Painting HT, adjacent playroom and bath in basement project.

Total sq. ft of painted surface about 2800. Primer plus two finish coats about 21 gallons.

I can get a decent refurbished airless for about $200 and will paint the walls/ceiling before carpet, trim and doors are installed or electical finish work, so little masking needed.

Should I get the airless or just use a roller? I have HVLP experience.

Will I really save time? Any estimates how much.

I also looked into this... although i am just doing the HT... & to me it wasn't as much the additional cost as it was a pita. time saved is estimated at 50%... although initial setup is part of it & the more you have to do the more benefit to the time saved on the setup. i elected to roll & will be doing so shortly.
good luck.

If you go the airless route look into getting a roller attachment it sprays the paint on behind the roller so no dipping into a paint pan. Or they make one that feeds the paint directly into the roller itself like this one http://www.speedrollers.com/cms/site/841df35d572b686e/index.html It will definitly save you a ton of time rather then the dip & roll method

My time is very valuable and this is my incentive. Just wondering if all the setup/cleanup will mitigate any time saved on application. There will be several different paints used so I will need to clean out the sprayer regularly - primer plus two finish coats on each surface:

theater walls and ceiling - primer 1 (dark tint) - 3 gallons
playroom walls, ceiling and bath - primer 2 (no tint) - 4 gallons


Theater ceiling and screen wall - color 1 - 3 gallons
Theater left, right and rear wall - color 2 - 3 gallons
Playroom walls - color 3 - 5 gallons
playroom ceiling - color 4 - 2 gallons
bath - color 5 - 1 gallon

The airless has the roller attachment, but the real time sink is the edging which will be much quicker with the sprayer using a spray shield than a brush or pad.

Conventional rolling (with a roller screen out of a 5 gal bucket - trays are way too slow and cumbersome) is pretty fast.

The clean up with all the different colors is going to be a real pita. Dip & Roll mite be the way to go. You can get the larger 18" rollers at the paint store they help make it go faster

I see them on all the time on "flip this house" episodes on TV and wish I had and airless sprayer and the skills and technique. Sounds like you have a good excuse to get in the game. I say go for it it won't be the last time you/friends use it.

I'm sure you can sell on craigslist when you are done if you need to recoup the investment

Yeah, I had > 4000 ft^2 to do as well, and I bought a reasonably nice airless. I think it was worth it, but here are my thoughts:

- Great for primer. Saved a TON of time here.

- Worked well for my light colors in workout area & closet.

- Good for initial coats in dark areas

- Not so good for dark final coats. Unless your drywall is PERFECT, you'll see imperfections. I ended up rolling a final coat just to get a touch of textures.

- If you are doing differing colors above and below a light tray, it saves a ton of time, as you can spray both sections and hide the "transition overspray line" in the tray.

- Cleanup sucks. A utility sink is really nice for this. But it was worth the time savings elsewhere.

NOTE: If you are considering dark colors (especially red), get a gray-tinted primer.

My gut is that the airless is worth it for the larger single color primer coats alone.

I do not anticipate ever using it again (house was just painted - deck was just stained - and afraid of using it in finished upstairs rooms due to carpet, furniture, etc). Cost does not bother me, just having another big tool taking up space in the garage is my real issue - yes can flip it once used.

I am doing drywall and veneer plaster so the finish should be very good with few flaws - but there are always some.

Great idea about rolling out the last coat.

No util sink yet - cleanup will be with a few 5 gal buckets of glean water.

db

I just completed the exact same project (split room, one side Theater, other play area). I also had an additional bedroom, bathroom and staircase. The airless was used for primer coats and flat black ceiling in Theater. Even with the airless, the flat black was a PITA. I rolled final coats of dark colors afterward. The airless was great for laying down primer quick and easy, difficult to control on intricate areas. If you attempt to mask areas and spray final coats, you need to secure the masking firmly, the airless puts out quite a lot of turbulance and overspray (even if you can't initiall see it, you might once you pull down the masking). So a combined approach saved me much time, but for final coats, I prefer doing it by hand. Another tip to get crisp lines between the ceiling and walls was to use the blue tape, then seal it with a tiny amount of laytex caulking. Basically put a small bead up, then immeidately wipe all of it off and press it into the edge of the tape. This effectively seals the edge of the blue tape. Worker excellent between the difference in textured ceiling and walls. Got razor sharp transition between ceiling/wall. Good luck.

Airless sprayers work best for ceilings and woodwork.

For drywall, I would use an 18" roller. I prefer a wooster super fab 3/8" nap.(sherwin williams)

Home depot seems to have the best 18" pan. It's an orange one and fairly easy to clean.


Jeff

Ordered the airless.

I think you just wanted a "reason" to get a new toy. :)

I tried the HVLP for the final coat on my last basement build. Rotten results.
On this one, I used it for the primer coat only and rollered the final coat.
It was worth the extra time.

dnddwilson:

HVLP or airless? (HVLP would not seem like the right tool for the job - too much overspray and does not put down material fast enough).

I debated the same thign when I was painting my basement a few months ago(~2800 square feet as well). I ended up rolling - my deciding factor was that my parents are experienced painters and they volunteered to come over and help. With 4 people painting (2 edging, 2 rolling) we made quick work of the project.

I have an 8 and 10 year old who want to 'help' me and my wife. Time to spray (its the edging that takes a long time, not the rolling) - but still - 21 gallons!

When I was doing the painting in my HT (actually the whole basement finish job) I bought an airless sprayer. Didn't like the looks of the walls and ended up rolling. Thought I would use the sprayer on the trim before installing it, but didn't like the look of the trim and ended up brushing it.
Maybe it was just me and not the sprayer that I didn't get the results I wanted. It definately was faster with the sprayer.

Here's a tip for spraying walls. Wipe the drywall dust off the walls before spraying. It will tend to make the finish more smooth. Also, use a pole sander in between coats.

Question what type of primer and paint will you use ?
What size tip ?
Will you do woodwork and walls with the same paint ?

I primed and painted my basement a month ago and I ended up buying a Magnum DX sprayer from Home Depot. It was worth it to own it, much easier than rolling and about the same cost as renting based on how much I'd need it. I sprayed primer everywhere, then trim paint on my doors, baseboard, crown and door jambs. I masked it all and painted the ceiling, then masked that and painted the walls. Setup is on the order of minutes, but cleanup was more like 15-30. A utility sink is ideal for this.

-Ryan

tip ?
Will you do woodwork and walls with the same paint ?

Painting woodwork?!? Sacreliege! :)

Jeff:

Bought a titan xt250
Plan to use a 415 tip for walls and ceiling and a 213 tip for trim (at lower pressure)

Using BMoore latex for all rooms except for theater wall using C2. Local store recommended C2 primer rather than moore or zinsser. They said it dries very hard. Dark tint primer for theater.

Theater ceiling=Moore "deep space"
Theater walls=C2 "Georgeous"
Playroom Walls=Moore "meadow pink"
Bath=Moore "whispering woods"


Theater trim will be oak/poly. Playroom bath trim/doors will be moore white satin impervo white.


There should not be much drywall dust as I am having the room veneer plastered over blueboard so I should start smooth (I will go over the room with a bright light before priming to look for rough spots to sand).

I plan to pole sand lightly after primer.

Any recommendations how long to wait after venner plaster before primer? Plaster bag says next day, primer says 30 days, plasterer says a few days most.

db

Sounds like you've done your homework. Let me know how the plastering turns out.

Jeff

Painting woodwork?!? Sacreliege! :)
I don't mind painted woodwork. It some cases it can allow you alot more wall colors to pick from. Maybe I'm just used to it because so many of the new homes we've done have painted woodwork.

However, stained is nice too. Especially with pre-cat laquer sprayed on it.

One note on spraying. Most paint suppliers will tell you to roll after you spray anyway. When I did my basement, I sprayed a wall, then quickly went back over it and rolled it. Now I didn't get into every corner and edge, but I did roll 95% of it. Came out looking great.

Definitely buy yourself a respirator, bunny suit and sock for your head. It'll save a lot of clean-up on you!! I used an old face shield as well. When doing ceiling work, the paint mist will settle on your face if you look up!

dnddwilson:

HVLP or airless? (HVLP would not seem like the right tool for the job - too much overspray and does not put down material fast enough).

HVLP. It's old and got it a while ago.

Jeff:

Any opinion on how long to wait after veneer plaster application before priming (primer says 30 days, plaster says 1 day, plasterer says a few days)

Scotts:

Did you use a dry roller? (I guess it gets a bit wet as you use it)


db

Scotts: Did you use a dry roller? (I guess it gets a bit wet as you use it)db Yeah, it started dry, but was wet after just a few rolls.

db,
I can't say for sure, but I would tend to go by the plaster instructions. or even the "few days" according to the plasterer.