So i'm going to be painting my house when it reaches that phase. I hate painting, but it'll save quite a bit of money to do it myself. So my questions are:

1) What type of sprayer? Airless i'm assuming

2) Buy or rent?

3) I'm assuming I need to prime the drywall, so what type of primer?

4) When it gets closer, i'll have some questions on how much paint/primer do I need for house. It's in the boonies, and would hate to run out.

My biggest question is what type of airless sprayer to get. The range in price is quite a bit, and I don't want to buy a cheap one, but can't afford a 2K sprayer I will only use a couple of times.
Any help would be great. TIA

1. Airless. Shouldn't cost you $2000. I see a Titan Xi345 on Lowes.com for $80 and LX60 gun for $50. You need a hose. All-in-one Wagner kit is $295 with hose and cart. The titan's better than the Wagner. The problem though is that the sprayers that weak aren't really good for more than primer. Which is why I say...
2. Rent, if you can, a pro rig designed for 5 gal buckets. Some places won't rent to you because they get screwed all the time by people not cleaning them. Alternately, buy it and resell it minus what it would've cost for you to rent it, about $100/day.
3. Depends on how they finished it. If they finished it to a grade 2 and textured, PVA primer and color coat. If they finished it to grade 3 and smooth, you'll want PVA, a really thick hide primer, and then a decently thick color coat.
4. Commercial account with Sherwin Williams. They'll help you estimate.

---

Cautions:
-- You'll want to mask like you cannot believe. It'll take you, as someone who is not experienced with it, much longer to mask than it will take you to roll the house. I honestly wouldn't spray the inside because of the masking 'overhead'. I'd just roll it and move on. Don't rent the sprayer if you're renting until you've finished masking. You'll also spend more time fixing spray-throughs, boogers, and drips than you would if you'd just rolled in the first place.
-- Unless you're spraying paint or primer that was mixed at the paint store a few hours before, use a strainer. Nothing will ruin your productivity like stopping to fix lumps in the paint and having the latex gum up in the tip.
-- Make sure you know how to test viscosity (viscosity cup) and that you can get the appropriate tips for the viscosity of paint that you're using. Otherwise... thar be drips.
-- Keep a roller handy to fix the drips you're going to get anyway because you're a n00b.
-- You need a rolling scaffolding to get close enough to the wall. Plan to rent that too or buy it. No, with a sprayer you can NOT get by with a ladder or three.

Last but not least, for the grace God gave little green apples, use real paint and not builder grade sheet. The builder grade sheet is easier to spray but will wipe right off the damned wall the first time a dog or a rug rat bumps into it. Use flat on the ceiling, eggshell on the walls so that it'll wipe clean, and honest-to-god-actual-cleans-up-with-mineral-spirits oil/enamel on the doorframes and trim so it won't stick.

[This message has been edited by superspeck (edited 1/12/2013 1:57p).]

Just remembered who you are. God, I'm an idiot.

I'll help you, but honest to God, freakin' roll it. I've got scaffolding that I can get that you can borrow with a week's notice, and I've got a commercial account with Sherwin already. Email me a rough floor plan and ceiling elevations and I'll be able to napkin estimate the paint.

[This message has been edited by superspeck (edited 1/12/2013 1:37p).]

Wait......who are you?

I feel the general board response of...you two need to get a room...incoming!

Have you ever used an airless sprayer before ?


How big of a house are you painting ?

Are you trying to do it all by yourself or will others be helping you ?





Superspeck, I think that is a misprint for that titan. That is a $600-$700 sprayer

2800sqft house, I'll have some help
Never used one before, but if I buy I can practice before. Bid on the job was 12.2k so I'm guessing I could save quite a bit: not sure how much paint, primer, and all other equipment will cost, but it can't be near 12k.

Does that bid include finishing cabinets ? What about the exterior ? Excluding cabinets and exterior for about 2800 sq ft new construction you are looking at about 450-500 hours of work for professional painters depending on ceiling height, texture, colors etc. Materials will run .75. -1.25 per sq ft. This size project will take between 70-80 gallons of primer and paint. If you have never sprayed before a 200k+ project is not an ideal place to learn on. Here is how I paint new construction

Take down all doors and remove hinges. Mask all windows. Vacuum floor.


Prime all interior drywall and trim using a 515 tip in the sprayer. I use zinser bullseye latex primer bc it seals good and can be sanded in 1 hour


Once dry, I sand all trim with 220 sand paper.

Next you vacuum up all sanding dust.


Caulk all trim using sashco big stretch caulk. Putty all nail holes using Crawford wood putty.

Spray one coat on ceiling using 515 tip with finish color

Spray 2 coats on all trim using a 211 tip for door casing and trim and a 311 tip for doors


Cut in all walls and roll with an 18 inch roller

That bid is just paint. No cabinets. We're not painting the trim. It will be stained. Was planning on priming, painting, staining the trim and crown molding then putting that up after I'm done painting.

Really 70-80 gallons. 500 hrs of work? Just for priming and painting? I'm not doing any texturing or cabinet work. Was thinking the windows will already be masked from the texture guys, and I can cover the floor since we're staining the concrete. Tape off whatever else there is and start priming.

What am I missing here? I just don't see 500 hours. I've painted my old house before(inside just like here), just not with a sprayer.
Thanks for all the help.

If it is $12,200 just to paint the drywall then that is really high.

Or did that include them staining all the trim?



Take out caulking 7000-8000 linear feet of trim and puttying 5000+ nail holes along with priming and painting the trim and on 2800 sq ft you are looking at about 55-60 gallons of paint and primer for just the drywall and probably around 250-275 hours of work not including any trim or door finishing.

A 12x12 room will take roughly 1.5 gallons of primer and 1.5 gallons of paint for the drywall. So 3 gallons for 144 sq ft. Now 2800/144 = 19.44 19.44 x 3 = ~58 gallons. This is all a rough guess as there are many factors such as texture type, ceiling height, color choices, etc but the above number is a ballpark.




Are you just staining the trim ?

Are you not putting a sealer on top of it ?


Just a heads up but if you are staining the floors make sure they use the right type of concrete when they pour the slab. Also once the plates are put down it would be in your best interest to cover the entire interior with cardboard so that it does not get damaged from subs dropping tools, lumber, plumbing primer, texture, etc or you will have issues done the road.



[This message has been edited by JP76 (edited 1/13/2013 9:14p).]

That includes staining all the trim. But the cabinet guy is doing the install of the trim and all the cabinets. The bid is just for priming, painting, staining, and clear coating every thing that is in or on the house.

No install of drywall, trim, crowning molding, texturing.....
If I do the paint an only save 2k then it won't be worth it. But if I can save a decent amount then I'm up for the work. I've painted small scale jobs before, just not a new construction house. Didn't think I would be spending 6k on paint/primer, $600 for sprayer, $300 for masking..... Might not be worth it for me.

Are the cabinets already pre finished or will u have to sand, stain, and clear coat them too ?

Throw sanding all the trim and doors, puttying all the nail holes, staining and 2 coats of clear and you are looking at a whole lot more work than just priming and painting. Also keep in mind if it takes you 3 times as long to get this done and you have a construction loan you are going to pay a lot more in interest.

In reality new construction finishing is like doing everything twice compared to a traditional repaint and actually even more work due to additional prepping. So figure up how long it would take you to do 5600 sq ft and decide if it is worth your time. Your material cost will run worst case around $3000-$3500.

[This message has been edited by JP76 (edited 1/13/2013 10:47p).]

The cabinets are custom, built on site. So yeah I would be doing all the sanding staing and clear coats. I'm going to try and put together the costs and see how much it'll cost me. Thanks for all the help.

Still confused about this

"" Just remembered who you are. God, I'm an idiot. ""

my advice - pay the painter

Pay the painter. You will not save as much money as you believe when you account for time and materials.

Also, get a secind bid. That price is WAY to high.

[This message has been edited by PlayToWin2000 (edited 1/15/2013 9:57a).]

Thanks for the help. I am going to pay the painter. I'll talk to the contractor about getting a second bid. That bid is for priming, painting, staining (kitchen cabinets), and exterior paint, although it just the soffits on a 2800sqft house. 4br/3ba with media room and gun room. Anyone got a suggestions of a painter to get a bid from?

I am a custom home builder north west of Fort Worth.

That is a good quote if he is a good painter.

Remeber you get what you pay for. And there is only on way to get a cheap paint job...do a cheap paint job.

That is a cheap price for the work involved. Like the previous poster said u get what u pay for. A cheap painter is going to water down the paint and do the bare mimimum and a few years later you will see why it was cheap. A crappy finish job will ruin $6000 cabinets in a heartbeat. Give this guy a call Antonio Sanchez 979 676 0159. He does great stained cabinet work.

[This message has been edited by JP76 (edited 1/15/2013 7:20p).]

Just bid it out. You don't need to put yourself through this.

I'm an appraiser with almost 30 years experience. The one thing I can tell pretty quick when I inspect a property is that it has been painted by an amateur. Painting, while seemingly simple, can really be jacked up if you don't know what you are doing.

Pay the pros, it's worth it.