When to paint a house exterior in Yelm, WA
When to paint in Yelm, WA
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 July, at about 14 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
- under 1Apr
- 3May
- 6Jun
- 14Jul
- 13Aug
- 5Sep
- under 1Oct
- under 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 | 33° / 49°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 33° / 50°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 34° / 56°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 6 | 37° / 62°F |
| May | 3 | 2 | 18 | 45° / 70°F |
| June | 6 | 4 | 18 | 48° / 75°F |
| July | 14 | 14 | 22 | 52° / 82°F |
| August | 13 | 12 | 21 | 53° / 82°F |
| September | 5 | 5 | 17 | 48° / 74°F |
| October | under 1 | under 1 | 6 | 41° / 63°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 35° / 53°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 33° / 47°F |
Deck stain does best in July. Low-temperature paint adds about 69 days a year here.
Towns near Yelm compared
1 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in University Place (84 a year, 19 miles north); 4 get fewer, down to 31 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.
| Place | From Yelm | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lacey, WA | 10 mi northwest | 31 | July to August | Olympia Airport |
| Tumwater, WA | 13 mi west | 31 | July to August | Olympia Airport |
| Olympia, WA | 14 mi northwest | 31 | July to August | Olympia Airport |
| Lakewood, WA | 16 mi north | 41 | July to August | Mcchord Air Force Base Airport |
| University Place, WA | 19 mi north | 84 | July to September | Tacoma Narrows Airport |
| Centralia, WA | 22 mi southwest | 31 | July to August | Olympia Airport |
How Yelm ranks in WA
Of 91 WA places with 10,000 people or more, Yelm (population 11,715, 84th largest) ranks 68th for painting days, 28 days below the state median of 71. The longest season in the state is Seattle, 108 days, 49 miles north. The shortest is Sunnyside at 27. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 69 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Gray Aff Airport (10.1 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.