Two things that ruin fresh paint
A coat of exterior paint has a vulnerable window between going on and setting up. During that window, a hard rain can wash it off or spot it, and heat or sun can dry it too fast to level. NOAA's engineering weather data for Myrtle Beach speaks to both, and a painter's schedule here is built around them.
Rain and the half-painted wall
NOAA's data for Myrtle Beach lists a 100-year rainfall rate of 4.3 inches per hour. That's a design value engineers use for rare storms, not something to expect on a given afternoon. For a homeowner, the useful takeaway is simpler: a wall caught half-painted in a cloudburst may need to be redone.
What careful crews do about it:
- check the hourly forecast and radar, not just the daily outlook;
- paint in sections they can finish well before a storm line arrives;
- leave a wall bare rather than coating it right before rain;
- inspect the next morning for spotting or runs and touch up before the next coat.
Ask how much dry time the products need before rain, and how the painter decides to call off an afternoon.
Heat and the summer calendar
The same NOAA data lists about 1,973 cooling degree days in an average year, with July the peak cooling month at 458. Cooling degree days add up when the daily average runs above a base temperature, so a peak month that high marks when the hottest stretch of the year falls.
On hot days, the problems are fast drying, lap marks and blistering on dark, sun-facing walls. Many crews follow the shade around the house and stop early in the afternoon. Some homeowners schedule exterior painting outside the peak months to avoid those limits, and do interior rooms during the hottest weeks, when the house is closed up and cooled.
The data also lists about 24 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year. That's a reminder that a label's minimum temperature still matters on some mornings.
Wind, spraying and overspray
NOAA's figure of a 50-year basic wind speed of 120 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet) is about structural design, not daily breezes. Still, wind on any given day matters to a paint job:
- Spraying puts fine droplets in the air, and wind carries them onto cars, windows, neighbors' property and plants. Many painters won't spray on a breezy day, or will switch to brush and roller.
- Dust and debris blown onto wet paint stick in the film.
- Fast drying on a windy day causes the same lap-mark problems heat does.
Ask whether the painter plans to spray, brush or roll each surface, and what they'll protect. Our exterior painting page covers the full sequence.
South Carolina's registration rule
South Carolina law, at Section 40-59-20 of the Code of Laws, lists painters and wall paperers among residential specialty contractors, who must hold a Residential Builders Commission registration when the work on a home exceeds the amount in the card below. Ask the painter whether they hold it, if you like. We don't check registrations.
Questions to settle up front
- Which surfaces will you spray, and which will you brush or roll?
- How much dry time do your products need before rain?
- Which months do you recommend for the exterior, and why?
- What will you cover to protect cars, windows and plants from overspray?