Fall & Winter Painting

Painting in the Fall or Winter

Painting in the Fall or WinterIf you’re having interiors painted and you normally turn the heat down in certain rooms to save energy, turn it up. Paint should never be applied at under 50 degrees and ideally not under 60. Take into account the temp of the walls, which in winter can be colder than the room air temp. Keeping rooms temperate will allow paint to dry faster and deliver the best results. Humidity is usually less in the winter, allowing paint to apply better and dry faster.

 

Is it okay to paint interiors in the winter? In most cases, yes.

 

People choose to have the interiors of their homes painted in the winter for a variety of reasons. During the summers there are vacations and travel; parties with guests can happen throughout the warm months; endless activities may be arranged. Also, paint crews may not be as available when the weather’s nice and crews are engaged heavily in exterior painting projects.

 

Under the proper circumstances and when you have experienced painters on the job, winter interior painting can be a perfect arrangement. Here’s what we mean by proper circumstances.

 

Temperature of the rooms and their walls

Ideally paint should be applied in temperatures above 60 degrees. Painting at temperatures below that, and especially below 50 degrees, can result in adherence problems and longer drying times, which means a longer wait to set the room back up again. Most homes during the winter don’t have internal temperatures below 50 or 60 degrees. But what about the walls?

 

If you’re in the middle of a cold snap, the outside chill may permeate the exterior of the home and cause significant cooling of the walls. In order for paint to adhere properly (and maintain its quality appearance for as long as the paint’s manufacturer says it should), the wall temperature is important, just like the air temperature.

 

Turning up the thermostat while professional painting crews are applying interior paint and for approximately 36 hours after they’re finished might help if the walls are excessively cold. This will create an ideal atmosphere for the new paint. (Needless to say, don’t crank the heat up to 95 – you might suffocate the painters!)

 

How humidity affects paint

Typically winters are less humid than summers. But this isn’t always the case. If you suspect the air in your home is particularly humid, you’ll want to do something about it before painting starts.

 

Particles of moisture in the air is what causes the effect known as humidity. The more particles, the higher the humidity. When the air is full of moisture, paint has trouble evaporating (drying), because the wet air keeps the paint wet. When the liquid component of the paint remains, the paint won’t properly bond to the walls. As with painting in temperatures that are too cold, paint in a humid environment stays wet and can sag, pick up dust and be smudged when moving furniture and other items back into the room.

 

Keep humidity down and temp up when interior paintingAs we’ve indicated, for paint to do its job, it must dry out (release its moisture elements) in a timely fashion. It’s the drying that makes it adhere to surfaces. Temperature extremes on either end of the scale and excess humidity affect how paint dries and, consequently, how good a finished paint job looks and holds up in the coming years.

 

So this brings us back to our original question: Is it okay to paint interiors in the winter? It definitely is, as long as the indoor air and wall temperatures are consistent with the paint manufacturer’s recommendations and humidity is at a moderate or low level.

 

Franklin Painting of Connecticut specializes in interior painting during the winter months. When you have us on the job, you can be assured that all paint will be applied only in the right conditions to result in a beautiful finished result. To get a painting quote, call us at (877) 646-7774.

Franklin Painting LLC – Call us Toll Free at 877-646-7774
or at our main office number 860-678-7701
160 Brickyard Road, Farmington, CT 06032

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