How Hot Weather Impacts Michigan Exterior Painting
Paint has incredible properties that can elevate your business’s exterior curb appeal as well as the building’s condition. You understandably want to maximize the benefits of your next commercial painting project, so you may be thinking about booking a team of commercial painters for the summer months. Before you do, however, it is important to understand how summer heat and humidity could affect the results of your painting project in Michigan.
How Temperature Impacts the Paint Curing Process
Michigan, although short, has warm, sunny weather conditions in the summer, which are seemingly ideal for commercial painters to do their work on your property. After all, the sun’s heat could help the paint to dry faster. However, the matter is a bit more complicated. While heat can cause rapid evaporation of paint solvents, the paint still may not yet be cured when the paint feels dry to the touch. Paint could dry in a few hours on a hot day, but the paint may take up to two weeks to cure. Before the paint has fully cured, it may be susceptible to damage from rain and other natural elements. This is because uncured paint is not as hardy and durable as it will be once it has cured.
Hot temperatures could even damage the paint. When the exterior paint dries too quickly, it could easily fade. In addition to the potential for discoloration, the paint may be more likely to crack, blister or develop bumps if it is applied during hot weather conditions.
The Right Temperature for Painting Canton MI Businesses
Are you wondering when the time will be right for your commercial exterior painting contractors to do their work? A temperature that falls between 60 to 90 degrees is recommended for many types of exterior paints. However, if your commercial painting project will use latex paint, the ideal temperature falls in the range of 50 to 85 degrees. Solar heating of surfaces must also be taken into account. Solar rays striking the exterior of your commercial building could cause that surface to be 20 degrees or hotter than the air. Because of this, the weather conditions may not be suitable for commercial painters to work even if the air temperature is within a recommended range. While some commercial painters in Michigan do not give air and surface temperature the attention that they deserve, this is not the case at Moore Painting. We always pay attention to all relevant factors so that our customers can enjoy the best possible results.
Painting Your Business’s Exterior in the Summer
Generally, spring, early summer and even fall months are good times for a commercial or industrial painting project in Michigan. This is because the temperatures may be milder. However, even when temperatures are reasonable, a special effort may need to be made to accommodate solar heating. For example, the shaded sides of a building may be painted even when the sun is high overhead as long as the air temperature is in the desired range. Because sunny sides of a structure may have hotter surface temperatures, it is generally best to paint these areas of the building during mid or late morning before the surfaces have had time to heat up.
How Humidity Affects Commercial Exterior Painting Projects
Humidity can be challenging during a painting project. However, it may be most problematic during the peak summer months. Wood surfaces are porous by nature, and they may absorb water vapor that is in the air. When these moist surfaces are painted, the paint could bubble or peel as it dries. Even other surfaces should not be painted in a high-humidity situation. Water vapor that accumulates on surfaces can alter the water-to-solvent ratio. By doing so, the paint becomes thinner and is more difficult to apply properly. In addition, more time may be required for the paint to dry and cure. Our commercial painters always pay attention to both temperature and humidity when we schedule exterior painting projects.
Our Approach to Your Commercial or Industrial Painting Project
You can see that weather conditions play a key role in the results of a commercial exterior painting project in Michigan. Before our commercial painters schedule a project, we turn our attention to the forecast. By understanding temperatures and humidity for the days in question, our painters are able to choose the most ideal time to complete the work. We know how important it is for you to keep your business’s exterior well-maintained and looking great, and we assure you that we never cut corners.
Learn More About Our Commercial Painting Services
At Moore Painting, we want you to love the work that we do, and we want you to have a great experience working with our team. Each project begins with an initial consultation where we discuss scheduling and paint color selection. We also provide customers with a written estimate at that time. To schedule your consultation with our commercial painters, contact us today.