Exterior paint costs in Albuquerque

Spring is when Albuquerque blows. April and May are New Mexico's windiest months, with March and June often close behind. Wind and paint don't mix well. Dust sticks to wet coats, spray drifts onto cars and the neighbor's wall, and paint skins over before it can level. On a windy day, a painter may switch from spraying to rolling and brushing, or move the work to calmer mornings.

Altitude is the other force. The EPA says ultraviolet light gets about 6 percent stronger with each kilometer of elevation, and this is high desert. Wood trim, fascia and exposed beam ends take that sun hardest. They fade, dry out and crack long before a stucco wall looks worn, so trim often sets the schedule for the whole house.

Close to half of Albuquerque's own houses are older than 1980. On those, scraping old paint means sheeting, misting and a careful cleanup, because federal rules treat pre-1978 paint as possible lead. That's why a ballpark for a sun-beaten west wall can grow once a painter sees how much bare, weathered wood is hiding under the old coat.