Damp air is the main thing to plan around
Most painting advice is written as if drying were a fixed number on the can. It isn't. The dry and recoat times on a label assume moderate temperature and humidity, and damp air stretches them. For anyone hiring a painter in Atlantic City, the humid-hour figures below are the ones worth reading first.
The Atlantic City station
NOAA's engineering weather data carries a station named Atlantic City, and these are its figures. In an average year at Atlantic City, NOAA counts about 461 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 1,517 hours above 67°F. NOAA's engineering weather data for Atlantic City gives about 5,202 heating degree days and 885 cooling degree days in an average year (base 65°F), peaking at 1,033 heating degree days in January and 274 cooling degree days in July.
The wet-bulb counts are hours of heavy, moist air. The degree-day peaks mark the two ends of the year, January as the heating peak and July as the cooling peak. Neither number is a painting rule, but both tell you something about when a coating gets an easy day and when it doesn't.
What humidity does to a fresh coat
- Latex dries slower. Water-based paint dries as its water evaporates. In muggy air that happens slowly, so the coat stays soft and easy to mark for longer.
- Surfactant streaks. When dew or heavy air settles on a latex coat that hasn't dried, some of its ingredients can rise to the surface as sticky, tan or glossy streaks. They usually wash off, but they look bad until they do.
- Recoat timing slips. A second coat applied over a first that hasn't dried can wrinkle or lift. A painter working in damp weather may need to leave more time between coats.
- Mildew on the surface. Paint applied over mildew that wasn't cleaned off will let it grow back through. Washing and treating mildewed areas is part of preparation, not an extra.
Scheduling around the extremes
Degree days don't tell you a day's temperature, so they can't set a painting date. Use them as a reminder that the year has a heating end and a cooling end, and check each forecast against the product label's temperature and humidity limits before exterior work starts. Interior jobs are less tied to the season, though a closed-up house in damp weather still dries slowly, so ask whether the crew will run fans or a dehumidifier. Our interior painting and exterior painting pages walk through each job step by step.
New Jersey's registration rule
The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs is the source here: New Jersey's Contractors' Registration Act requires home improvement contractors to register with the Division of Consumer Affairs, and the Division's guide lists painting residential or noncommercial properties as home improvement work. If you'd like to see it, ask the painter for their New Jersey registration number before you sign.
What a good proposal includes
- Each surface listed, inside or out, with its condition.
- How mildew, peeling and chalky paint will be cleaned and prepared.
- The primer and finish products, the sheen, and the number of coats.
- Who moves furniture, protects plants and cleans up.
- What happens on rain days or very humid days.
For help choosing a sheen for damp rooms like bathrooms and kitchens, see paint sheens and finishes. Our pricing guide explains why two proposals for the same house can differ.