Why would a company like ours, which offers top notch exterior painting services, tell you not to paint the outside of your house in the fall?

First, we don’t want you be the victim to paint contractors who, as their business slows down from the busy summer, try to fill the gap with quick jobs in the fall. Some may come to your door offering cut-rate pricing in an effort to squeeze in a few more contracts before the snow flies.

It seems to make sense. The weather is good enough to be working outside and you might be tempted to take the opportunity to refresh the look of your home with a paint job at a great price.

The Science Behind Why You Shouldn’t Paint Outside in the Fall

It can be a costly mistake if you take one of those tempting offers and paint the outside of your home after October 1. If you do, there’s a good chance that you’ll need to repaint within just a few years. And here’s why:

As you know, there are two ‘vehicles’ for exterior paint, latex and oil. After you apply the paint, the vehicle dries up leaving only the paint colour. The other thing that happens after you paint is the chemical reaction within the paint that bonds it to the surface beneath.

Both the drying and bonding processes won’t happen properly if temperatures are too low. The instructions on most cans of exterior paint will tell you not to apply the paint in temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius.

But there are lots of days after Oct. 1 that are above 10 degrees, right? While that’s true, especially during the mild fall we’re having here in Toronto and the GTA this year, the temperatures you get from weather reports are daily highs. Even during this warm autumn, many night-time lows have been below 10 degrees. And temperatures are generally lower in suburban and rural areas.

There is a good chance that the paint you apply on your home at temperatures above 10 degrees will not fully dry before the temperatures fall below 10 degrees. While some bonding will take place, the process will be interrupted by the lower temperatures.

The Result? Your paint will not be fully bonded to the surface below after it dries and, after two or three years, it will start to lift off the base, crack and peel. And you’ll need to paint again.

So even though it seems like a good time to paint your home, it isn’t. Keep your money and get a professional paint job in the spring of summer of 2017.