NA Airless Paint Sprayers NA

jsstevens

jsstevens

Final Approach
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jsstevens
Anybody with experience with airless paint sprayers? I'm in process of getting my mom's house ready for market and am contemplating pulling the trigger on an airless paint sprayer (it'll be used for more than just my mom's house). Based on a combination of Sherwin Williams recommendation and online research I've settled on the Titan 440. It seems like a serviceable and capable unit for anything I'm likely to do. (Like the exterior of my house...)

Since this is POA, I feel a bit as if I'm doing the "Not your Job" segment of Wait-Wait Don't Tell Me, but that's what we do here.

John
 
Wow, going pro on house painting?

Okay, I'll admit it. I cheaped out when it was time to paint the house. Yup, got the $50 handheld airless sprayer from Walmart. It was a few more trips up the ladder. Oh well. If I thought the job needed a thousand dollar unit I would probably just rent it.
 
I've had a base model Graco professional airless for several years. It's been handy to have and has been lent out as much as I've used it myself. A few weeks ago I coated 4000 sq ft of three rail wood fence in about an hour and a half. I smile every time I use it. Keep it clean and use oil based solvents to store it. Mine's stored in an unheated shed and has been trouble free even after long periods of inactivity.

The quality of a paint job is in the prep. I'll do my cabin and sheds, etc, but no way I'd do my house. Too much prep and way too much masking.
 
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We've had a "family" one for years, well worth the cost. Just make sure you (or whoever borrows it) cleans and stores it properly.
 
No way would I paint my house. Sucker sticks up 30 feet in the air. Also, the biggest part of painting is the prep. I can't imagine scraping an entire house, especially the stuff that's 30 feet in the air. Good luck to the OP.
 
steingar said:
No way would I paint my house. Sucker sticks up 30 feet in the air. Also, the biggest part of painting is the prep. I can't imagine scraping an entire house, especially the stuff that's 30 feet in the air. Good luck to the OP.
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1 story. Stucco, existing paint in good shape (except chalking). A pressure wash and I'm good to go, only an 8' ladder required. If I had to roll it, no way. But with a sprayer, not bad at all. If I had to scrape a 2 or 3 story, nope, nopity nope.
 
i have one. i think it was a midline graco from HD. I think it was around $200-300. i bought it when i got done remodeling a rental and used it to paint inside and outside (before flooring was in). what a timesaver.

I plan to keep it forever. have loaned it out once or twice, just make sure that it gets super cleaned before stored and it doesn't seem to be a problem. stored in an unheated attic above our garage year round
 
jsstevens said:
1 story. Stucco, existing paint in good shape (except chalking). A pressure wash and I'm good to go, only an 8' ladder required. If I had to roll it, no way. But with a sprayer, not bad at all. If I had to scrape a 2 or 3 story, nope, nopity nope.
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By the way, sorry for the lack of useful information in my little rant. The painters I hire out to have those things, they are pretty nifty. Don't know about brands or anything.
 
I bought a Graco Magnum X7 4-5 yrs ago when I bought my house as the entire interior needed to be painted (as well as exterior). It's still sitting in the shop never having been used, lol. I ended up rolling the entire interior instead of breaking out the sprayer. I will likely use it when I get around to the exterior, because we will likely be painting the brick on the house, which is a lot of surface area to cover on a 3K sq. ft. house. The one thing about sprayers that I've used before, is that with most every application, backrolling is necessary to get an even coat/finish. So, don't plan on just waving the spray gun and being done, as having someone with a roller coming behind you to catch any paint runs and such will likely be necessary for a decent end-product.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I bought a Graco Magnum X7 4-5 yrs ago when I bought my house as the entire interior needed to be painted (as well as exterior). It's still sitting in the shop never having been used, lol. I ended up rolling the entire interior instead of breaking out the sprayer. I will likely use it when I get around to the exterior, because we will likely be painting the brick on the house, which is a lot of surface area to cover on a 3K sq. ft. house. The one thing about sprayers that I've used before, is that with most every application, backrolling is necessary to get an even coat/finish. So, don't plan on just waving the spray gun and being done, as having someone with a roller coming behind you to catch any paint runs and such will likely be necessary for a decent end-product.
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Good tip on the roller follow. Thanks!
 
Pro painters always back roll behind a sprayer. It evens out the coating.
 
jsstevens said:
Good tip on the roller follow. Thanks!
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Also, you may find it easier to "cut-in" near corners/trim. It's just easier to paint/roll in those areas around the edges so that you can use the spray for the large flat areas instead of trying to spray evenly into corners/trim. As was mentioned, that's all in the prep work before you pull the trigger on the paint gun, but makes the end-product look much better as well as allows you to spray more efficiently.
 
If I have to roll behind the sprayer, why use a sprayer?

I will need to paint the outside of current house this summer before putting it on the market. As we speak, or read, my new house is getting the interior painted. The entire interior of the house was stark staring mental institution white. The painters are using brushes to do the edges and around the trim, but on the large flat areas they are using a roller. And I still see specks of white showing through.
 
There's a very big difference between using a roller for evening out a coating versus applying a coating.
 
Stewartb said:
There's a very big difference between using a roller for evening out a coating versus applying a coating.
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Ok, thanks. I am getting ready to go to the new house and show them the very many and very tiny spots they missed.
 
Get a roll of blue painter's masking tape and put a piece at every flaw that you want fixed. They'll know exactly what to do with that!
 
Just watch a YouTube video or two on back-rolling the paint, you'll get how it's done after seeing it performed. It's not as tedious as putting on full coats of paint with only a roller. You just have to keep enough of the roller wet to keep the nap from absorbing paint off of the wall. You're basically just rolling over the sprayed paint with a paint-wetted roller at a fairly fast pace. It evens the sprayed layer of paint and helps fill in any of the textured surface.
 
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