The process of painting the exterior of your home has a mind of its own. This project follows its own schedule, depending on the unfavorable weather conditions. In 2021, America witnessed 28.43 inches of drizzle, sleet, hail, snow, and rain.
Luckily, only some parts of the country receive yearly precipitation over the months. Examples include the Southeast region and the Gulf Coast. These areas experience rain between June and September.
Even then, homeowners in other parts of the country are not safe from sudden downpours that can damage a freshly painted home. In this blog, we will delve deeper into painting the exterior of your home during the rain.
What Happens When You Paint in the Rain?
Technically, you should avoid painting wet areas during the rain. However, you can paint surfaces like outdoor ceilings and doors since they are protected from rainwater. Similarly, you cannot paint areas like the gutters, house walls, and siding during the rain.
If you paint on a wet surface, it can create visible imperfections in the paint. Technically, rain can wash away wet paint since it did not get enough time to dry. Semi-dry paint can look cakey and have imprinted water streaks.
These watermarks look bad, and your driveway can become dirty with washed-off paint. If this happens, you must clean and repaint the affected areas from scratch.
There are some resilient paints designed to dry quickly during moisture-laden days. This market will grow at a 6.5% CAGR by 2030. Hence, it proves the paint’s importance and popularity in the market. For all this, you need professionals to help you through the process of painting your home’s exterior.
Should You Hire Professionals?
Painting your home’s exterior involves pressure washing, scraping, using peel bonds, protecting concrete, and applying two coats. When it rains, the process can become daunting. For example, you need proper knowledge and expertise for optimal efficiency during harsh weather. According to Absolute Painting, the ideal painting temperature for home exteriors should be 50 °F.
Painting in the rain involves creating an intricate plan and sourcing high-quality paint to decrease weather damage. Ideally, you should hire a professional when dealing with the exterior painting of your house during unfavorable weather.
Professionals will help accentuate your curb appeal and your home’s presentation. These highly skilled exterior house painters have specialized tactics to ensure the highest quality painting jobs during the rain.
This way, you will have less responsibility, timely completion, and value-for-money outcomes. They are well-equipped and experienced enough to put safety first in tricky weather conditions. Additionally, professional painters get quality output from their immense product knowledge. The best part is the clean-up process after everything.
6 Tips to Paint in the Rain
These professionals know checklists and tips for painting your home’s exterior walls during the rain. But, as a homeowner, you should know these tips if you ever want to do the painting process yourself:
- Avoid painting on damp surfaces
- Wait for 4 to 24 hours for the surface to dry
- Waterproof the paint after completion
- Avoid condensation formation on the surface
- Keep a check on weather forecasts and plan accordingly
- Use a long-lasting primer or solvent-based acrylic paint
According to the U.S. News, painting your house’s exterior with hired help will cost USD 3,073 for 1,500 square feet. Ideally, you should renew the paint every five to ten years, depending on weather influences.
Therefore, you must do this project correctly to avoid repeating the process within two to three years. It means you should leave the exterior painting process to a reputed contractor.
Also Read: 12 Black Gutters on House Ideas: Make Your House Stand Out!
Ways to Determine When to Paint
Of course, you would want the painting process to be over quickly, but nature has other plans. According to Spruce, experts recommend halting all painting processes, even during a slight drizzle. The slightest rain can hamper the quality of the freshly applied paint.
What if you forcefully paint on wet surfaces to get the job done quickly? It will only waste the time and money you spent painting the exterior walls. For instance, your walls will look damaged, and you must remove the failed paint. As a result, the process can become costly, labor-intensive, and ineffective.
That is why professional painters determine the painting season by checking the climatic conditions for temperature and moisture. They will determine a surface’s readiness by checking the following factors:
- Current surface conditions after the rain: Does it still have drops of rainwater?
- Recent surface conditions: Does it have latent moisture in hidden sections like nail holes or cracks?
- Temperature ideal for the painting process: Is the temperature above 50 °F?
Once they determine the timeline, the professionals will follow exterior painting rules. These include necessary preparations, using the right tools, and avoiding lead-based paint.
The Bottom Line
You can resume the painting process when the rain stops. However, you must check the wind, dew point, humidity, and temperature before applying the paint. Most paints can survive the rain after drying for four hours.
Therefore, you must hire professionals to get the best outcomes. They can get resilient paint or plan the painting process according to weather conditions. Only then can you achieve the spectacular results that enhance your home’s appeal.