How to Paint Your Home in Cold Weather
Why you shouldn’t wait to paint your home
If your home needs painting we suggest that you do it now and not wait till after winter as your exterior will need protection from the cold weather this winter. The exterior of your home goes through a lot throughout the entire year. From rain to sun, to dry heat, frost, and snow - it affects the exterior coatings that are meant to protect your house. Prolong the life of your wooden surfaces with high-quality painting. If you’re thinking about selling your home in the spring, you will want to ensure that your home’s exterior surfaces are well protected through the winter.
Some key visual signs to tell if your home needs exterior painting are:
- Water is not dripping away from the surface, it’s stagnant or pooling
- Paint or stain is peeling, bubbling, cracking, or lifting from the surface
- Discoloured or faded areas
- Moisture stains and mould
- Cracks in the stucco
- Signs of rotting wood
- You’re tired of the colour and want a change!
When is it too cold to paint?
Timing is important when painting a home’s exterior, no matter what time of year. You want to avoid rain during the drying period and choose the best paint for the climate. Paint drying in cold weather can be unpredictable, but we have a few suggestions on how to choose the right time to start painting. Of course, a professional team of painters will know when the time is right. You need to make sure that each coat will have enough time to dry, this could take up to multiple days depending on how many coats you apply. We recommend 1 day of drying for the initial first coat before you go ahead and apply the second coat. You also need to take temperature into account. What is the ideal temperature range for painting, especially during the winter? Well, there are two temperatures we need to be concerned about. The first is the air temperature and the second is the surface temperature. If the air temperature is 10 degrees Celsius but the exterior surface of your home is only 4 degrees Celsius, you will have to pretend you’re painting in 4-degree weather. Professional painters like Pedigree will use infrared thermometers to avoid the guessing game and accurately determine if it’s okay to begin exterior painting. A residential painting contractor will also track and monitor the weather and sunlight variability. They will consider humidity and other environmental factors when choosing a time period for exterior painting.
Choosing the best paint for the conditions
You will need paint that is designed to cure at a lower temperature if you decide to paint during cold weather or the winter season. It will be a more reliable paint mixture than a typical exterior paint. Look at the recommended temperature on the paint can and remember that you need to be within those boundaries during the entire exterior painting process. Along with the type of paint, you will need proper painting brushes. As paint tends to thicken during cold weather, you will need bristles designed for the job. Pedigree recommends brushes made out of nylon or polyester.