Home remodeling: paint sprayers

[beemerboy]

BMWST's most recent Un provided me with an excuse to get away from my latest remodeling project. My latest project is to rid my 1965 era home of its popcorn ceiling and outdated textured walls. To make a long story short, I'm now in the initial stages of painting phase one of my effort and find the process of painting - using a paint roller and extension rod - to be time consuming and fatiguing.

 

Does anyone here have some feedback/advice regarding paint sprayers for inside applications? Is this a good tool for indoor use or should I just suck it up and do the roller thing until my arms pop out of my shoulders?

 

 

[Gregori]

Use a roller.

 

Note that a good, adjustable pole will make a lot of your pain go away. I even use one when doing walls - it makes painting FAR easier, and less taxing on shoulders/neck/back.

 

 

[LBump]

HVLP

Sprays different materials. Easy.

Roller application. Difficult and time consuming.

 

Ya might want to talk to a good local painter.

By the time you add up all the costs less the time and experience to complete the project, you might come out ahead to contract it out.

My .02cents speaking.

 

The best on whatever you do.

[Guest Kakugo]

I had to repaint my garage thrice in the last three years (water infiltration which was only solved last year). And the kitchen last year.

 

I've tried a compressor-powered paint sprayer and it was... junk, really. It requires far too many applications to get a decent result.

 

Using a roller... I've run a few experiments and found using a slightly thicker paint/water mixture is the way to go. Less applications, more uniform results and less waste. It may cost a tiny bit more in paint but the results are well worth it.

 

 

[Patallaire]

I have found that at this point in my life, hiring a painter is the best way! They do this for a living, most often 8 to 10 hours per day, I used to paint once every 5 years or so, they are faster, neater by far and have all the right equipment to cut in corners, paint windows etc.

By the time I added my costs of paint, time, aggravation etc. a painter person was a bargain!

[beemerboy]

Thanks for the feedback. What can I say, I'm a cheap SOB and have done most all of the home improvement work at every home I've owned. Still, I think I'll entertain some bids for painting.....

[greiffster]

Our residential painters do spray prime coats sometimes, but final color is always rolled or sprayed then back rolled. So, you're rolling anyway. Residential painters are generally pretty cheap if you contract out because there are a million of them. However, their quality can be hit or miss.

[ltljohn]

Be careful removing the old popcorn ceiling, some contained asbestos pre 1978.

LINKY

[beemerboy]

Be careful removing the old popcorn ceiling, some contained asbestos pre 1978.

LINKY

 

Point noted. Based on what I've learned about the previous owners, the work was done post '78. In addition to that, the drywall crew doing the work used proper containment procedures to capture and dispose of all materials.

 

My main reason for starting this thread is due to the shear enormity of the task. All ceiling and wall surfaces had to be primed once and painted twice. My home is a tri-level and I had the main level done, next up is the lower level and then the upper level. In a perfect world all work will be done on or around the time I arrive at Fall Torrey. This, of course, doesn't factor in the time and work involved in de-construction each level - moving furniture and decorations - to another level and then having the work done then starting the finish work.

 

Anyway, I'm a believer in doing it myself because that way I can verify that things are done to my standards so that's why I've done most if not all work on my home myself. I asked about using a sprayer thinking that it might be possible to achieve the same standard with less wear and tear on my aching shoulders (two separations on the right side, one on the left side).

 

What I'm hearing from most folks here is that I should either hire it out or suck it up and muddle my way through it. Having the popcorn ceiling removal work done ain't cheap and it's best left to those who can get it done right and in a timely manner. I can handle the priming and painting but it's eating up my evenings and weekends and kicking my arse in the interim.

 

What I've learned is that the Wagner style paint devices aren't the way to go and that I should just deal with it and gut it out. The results of the main level are impressive and my '60's era home is looking more like a home that was built last month. Thanks for the input!

[EddyQ]

I've got a Titan 440i HPLV sprayer that I painted my house and my sisters with. I've heard of using it indoors, but I cannot imagine it. The overspray would get everywhere.

 

What is wrong with popcorn ceiling? Get some fresh clean flat white paint on it (roller with high pile) and it will look fine. As for walls, take them down if they are cheap paneling or wall board. Replace with blueboard and plaster. Then roll on some nice bright paint of your favorite color. Then, add wall ornimants that acent the color nicely.

 

Messy for sure, but shouldn't take that long to do.

[Glenn Reed]

I painted my house and my sisters with.

 

Why did you paint your sisters?

[EddyQ]

I painted my house and my sisters with.

 

Why did you paint your sisters?

 

She needed some help. The whole family chipped in. I spent a day and put on 8-9 gallons with the sprayer. She did a few days of prep work and then touched up the trim afterwards.

[szurszewski]

I painted my house and my sisters with.

 

Why did you paint your sisters?

 

She needed some help. The whole family chipped in. I spent a day and put on 8-9 gallons with the sprayer. She did a few days of prep work and then touched up the trim afterwards.

 

That's a LOT of paint - how many sisters do you have?

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....sorry - former English teacher - couldn't resist joining in!

[EddyQ]

I painted my house and my sisters with.

 

Why did you paint your sisters?

 

She needed some help. The whole family chipped in. I spent a day and put on 8-9 gallons with the sprayer. She did a few days of prep work and then touched up the trim afterwards.

 

That's a LOT of paint - how many sisters do you have?

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....sorry - former English teacher - couldn't resist joining in!

 

Dang. I just got it . . .

[EffBee]

My brother was a commercial painting contractor for many years. He says to USE A ROLLER! You don't have the right spray equipment. If you did buy the right spray equipment you wouldn't know how to set it up and use it correctly, it would be costly to fix what you screwed up, and if you did buy the right equipment, it would cost you the better part of what a professional would charge.

 

I understand the sense of satisfaction of working on and improving one's home. When we bought our home in WA, the previous owner had used moly bolts to hang everything from the TV, to a small family photo. There were 63 patch jobs I undertook, virtually all successful. Then I had to retexture. Learned a lot about how to use those texturing spray cans. But when it came to painting, it was all done by hand. Ceilings, too, including the 14-footer in the great room. I spent a month, working about 3 hours a night and taking ibuprofen in the morning. Overwhelming at first. But room by room, I made progress. And in the end, I was quite satisfied. A commercial painter wanted $1400 +paint and said it would take two days. I loved that I'd done it. But for the money and the time, I should have let a pro do it.

 

When they're done, you can always go over their work with a fine-tooth comb and brush in any details that didn't get done to your standards. And they you can marvel at your exactness on the finer points, and their efficiency on the broadstrokes.

[bruce1045]

Indoor spraying not that easy.

Use a roller, don't use a large nap roller, or you will end up with popcorn walls, use a thin nap roller, takes longer, but worth it,easier on your shoulder also, buy a high quailty roller and in will last for years.

Forget the paint pan thing, use a 5 gallon bucket, and a roller screen, goes much faster.

Don't put paint on thick first coat, 2-3 coats at least.

Popocorn ceiling, 2 options

1. you scrape it off, and have professional, mud it and make it flat, its worth the extra money.

2. Scrape it off, then Get new 1/4 inch drywall, (very light to handle) and screw it up to celing and tape and mud it.

 

 

I know its hard to do this, every time I paint the inside of the house I ask my wife " will we have s*x after I paint, she says I look sexy when I paint" it makes painting worth it

 

good luck

[Patallaire]

I agree, hiring it would have been less expensive, if you took the 3 hours a night, plus the paint, and also the patch job, hiring it would have been all inclusive. The painting labor you put in was at least 90 hours{3 hours per night*30days}, not counting cleaning up and prep, so for the painting labor you paid yourself $15.55 per hour. Feeling good about doing it yourself has a price, it also has a value. Only you can make that choice.

[markgoodrich]

Randy, I've probably painted more than 150 houses in my lifetime. A lifetime ago, but the techniques and even the equipment are essentially the same. Yeah, you can spray the ceilings, and for that matter the walls, but you need an airless sprayer, not a compressor unit, not a HVLP setup. And you need bare concrete floors. And every bit of trim masked off. All the windows masked completely off. All cabinetry masked off. And more. And you'll still end up with overspray.

 

Use a good lambswool roller, get advice on nap thickness from the paint store (not Lowe's Depot, the PAINT STORE), telling him what kind of surface you're painting...untextured, textured, what thickness texture, etc. I'm assuming, since you had popcorn, you're talking about sheetrock. I can't imagine why you'd need to put three coats of paint on it, especially any primer. One coat of a premium brand latex interior paint should do the job. I personally prefer eggshell finish, as it has a slight sheen and is scrubbable and will last 20 years with only occasional touchup when things bang into it.

 

I sprayed a lot of houses back in the day, and I rolled a lot of houses. I would never spray a home someone is living in or which already has been trimmed out.

[John Ranalletta]

+1

 

Especially if it's the first time with a sprayer.