Paint likes nice weather. Dry with a moderate temperature. If paint ruled the world, it would be 15-20 degrees with cloudy skies every day. In the real world, however, fluctuating temperatures and weather patterns can pose interesting challenges for painters in Langley. Here are a few seasonal painting tips to help you handle the hot sun and the sometimes-unrelenting rain.

Seasonal Painting Tips from Your Painters in Langley

Rain

Perfect weather is rarely a reality in the Lower mainland. We live in a rain forest, so living with wet weather is part of life for us. If your home in Langley, BC needs painting though, you can’t always wait for the rain to completely stop for multiple days in a row.

Oil house paints are a thing of the past. Today’s paints are water soluble while they are wet. So, if water is falling from the sky, you can imagine what that would do to a paint job in progress. On Top of that, the weather man isn’t always right. So how do you schedule?

Painters in Langley have learned to show up for the job and see what the weather does.

Seasonal Painting Tip #1: If a surface is wet, don’t paint it! Especially if it is bare wood. Painting over wet wood will will trap the moisture inside. When the hot sun hits it in the summer, the water will try to escape and push the paint off causing it to peel.

Seasonal Painting Tip #2: If you feel a few rain drops. Stop painting and take a break. Some of your work may get damaged if it starts to rain harder, and you may need to put on an extra coat. It’s best to put on the breaks for a bit and continue when the rain lets up.

Seasonal Painting Tip #3: If rain is in the forecast, concentrate on vertical surfaces because the water won’t pool on them. You can also paint surfaces that are undercover.

Sun

The sun carries a mixed blessing for painters in Langley. While it can warm up the environment so that paint will dry, it can also damage the paint.

Seasonal Painting Tip #4: Chase the shade around the house. If it is hot outside, painting in the direct sunlight can cause the paint to dry too quickly. The surface of the paint can dry before the underlying paint causing the paint to “skin.” This can lead to premature peeling.

Temperature

In Langley, BC, temperature is less of a deterrent than moisture. Today’s paints will cure at as low as 2 degrees celsius. That means that exterior house painting can technically happen in the winter here. Most of the winter, the temperature is above 2 degrees.

However, while it may be warm enough, it’s usually raining at the same time.

If you are in the rare situation where you absolutely have to paint the outside of your house in the winter then:

Seasonal Painting Tip #5: Sherwin-Williams carries a paint called “Lattiude” which is designed for exactly these purposes. This product develops a resistance to rain within one hour.

So, if rain is the forecast, and it is cold outside, Latitude is the go-to paint. Other paints will dry down to 2 degrees, but it will take them many hours to develop a resistance to rain which invites the risk of washing off.

Following these tips will help to guide you to a successful paint job. If you need help from some painters in Langley, we are here to help. We have been around since 2006 and know how to work around our lower mainland climate.

-Jeremy