Where Binghamton sits
Broome County's financial report gives the setting: the City of Binghamton is the county seat of Broome County, and Broome County has a land area of approximately 710 square miles in the Southern Tier. The weather figures below are NOAA's, from the station it names Binghamton/Broome County.
One station, one set of numbers
The Binghamton/Broome County sheet, quoted in full in its card, gives about 55 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year, a 100-year rainfall rate of 2.3 inches per hour and a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph.
The wind and rainfall values are design figures, used to size structures and drains rather than to describe a normal week. The freeze-thaw count is the one with a direct link to paint. Each cycle is a chance for water caught in wood, caulk joints or masonry to freeze, expand and push at the coating above it.
A repaint in stages, not in a rush
A well-run exterior job in a freeze-thaw climate is planned as a sequence, and you can ask a painter to describe theirs:
- Look first. Walk the house with the painter and note where paint has peeled, where wood is soft, and where water stains run down from a gutter or sill.
- Repair what water damaged. Soft trim, split sills and rotted porch parts need replacing before paint. Ask whether the painter does this or brings in a carpenter, and how it's priced.
- Prepare. Wash, scrape, sand and fill. Caulk joints where trim meets siding and around windows.
- Prime. Spot-prime bare wood and repairs, or prime the whole surface where the old paint is weathered.
- Finish. Apply the finish coats in weather the label allows, with time between coats.
A crew that skips the first two stages is pricing a different job from one that doesn't, even if the paint is the same.
The details that fail first
The broad faces of siding usually hold paint well. The trouble spots are smaller:
- Window sills and the bottom rails of sashes, where water sits.
- Porch floors, steps and railings, which take foot traffic as well as weather.
- The lowest courses of siding, where snow and splashback keep them wet.
- Joints at corner boards and around doors, where caulk ages and opens.
Porch floors need a coating made for floors; wall paint won't stand up to traffic. For stained wood such as railings, decks and fences, see our deck and fence staining page.
The cold months indoors
When it's too cold outside, interior work carries on. Rooms, hallways, ceilings and cabinets can all be painted in a heated house. Ask how the crew protects floors and furniture and who moves them; our interior painting page covers what that should include.
New York's licensing statement
On state licensing, this page relies on one source: a consumer alert from New York's Department of State, shown word for word in the card. It names New York City and several counties; we don't extend the statement, in either direction, to any county or city beyond those.
Getting a proposal you can compare
Ask for each surface in writing, the repairs included and excluded, the primer and finish products, the number of coats and what happens on rain days. The pricing guide and our guide to drywall repair and surface preparation explain why those lines matter.