When to paint a house exterior in Wilmington, NC
When to paint in Wilmington, NC
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is September to October, with 3 good months a year. The best month is October, at about 16 painting days. Book a painter by July.
If you want the house done in September to October, call for quotes in July or earlier; a job pushed past October is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov.
- 1Jan
- 3Feb
- 7Mar
- 11Apr
- 14May
- 10Jun
- 4Jul
- 5Aug
- 15Sep
- 16Oct
- 4Nov
- 2Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | 1 | 6 | 37° / 61°F |
| February | 3 | 2 | 9 | 41° / 67°F |
| March | 7 | 7 | 17 | 46° / 71°F |
| April | 11 | 9 | 20 | 52° / 77°F |
| May | 14 | 11 | 17 | 62° / 85°F |
| June | 10 | 7 | 10 | 68° / 89°F |
| July | 4 | 2 | 4 | 73° / 92°F |
| August | 5 | 2 | 5 | 72° / 91°F |
| September | 15 | 10 | 15 | 67° / 87°F |
| October | 16 | 15 | 22 | 57° / 80°F |
| November | 4 | 4 | 16 | 46° / 71°F |
| December | 2 | 2 | 9 | 40° / 65°F |
Deck stain does best in October. Low-temperature paint adds about 57 days a year here.
Towns near Wilmington compared
3 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Myrtle Beach (122 a year, 67 miles southwest); 2 get fewer, down to 69 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. Leland is read from the same station as Wilmington, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Wilmington | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leland, NC | 9 mi west | 93 | September to October | same station |
| Jacksonville, NC | 46 mi northeast | 87 | September to October | Jacksonville |
| North Myrtle Beach, SC | 54 mi southwest | 103 | May to June | Grand Strand Airport |
| Myrtle Beach, SC | 67 mi southwest | 122 | April to October | Myrtle Beach International Airport |
| Lumberton, NC | 71 mi northwest | 69 | October | Laurinburg-Maxton Airport |
| Conway, SC | 71 mi west | 122 | April to October | Myrtle Beach International Airport |
How Wilmington ranks in NC
Of 91 NC places with 10,000 people or more, Wilmington (population 125,284, 8th largest) ranks 10th for painting days, 16 days above the state median of 77. The longest season in the state is Greenville, 123 days, 100 miles north. The shortest is Boone at 50. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 57 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Wilmington International Airport (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+.