The calendar question
Ask a homeowner when to paint the outside of a house and the usual answer is "when it's dry." In Port St. Lucie the city itself gives a useful marker. Port St. Lucie says water in roadside swales is normal in the May-November rainy season and asks residents to allow 14 days without further rain for it to recede before requesting service; swale maintenance is the landowner's responsibility.
That statement is about drainage, not paint, but it tells you something a painter cares about: the city treats May through November as its rainy season. Exterior coatings need dry surfaces before they go on and a dry spell after, so the months you choose for outside work affect how smoothly the job runs and how many days a crew may lose waiting.
Booking exterior work
There is no rule that you can't paint during the wet months, and many crews do. The practical differences are in scheduling and in how a quote handles delays.
- Expect weather days. A crew may start a wall in the morning and stop by early afternoon. Ask how the painter reschedules and whether a lost day changes the price.
- Ask about the rain window. Most exterior paint labels give a minimum time between application and the first rain. A good painter plans each wall so it has that time.
- Give surfaces time to dry after washing. Stucco, block and wood all hold water after a wash or a storm. Painting over a damp surface is a common cause of blistering.
- Book early if you want the drier months. If your schedule allows, many homeowners aim for outside work outside the rainy season, which can mean booking a painter well ahead.
What the Vero Beach figures add
NOAA's engineering weather data for Vero Beach lists a 50-year basic wind speed of 140 mph and a 100-year rainfall rate of 4.5 inches per hour, and about one freeze-thaw cycle in an average year. These are the Vero Beach station's design figures, not Port St. Lucie measurements, and they describe rare extremes that engineers design for, not ordinary weather.
Still, the list points at what an exterior paint job has to resist here: hard, wind-driven rain far more than ice. Rain driven sideways tests the seams of a house, so the money in an exterior repaint is best spent on:
- re-caulking joints where trim meets the wall and around windows and doors;
- sealing cracks in stucco or block before priming;
- making sure fascia and trim are sound and fastened tight;
- priming bare wood and fresh patches so the topcoat has something to hold.
The exterior painting page covers the products and steps in more detail.
Using the wet months for inside work
If outside work waits for drier weather, the rainy season can be a good time for interior projects: walls, ceilings, trim, doors and cabinets. Indoor jobs still depend on air conditioning and ventilation, because paint dries and cures more slowly in damp air, so ask the painter what conditions the product label calls for and whether the AC should run during and after the job.
Kitchen and bath cabinets are a popular indoor project, and they reward patience: degreasing, sanding and priming matter more than the color. Our cabinet painting and refinishing page explains the steps, and the interior painting page covers walls and ceilings.
Florida law on local licenses for painting
Florida law lists painting among job scopes for which a local government may not require a license. That is the statute, Florida Statutes s. 489.117(4)(a), as published by the Florida Senate, and we quote it without adding to it.
We don't check or vouch for any painter. Before you hire, the steps that protect you are practical ones: a written scope, a clear payment schedule, and proof of liability coverage.
A short pre-hire list
- Which walls, ceilings and trim are included?
- What wash, repair, caulk and primer steps come before the color?
- How many coats, and of which products?
- How do you plan around rainy afternoons, and what happens to the schedule if you lose a day?
- What does the written warranty cover, if any, and for how long?
For what moves the price of a painting job, see the pricing guide.