Any month on the normals can carry a wash
Normal annual snowfall in Baton Rouge is 0.2 inch. The weather on the day of the wash shapes how the day goes.
October afternoons are the least humid of the year
June and August bring the most rain
On the monthly breakdown, June is Baton Rouge's wettest month on average, with 6.45 inches, followed by August with 6.37 and January with 6.36; November is the driest at 3.90.
Four months from the normals:
| Month | 1991 to 2020 normal rainfall |
|---|---|
| January | 6.36 inches |
| June | 6.45 inches |
| August | 6.37 inches |
| November | 3.90 inches |
Summer heat on the normals
Average high temperatures reach 91.9 degrees in July and 92.2 degrees in August, and about 96 days a year reach 90 degrees in Baton Rouge, about 70 of them in June, July and August. Those numbers describe the climate on the day of a summer wash, not the result on the wall.
Pollen without a calendar date
Trees in Baton Rouge drop pollen in bursts. A yellow dust shows up on cars and on the shady walls when the wind picks up. During a yellow stretch, the call about washing is a call about what the walls look like now.
Leaves settle on patios and concrete and leave tannin outlines where they sit wet. A wash usually lifts those outlines once the leaves are swept.
Scheduling a wash around a date
Before a listing: the house photographs cleaner once the walls, drive and roof are washed. Plan the wash before the photographer. What a wash price depends on is the surface list, so keep the whole exterior in mind rather than just the walls.
Before a visit: the back patio first, then the walks and front steps, then the siding on the back if the yard will be in use. Leave margin before the day of the event.
Before a paint job: the painter plans the prep. The soft-wash method on older paint is the gentler end of what a wash does, and peeling or chalky paint is a painter's call rather than a wash's.
Decks follow their own order
A wash on wood or composite decks before a stain job wants dry wood to work with. When the house and the deck are both being washed, the house goes first and the deck after, so nothing from the walls rinses onto freshly cleaned boards.
What the walls say about when to wash in Baton Rouge
What the walls look like matters more than the month on the calendar. A gray-green film on the shady side, a darker back of the house than the front, or leaf outlines on the back patio are the usual prompts. How often a house needs washing is a related question with the same answer: when the shady side starts to show again.