milford at 67. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 49 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from New Castle County Airport (5.8 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.