How Hot Weather Impacts Minnesota Exterior Painting

Summer can be a great time of year to embark on a home improvement project. The warm weather can be very energizing and motivating, and you may feel excited to spruce up your home’s exterior so that you can show it off during barbecues or outdoor gatherings. Many homeowners in the Andover MN area want to upgrade their home’s exterior paint job in the summer so that the house looks vibrant in the bright sunshine. While summer might be your preferred time of year to complete an exterior painting project, you also have to be careful when painting in the warm or humid weather.

Summers in Minnesota aren’t quite as hot as summers in other regions of the United States, so an exterior painting project is certainly doable. Heat and humidity can affect the final results of the job, though, so you and your painting professionals will have to strategically schedule the project to avoid mishaps. Here is everything you need to know about exterior home painting services in the summer:

Paint Curing vs Drying

To understand how the summer heat can affect your painting project, it’s important to know the difference between paint curing and paint drying. As paint dries, the solvents evaporate from the coating. This leaves the surface feeling dry to the touch, but the paint isn’t actually fully dry.

Exterior paint becomes completely dry and durable once it cures, which takes about two weeks. When the paint cures, it fully hardens and becomes resistant to damage. At this point, you can wash the surface without damaging the paint job.

Homeowners often think that the summer is the best time for exterior painting because the hot temperatures will help the paint dry quickly. Warm weather can be problematic for exterior paint, though. The outer layer of the paint may dry rapidly, but the underlying layers won’t dry for several more days or weeks. You might mistakenly think that the surface is cured and ready to be washed, and this false belief could lead to you accidentally damaging the paint.

Excessive heat may affect the appearance of the paint job, too. If the weather is too hot or humid in the days following your painting project, the coating could develop bumps, blisters, or cracks.

Best Temperature for Painting

You can ensure that your painting project has great results by scheduling it during ideal weather conditions. In most cases, the appropriate temperature range for an outdoor painting project is between 60 and 90 degrees. Latex paint cures best at temperatures between 50 and 85 degrees.

Watching the weather forecast will help you determine the best day to complete your painting project. Keep in mind, though, that surface temperatures can be 10 to 20 degrees warmer than air temperatures. If the high temperature for the day is 90 degrees, your home’s exterior surface could reach 110 degrees. To keep your paint in the correct temperature range, you should schedule the project when the temperature will stay around 70 or 80 degrees.

You could also plan to paint the different sides of your house based on when they receive the most sunlight. It’s best to paint an exterior surface when it isn’t receiving harsh or direct sunlight because paint will not adhere well to an overheated surface. For example, the east side of your house receives the most sunlight in the early morning, so you could paint this surface in the late morning or early afternoon.

How Humidity Affects Exterior Paint

Because humidity increases the amount of water vapor in the air, paint dries and cures more slowly in humid weather. Minnesota summers can be very humid, so you may have to allow extra time for your exterior paint job to cure.

You should be especially careful when painting a wood surface. Wood is porous, so it readily absorbs moisture from the paint and from the air. If you paint your house in excessively humid conditions, the paint could peel and bubble because of how the wood interacts with the humidity.

How to Avoid Problems When Painting in the Summer

You can avoid problems with heat and humidity by scheduling a painting project during ideal weather conditions. It can be difficult to plan in advance, but your exterior painting professionals should be able to advise you. Experienced painters know what to expect from the summer months, and they should be familiar with the best times of year to paint a house’s exterior. In general, early summer is best for Minnesota painting projects because the heat and humidity have not yet reached their peak. Schwartz & Sons provides high-quality exterior home painting services for homeowners in Andover MN. Our team understands how important it is to complete projects during ideal weather conditions, and we’ll work with you to schedule the job at the right time. If you’re looking for painters near me, you can contact Schwartz & Sons today to schedule a consultation.