In Sydney, Australia we are blessed by warm weather for the majority of the year. As such many painting projects are undertaken in hot weather. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be a problem.
Paints need to be applied wet and provided with the right conditions to dry. This works well under reasonable conditions.
Temperature & Climate Issues for Paint
In extreme heat or extreme humidity, the quality of the paint finish can be compromised. Direct sunlight on a recently painted surface can also cause problems. This means exterior painting needs special care in extreme heat.
To achieve an optimal finish, paint needs to dry at a moderate rate. This requires reasonable temperature and humidity, and there should not be any chemical fumes in the air, even from different types of paint.
If the temperate or humidity is too high then any paintwork will be prone to flaking or can result in a poor appearance.
In most cases, temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius should not be a problem. Some paints will also work at higher temperatures.
It is always best to check with the manufacturer’s recommendations on the label before commencing your painting.
How to Paint in Hot Weather
You can minimise hot weather painting problems by considering the following:
- Do your painting in the cool of the early morning or the late afternoon. The higher temperatures will not compromise the paint result when the paint is almost dry.
- Remember that the walls and other surfaces of your house can still retain some heat even after the general temperature is lower.
- A wall in the shade will often be sufficiently cool to paint. It is possible to paint some shaded walls in the early morning and other shaded walls in the late afternoon.
- Use the hot part of the day for preparations rather than the actual painting. Surfaces can be sanded or sometimes primed.
- Some doors, shutters and window attachments can be removed and painted in the shade.
There is usually not too much trouble with heat when painting indoors. There is little or no direct sunlight when the windows are covered. And the heat is unlikely to rise too much in the shade.
Summer has an advantage for indoor paint. Windows and doors can be left open and set up fans to circulate air, which quickly gets rid of the few leftover paint fumes.
Based on this, moderately hot weather is a good time to repaint interior rooms.
