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Why You Should Avoid Painting in Winter:

Water-based paints, like latex and acrylic, require specific conditions to cure properly. When the weather is too cold, or too hot, it affects the chemicals in the paint and prevents them from bonding together properly. Most traditional latex-based paints won’t cure at temperatures below 60°F – the cold weather can affect the color and quality of the paint, making it lose its glossiness, or appear cloudy and blotchy. Luckily, some paint manufacturers have created low-temperature paint that can be applied in temperatures below 60°F, but despite advertising that the paint can be applied in temperatures as low as 35°F, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can or should paint on a 35°F day. To pull off exterior painting in the winter, it doesn’t matter how good the quality of your paint is, what matters is the quality of your contractor– don’t let them pull a fast one on you and say they’ll paint your house on a 50°F day when the forecast predicts it’s going right back down to 20°F that night!

Paint takes time to cure, and the air temperature needs to remain above the minimum recommended temperature (40°F) for the entire curing process, not just during the application. A good contractor will wait for the right weather before painting your exterior to make sure that the paint performs like it should and looks great – especially if they offer a 5-year paint warranty like Tom Curren Companies does. If there happens to be a week of unseasonably warm weather, you might be able to get away with painting in the late fall or early spring, but it’s still not recommended to paint in the winter in New England. The ideal conditions for exterior painting range from 50°F to 85°F, with little to no wind, and between 40%-70% humidity…but good luck finding consistent 50°F+ weather with no wind, and no rain or snow during a Massachusetts winter!