When house painting in winter

It’s been so long since we’ve seen our painter, grass has grown up around his ladder that’s been left on the lawn. Soon, he’ll need a weed whacker to even get at the thing.

grown up around his ladder that’s been left on the lawn. Soon he’ll need a weed whacker to even get at the thing.

Resene marketing manager Karen Warman said it was possible to paint a house in winter, provided the right paint and processes were followed.

Timing is important, so our painter was right to limit his hours to the middle of the day.

‘‘The surface you are painting may be much colder than the air temperature, so give areas like exterior concrete time to warm up a little in the morning before you paint,’’ she said. ‘‘Plan your painting for the middle of the day and finish early enough to allow the last coat time to dry before it gets too cold.

‘‘Days with a light breeze are ideal as this will help move the air around to dry the paint.’’

And as for the paint, Warman said one that was specially designed to handle cold temperatures is best.

‘‘Resene has a Wintergrade exterior paint range that dries down to 2 degrees Celsius, made using special technology that helps the paint form a proper film at much colder temperatures than most waterborne paints,’’ she said.

‘‘Usually waterborne paints need at least 10C to dry as the acrylic base needs some warmth to make the particles soft enough to stick together. Unless the paint is based on Wintergrade technology, a paint film dried in the cold can crack and even just dry to a powder.’’

And you can forget painting your house a dark colour, too. Warman says Wintergrade products work best with off whites and light colours.

Back at our place, an upside has emerged. The guy who’s painting the roof has managed to finish it, albeit in ever-so-slightly the wrong colour. We’re trying to convince ourselves that it doesn’t really matter so we can avoid even more upheaval.

After all, the mistake only shows up in direct sunlight.