If you have been planning to apply fresh paint to your home in the coming months, this is for you, particularly if the temperatures in your region tend to be extreme. Painters across the country recommend that outdoor painting be kept to more temperate months instead of during very cold or very warm months.

Need for Optimum Temperature

When the ambient temperature is too high or too low, paint is not able dry properly leaving uneven and ugly patches on the walls. Basically Oil and Latex paints are the two commonly used paints for both interior and exterior painting needs. Most well known paint companies produce quality oil and latex paints for domestic and industrial application. Humidity and outside temperature play a vital role in deciding the drying time and the curing time. Extreme hot and cold conditions have a direct bearing on the curing time. Generally painters apply coats based on the instructions provided on the paint container. Usually these instructions are provided by the paint company based on the optimum temperature conditions.

Curing Time

These are two important parameters that determine the overall finish of the paint. Drying time usually ranges from an hour to three hours for oil and Latex based paints. Curing time is much longer than the drying time and ranges from 20 days to 30 days for different varieties of paints. The liquids in the paint must be completely evaporated for the curing to be completed. This evaporation happen when a dry skin is formed on the painting surface. Formation of the dry skin indicates that that all the liquid content in the paint has completely evaporated. In order to give the ideal drying time for the paints to do another coat, the recommended outside temperature is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Thus when the temperatures cross the 100 degrees mark in summer, the paint doesn’t get the required optimum temperature and humidity level to dry properly. Similarly, when the temperature falls below the 50 degree mark in winter, it would have a significant effect on both the drying time and curing time of the paint.

Multiple Coats

When painting is performed during extreme summer and winter months, even an experienced painter would find optimum times of the day to complete the work. The time between coats may require a longer period to allow the initial coat to dry. If you are considering having a painter come paint your home during temperature extremes, be sure to have a long discussion with your painter so that you fully understand the pros and cons of this choice.

Article originally published at Source by Chris Camp