Sometimes furnishing the exterior of your house cannot wait for the perfect weather conditions. If you have recently purchased a property or are renovating your current one then you need to be able to decorate your entire house without delay. The Irish weather in particular can be extremely unpredictable and frequently rainy, windy and even snowy during the winter months. There are certain precautions to take and measurements to put in place when undertaking such a task in strenuous conditions. Safety is the priority at all times and many painting companies will only do interior painting throughout the winter months. Below are some guidelines to follow if you wish to attempt exterior house painting during the winter.
Sometimes furnishing the exterior of your house cannot wait for the perfect weather conditions. If you have recently purchased a property or are renovating your current one then you need to be able to decorate your entire house without delay. The Irish weather in particular can be extremely unpredictable and frequently rainy, windy and even snowy during the winter months. There are certain precautions to take and measurements to put in place when undertaking such a task in strenuous conditions. Safety is the priority at all times and many painting companies will only do interior painting throughout the winter months. Below are some guidelines to follow if you wish to attempt exterior house painting during the winter.
- Preperation
First things first; wrapping up for the cold winter weather is vital for your personal health. You should wear many layers, gloves, a hat and sturdy boots to prevent from any accidents on the slippy surfaces of the ladder or rooftop. Secondly, you should plan to start work in a small window of mild weather forecasts. You should be prepared to work as fast as possible laying down your coats of paint as you won’t have much time until the weather suddenly takes a turn for the worse.
- The Paint
There are certain paints that will dry quicker than others such as oil-based and acrylic ones manufactured for such circumstances as colder climates. Some of these even come with water resistant coats that will produce a resistant cling film to your paint in wet conditions. Make sure to do your research first and purchase high quality paint suitable for your task-at-hand.
- Think About Other Materials
Allowing the paint to dry is one problematic aspect to exterior painting in the winter but this is not the only issue. Processes such as priming require drier, less cold weather conditions so you must plan for this too and be ready to work without notice if such a day presents itself.
- Ideal Weather
The perfect weather during the winter for painting would ideally be a mild day with cloud coverage and no rain. Temperatures throughout the winter months tend to average about 8-10 degrees Celsius during the day but can also be as low as 0-4 degrees. This would be too cold and moist for the paint to be applied on and have time to dry.
- Start Early
It is important to start as soon as the sun comes up as you need time to allow the daylight help to dry your coats of paint before it gets dark and dewy. You could work within the suns beams and use it as a work tool. The paint would hopefully be applied by mid-day so as to allow ample time for drying.
If your paint has not dried in time before adverse weather conditions have set in then do not panic. This may seem like a disaster but it can be fixed once the weather returns to stable painting conditions. You may have to strip some existing damaged coats, however, and it can be an exhaustive effort so hopefully the advice given on this page will help you to avoid such event. As always, if you can afford to wait a few months until warmer weather then that is always advisable over painting in the cold.
