# is it okay to paint walls on winter season?



## jrgarma

hi there. i'm a first time homeowner. i have a question for you guys. is it okay to paint interior walls on winter season? we are moving this coming november (3rd week) or should i wait till the spring or summer season? any help is greatly appreciated.


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## YourWayPainting

Jrgarma,
Your best bet is to check with the paint store … and on the back of the can. There are always directions and suggestions on when to apply, how to apply, how much to apply, how to clean up, etc.
You didn’t state how cold it is there right now. We usually don’t paint exteriors if the temp drops into the 40’s. We use a high end Porter paint product.
Interior temps are a bit different. Does the house have power? How cold does it get inside if you don’t have power? Are the walls well insulated? Knowing the temp inside is going to help, and checking the temp on your walls that are not internal will help also.
Go to a professional paint store for your paint … not a big box store.


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## redline

If the temparture is above 55 or so but it depends on what the paint can states. If you are unable to open the windows then you may not like the fumes from the paint.


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## jrgarma

thanks for the advice and the fast reply.


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## Paintguy26

Yes...why wouldnt it be ok? You have heat, right?

Very strange question

I have painted for 10 years and never hear someone who wondered if they could paint in November....INSIDE:laughing:


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## slickshift

jrgarma said:


> ...is it okay to paint interior walls on winter season?


Yup


jrgarma said:


> should i wait till the spring or summer season?


Nope


Winter is when we do most interiors around here


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## naychergrl

*novice do-it-yourselfer*

Hey, I was wondering the same question and I was glad that it was already posted and already answered and now already made fun of!! Being a single chick, it's hard learning all the do's and don'ts especially since it's my first house...and a fixer upper. I love this site and thanks for all the good questions and answers...even the stupid ones!!!! haha:thumbup:


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## Nestor_Kelebay

JRGarma:

You CAN paint during the winter if your house is at a comfortable temperature, but you should be aware of some potential pitfalls:

1. The exterior walls of your house can be cooler than interior walls, and the lower temperature will cause the exterior painted walls to dry slower. Also, wood is not a good insulator; it has an R value of 1.0 per inch. Compare that with 3.5 or so for fiberglass batting or 5 for extruded polystyrene foam. So, you may notice lines on exterior walls where the studs are where the wall is coldest, and where the paint takes longest to dry (if it dries).

2. The COLOUR of the paint you buy plays an important roll as well. If you choose an off-white or pastel colour, then there will have been little tinting colourant added to it at the store. If, however, you choose a heavily pigmented colour, like Red or Yellow or Green or Blue, or any colour that isn't mostly white, then they can only make such a colour by taking a tint base that would otherwise dry clear and adding lots and lots and lots and lots of colorant to it so that it dries to the colour you want. The problem is that the carrier fluid in the paint tinting machine is glycerine, and glycerine is very slow to dry. So, the more you tint a paint, the more glycerine you add, and the longer it takes for the paint to dry. (This is true of both latex and oil based paints, and is the practical reason why floor paints will generally come pretinted from the factory... to minimize drying time.)

The problem is that latex paints form a film through a process that requires that the water in the paint evaporates before a water soluble solvent in the paint does. The cool temperatures, the high relative humidity (due to painting), and the amount of glycerine in the paint all affect it's drying time. So, you are certainly running more of a risk of problems painting in cold weather, but that's not to say you will have problems. What I'd suggest is that you do what you can to avoid as many of them as you can. Have an electric heater and fan running while the paint is drying to warm the air which warms the paint on the walls. Rent a dehumidifier too, maybe.

If you plan to paint poorly insulated exterior walls with heavily tinted colours, you could potentially be waiting a full week (depending on the weather) for your paint to dry! And, of course, if you put on a thick coat of paint with a 1/2 inch nap roller, it could sag during that long drying time, making a mess of your walls.

And, of course, much depends on your house's walls and the outdoor temperature. If it's a newer house with well insulated walls, then the outdoor temperature plays less of a factor. However, if your house was built at a time when coal was cheap and insulation unheard of, then your walls will be colder and your paint will take a lot longer to dry (if it dries properly).

And, finally, the heating system you have in your house is important. If you have forced air heating, then you may have a dehumidifier that can remove the excess moisture from the air. If, however, it's a hot water heating system, then you really have no way of removing the moisture from the air except opening a window and letting the warm humid air out.

I live in Manitoba, Canada, and I have a dehumidifier that I use when I'm painting an apartment in the winter. And, I will typically empty that dehumidifier's water recovery tank about 5 or 6 times over the course of the following few days. I'm guessing that from 4 to 5 gallons of paint used, I'll collect 2 gallons of water or more. If you don't have a dehumidifier, then you could have some pretty awful sweating on your windows while your paint is drying.

And, keep in mind, that the more painting you do, the greater the humidity that's going to be in the air, and that too will slow the drying time of your paint.

Consider all the factors and make a decision. If it were me, I would apply the most heavily tinted paint you intend to use to a NORTH facing exterior wall on a relatively cool day and see what results you get. That would represent the worst situation you'll encounter.

Also, maybe see if you can rent a dehumidifier, a fan and an electric heater somewhere, too.


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## Matthewt1970

If the inside of your house is too cold to paint, then odds are you will have frozen pipes. Winter brings low humidity which further speeds drying time with latex paint. I have painted inside when it was 10 below outside and we never had any concerns nor did we ever run into any problems. Some of the houses were very old and poorly insulated.


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## Toronto Painter

More than OK is that , its really beneficial if you paint your home during the winter:
People think that the cold weather makes painting a bad idea. Unfortunately that kind of thinking could actually cost you more time and worst of all, more money.

What most people don’t realize is that there are many advantages to painting your interior in the winter:

Paint actually dries quicker. There is less humidity in the winter and combined with closed windows and your heating system, drying times are faster.
Most people spend more time inside during the winter. This gives you a better opportunity to enjoy your newly painted house. Also, the other advantage of being inside a lot is you will find more imperfections and highlight details that need fixing so you can get the most out of your new paint.
Toxic paint fumes? Not to worry. With today’s low to zero VOC paints, this practically eliminates concerns over fumes.


But the biggest advantage that most people don’t realize is that winter gives you a great opportunity to save time and money.

With most people painting during the warmer seasons, the best and most reputable painter will book up fast leading to longer wait times. Booking during the slow season gives you shorter lead times and a better chance for a quick turnaround.
More summer fun! By planning ahead and getting your painting done in the winter, it will free up your valuable summer vacation time for the things you enjoy most.
Many professional painters offer lower rates during the slow winter season and that gives you the advantage of getting the same professional job at a more attractive price.


So take advantage of the cold weather and bring back that “New Home Feel” in less time and with less money.


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## TTpainting

Yes, you can paint your house during winter season but it also depends upon the weather condition. If you further have some confusion then you can take suggestions from professional painting contractors. They can give you proper guidelines.


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## chrisn

TTpainting said:


> Yes, you can paint your house during winter season but it also depends upon the weather condition. If you further have some confusion then you can take suggestions from professional painting contractors. They can give you proper guidelines.


 
you know this thread is 7 years old


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## KD PAINTING

As long as you have heat and temp is over 55 inside house you should be good to go.


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## Wolvyrine

As most everyone else has said, as long as it's over 55ish F, then the paint should dry. We put a fan pointing in a room with a window open a crack, away from the painted room. Also, not sure if it's because it's recycled or something else they do in the process, but we bought recycled paint from Wally World (Wal-Mart). Loop brand. We bought it because it was cheaper. I was worried it'd be funky, but it actually worked like any other paint I've used, and it dried quicker than most. We had a partial can of another brand we used and the recycled stuff dried faster.


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## hdranger

*Having painting issues*

I am painting a room and all seemed to be going well. But a couple hrs. later I noticed that the paint is running on one wall and droplets of paint are forming on the ceiling by this wall. Here are the things I wonder about.
1) It is winter in Wi. 
2) It is 28 deg. outside and raining.
3) It is only doing this on the exterior wall which has a window in it and baseboard heat along the floor.
So have I just picked the totally wrong time to paint or is there something else going on here ? Anything I can do to avoid this ? The rest of the room is fine.

Thanks


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## Gymschu

Could be a couple of things. One, the house could actually be too well insulated (tight house) creating high humidity inside. Two, it's not well insulated and the warm air in the room is clashing with the cold air inside the exterior wall causing condensation. Running a fan BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER you have painted helps, but doesn't solve the overall problem.


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## Nestor_Kelebay

hdranger said:


> I am painting a room and all seemed to be going well. But a couple hrs. later I noticed that the paint is running on one wall and droplets of paint are forming on the ceiling by this wall. Here are the things I wonder about.
> 1) It is winter in Wi.
> 2) It is 28 deg. outside and raining.
> 3) It is only doing this on the exterior wall which has a window in it and baseboard heat along the floor.
> So have I just picked the totally wrong time to paint or is there something else going on here ? Anything I can do to avoid this ? The rest of the room is fine.
> Thanks


I think it's clear that the paint on the exterior wall is too cold for the paint to dry properly.

I would put an electric heater in that room so that it's directing heat onto that exterior wall, and hope that the paint dries normally once the wall surface warms up.


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## ToolSeeker

Couple of things, if it's 28 outside it should be snowing not raining. If your painting the wall how is paint drops forming on the ceiling?

Most painters I know plan and schedule inside painting in the winter because it's too cold to paint outside. If there was no insulation at all in the wall as long as it was warm inside the paint should dry. Yes it would take longer but it wouldn't run down the wall.


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## Nestor_Kelebay

ToolSeeker said:


> If your painting the wall how is paint drops forming on the ceiling?


I think he said he painted the whole room; that is, walls and ceiling. The paint is forming drops on the ceiling close to the exterior wall.

His house might have been built when heating fuel was cheap and insulation was unheard of.


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## hina2266

Is it not ?? : /


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## leen328

We are having the same problem. Paint on the exterior wall is running (mostly in the corners). We are in Michigan and painted Monday and Wednesday of this week.


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## ToolSeeker

I think there is something else going on here. I don't think there is a painter on here that has not painted even outside when it was much colder than what was recommended. I have painted outside when the temp was in the thirties and the paint didn't run.


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## Gymschu

Weird things can happen when it's cold out. I know I did a kitchen ceiling last winter when it was below zero. I had ONE spot that stayed wet for a week. Ended up being an old metal pipe up in the ceiling that had been cut off at the roof line and the hole covered over.......the metal was cold, the ceiling was warm......condensation. Once spring came, I redid the ceiling so it would all be dry......no problems since.


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## NickTheGreat

ToolSeeker said:


> I think there is something else going on here. I don't think there is a painter on here that has not painted even outside when it was much colder than what was recommended. I have painted outside when the temp was in the thirties and the paint didn't run.


It could be 50 below and you could paint if the wall is well insulated. But it could be possible if the house isn't, it's too cold in that corner. 

I'd pull out my handy dandy infrared temp gun. :vs_bulb:


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## ToolSeeker

Nick in reality how cold could it be if the inside temp is say 60. I agree it could cause it to dry a lot slower the colder it is, but I have never seen it cause the paint to run down the wall. I just think something else is going on to make it run. Again there is a reason painters schedule inside work for the cold months.


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## chrisn

ToolSeeker said:


> Nick in reality how cold could it be if the inside temp is say 60. I agree it could cause it to dry a lot slower the colder it is, but I have never seen it cause the paint to run down the wall. I just think something else is going on to make it run. Again there is a reason painters schedule inside work for the cold months.


I have, once. In the 20's outside and the room was poorly insulated, plus the heat was not working very well in that room. I had to go and get fans and a couple heaters to fix the problem.


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