Exterior home painting can be a big job, so you’re going to want to do it right. There are particular weather conditions that are ideal for painting the exterior. It can’t be too hot, but it also can’t be too cold. Put simply, you want warm, dry days for when you paint your Toronto home’s exterior, but not too warm!

Which Season?

The Toronto winters can be fierce and cold, so obviously painting your home’s exterior in the winter in Toronto is not the time, but spring, fall, and sometimes summer can provide ideal conditions.

Humidity and Moisture

If you’re planning to paint your home’s exterior, the first thing to be aware of is how humidity, moisture, rain and snow make painting a more difficult job. The paint needs a dry surface, otherwise it won’t adhere properly and will dry badly, flake,bubble, peel and generally be a bad paint job.

Obviously, it’s a terrible idea to paint in the rain, so you’ll want to plan ahead to ensure there’s no rain in the forecast. In fact, it’s best to wait a few days after a rainfall before you begin painting your home’s exterior.

You can check yourself if you’re not sure whether your home’s exterior surface is moist or dry. Run your fingers along the exterior, and feel for wetness. If it feels wet, even a little bit, it’s too moist for painting.

It’s good to remember that moisture can come from the early morning dew - so be careful when the temperature changes too much overnight, or the moisture could ruin your paint job!

Temperature

The second, less obvious thing to be aware of when you’re painting the exterior of your house is the temperature. As a general rule of thumb, you don’t want to paint an exterior unless it’s at least 5 degrees celsius outside, but most paint manufacturers have a suggested minimum temperature for their exterior paints. That being said, you don’t want to paint your home’s exterior when it’s too either, or the paint won’t set right. Wildly fluctuating temperatures are also bad for the paint job, so you’ll want to find a period of time where the temperature remains relatively steady throughout the duration of the paint job, and overnight as well.

The best time to paint your Toronto home’s exterior depends on the weather, but it’s usually best in the spring and fall. This is the time when the temperature doesn’t change too much overnight, and there’s not much humidity like in summer, or snow and cold temperature like in winter.

Be sure to check the weather and plan ahead before you decide to paint your home’s exterior!