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drobbins

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Yesterday I hung the last piece of sheetrock in my new house. The guy who has been doing the spackle says that the upstairs will be finished next weekend. Time for me to start painting. In total the house is about 3,000 sqft and needs priming and then the finish paint. I have done it before with rollers, but this time there is no carpet or furniture to worry about. I was thinking about masking the windows and baths, then spray painting the primer and ceilings. The last time I used a spray gun was many years ago and the time I saved painting was used cleaning the spray gun. What is the best way to paint a whole house? I see these three options
  1. Plain rollers
  2. Power fed rollers
  3. Spray gun
Any recommendations?
 

drobbins

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I wish you would have told me that before I hung the 330 pieces of sheetrock!
 

Chris Lockwood

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On a smooth surface I think rollers do a much better job and don't take any longer than a sprayer. If there's no carpet or furniture, the job is a breeze.

I made the mistake of using a sprayer once, never again.
 

Greg_R

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A properly tuned spray rig can give you a _better_ finish but not necessarily a faster one (for an amateur painter). Pros will have a positive pressure setup where they won't have to stop to refill anything. They'll also have some additives where they can continuously paint around the rooms (i.e. no stopping for coats to dry, etc.). With spraying you'll get paint _everywhere_ so you'll need additional masking and taping. Unless you've had previous spraying experience, you're probably better off sticking with rollers (don't skimp on the roller quality).
 

Chu Gai

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Spraying latex effectively is very difficult and difficult on the sprayer because of the inorganic additives that greatly increase wear. I'd consider opting for a power roller. Make sure you get all that dust off now.
 

drobbins

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I had a bad experience with a spray gun before, but I was wondering if they got any better over the years or not. Guess not. It sounds like a roller is the way to go. Anyone ever use a power roller? If so what brand and was it any faster or easier to use than a regular roller?
 

Jeff Savage

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Having just finished painting a couple of rooms in my house (which was the first time I had ever done any major painting) here are my suggestions:

1) Clean, clean, clean the walls
2) Do not skimp on the quality of brush and roller that you purchase. Yes get the $16 brush and $7 dollar roller handle. I was getting so fed up with the painting process until I went and spent the money. It made everything so much easier.
3) Maybe not an issue for you but have a pair of paint room shoes and a pair of rest of the house shoes and exchange them at the boarder.
4) Lightweight plastic drop cloths suck. Heavy duty plastic drop cloths rock.
6) Latex or vinyl gloves are awesome
7) Heavy duty high quality roller extensions are worth the money

Hope this helps.

Laters,
Jeff
 

Chu Gai

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It's not that paint guns or the delivery mechanisms haven't improved, it's that latex paint is so viscous and contains such large amounts of things like titanium dioxide and other abrasive inorganics. Now, if you were to use oil based paints, you'd likely find it easier but even there, controlling overspray is wicked tough not to mention the fumes. Wagner makes decent power paint rolling devices and you can give them a call to discuss what it is that you want to accomplish. The nice thing about the power rollers is that it's easier to keep a wet edge. Also, the various comments that Jeff made are very good. You might also want to add FloTrol to your paints. It assists in keeping that edge wetter for longer and you'll get a better overall job in the end.
 

Greg_R

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There are guns specifically designed for latex paint due to these issues and the paint viscosity (I'm not talking about needle size). Home Depot rents them. The FloTrol suggestion is a must if you spray. However, I think you should stick to a good roller...
 

CaseyL

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I recently just did the same thing in my house. I got the good wool-rollers, and a nice roller handle. You still need some good brushes to do the cut-in on the ceiling. I also recommend Organic paint. It's price competetive, and can match any color available, and doesn't have all the chemical negatives that regular paint does.
 

mylan

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Always use quality brushes and rollers. I use Purdy rollers, $10 a three pack, and Purdy brushes, Prep work is 60% of the job but equipment will make the job go smoothly.
 

drobbins

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Hey, Thanks for all the input. I haven't seen post to convince me that a powered system is worth the investment. We will use a good quality non powered roller. Now that you have helped with the decision, would you like to come over this weekend and help with the painting?
 

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