Three Things To Consider When Painting in Hot Weather

When summer rolls around, DIY homeowners roll up their sleeves and prepare to tackle outdoor home maintenance. Many start by painting your exterior walls, shutters, and porches. Unfortunately, painting in hot weather presents many challenges that many homeowners don’t realize.

Exterior painting in hot weather requires special preparation and a thorough understanding of how humidity levels, surface temperature, and direct sunlight exposure affect paint. Fortunately, these factors aren’t that hard to comprehend. Here are three things to consider when painting in hot weather we’ve learned from our years offering painting service by the Nelson J. Greer Painting Contractors in Tucson.

1. Surface Exposure To Direct Sunlight

Exterior surface temperature may rise as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit over the actual temperature as your surfaces absorb sun rays. Fresh paint in direct sunlight may bubble up or peel once dried. Before beginning a paint job, touch the surface you plan to paint; if it feels hot to the touch, wait for the surface temperature to drop before starting to paint.

Some tips on avoiding direct sunlight while painting include:

• Starting as early as possible before the heat of the day sets in
• Inspecting a job site to gauge the shadiest times of the day
• Working with the movement of the sun as it tracks from east to west
• Waiting to paint surfaces until they cool from direct sunlight exposure

2. High Heat in the Shade

Even on surfaces out of direct sunlight, high temperatures can affect your painting project. Painting in hot weather speeds up paint drying times. Fresh paint that overlaps rapidly-dried paint may cure with a noticeable quality difference.

Give yourself more time between painting sections to allow your paint to fully dry. Signs that your paint job needed more time to dry include

• A peeling first coat during a second application
• Cracked or chipping paint
• Speckling, bubbling, or an uneven finish

3. Paint Must Stay Cool

Painting in hot weather puts your paint at risk of overheating. Hot paint loses its water to rapid evaporation, gumming the paint up and not allowing it to fuse properly to the surface. To help your paint stay cool, place two or three ice cubes in paint cups, pans, or buckets, then place a liner over the ice before pouring in the paint. 

Other tips to keep your paint from overheating include:

• Don’t set paint cans, buckets, or pans in direct sunlight
• Don’t rest your paint bucket on hot surfaces like asphalt, concrete, or metal
• Keep paint covered to ward against evaporation or too much humidity

Professionals Know the Right Techniques for Painting in Hot Weather

Save yourself from sweating over how to finish your paint job during the summer months. Trust the exterior painting professionals from Nelson J. Greer Painting Contractors for painting in hot weather in Tucson, AZ. 

If you plan to paint your home’s interior after buying new furnishings, it helps to know some tips and tricks when matching wall color with your furniture.