Room guide

Exterior Painting: The Weather Decides More Than the Painter Does

Maryland’s usable window, the prep that decides everything, and the brick question every rowhome owner asks.

Exterior painting is the only paint job with a real deadline, because the paint needs temperature to cure and Maryland stops offering it around November. This is the guide to what actually matters — and it is mostly prep.

Maryland’s window

Usable exterior season runs roughly late April through early November. The sweet spots are May–June and September–mid-October: dry wood, moderate temps, room for a couple of dry nights to cure. July and August work but humidity slows everything down. After the first frost, exterior paint chemistry gets unreliable without specialty products — and a contractor promising a full exterior in late November is betting your siding on it.

Prep is 70% of the job

• Wash first. Paint over chalk and mildew is a two-season paint job.
• Scrape and sand failed spots — not the whole house, just where the old coat has let go.
• Prime bare spots. Unprimed patches are why repaints fail in stripes.
• Replace rotted trim. Paint does not stick to compost.

The brick question

Most Baltimore rowhomes have a painted-or-not brick front. Our honest position: unpainted brick in good condition should generally stay unpainted — brick breathes, and sealing it with film-forming paint can trap moisture and cause spalling. If brick is already painted, it is easier to repaint correctly than to strip. If you are deciding whether to paint brick for the first time, that is a conversation worth having slowly.

Ballpark, prep included

• Detached or semi exterior, siding: $5,000–$12,000
• Rowhome, painted sides + trim: $4,000–$9,000
• Trim-only or spot work: often $1,000–$3,000

Tell Lesley what the house is — siding, brick, height, and what is peeling — and we’ll match you with a vetted exterior painter before the weather window closes.