HVLP Sprayer Advice
 

Let's say I will paint five rooms inside two houses. Would you recommend I use an HVLP sprayer?

If so, then what equipment will I need, and how will I use it? Harbor Freight sells a cheap gun. I'm confident Snap-On sells an expensive one.

I have an air compressor, but I am not sure how well it regulates air pressure or whether its pressure gauge is lying.

Nope, unless you are planning on spraying car paint. If you have two people you could rent a airless sprayer to apply the paint and second person follow behind pass a roller over it, walls and ceiling and floors same colour? LOL. I have used one on my own and just a roller and pan is a better option, buy a good telescoping extension for the roller though.

Okay, I think I am hearing that if I am doing this by myself, then perhaps I just want to use a brush and roller strategy. Does this make more sense than using a sprayer?

It depends upon the state of the house, and the paint.

I've painted rooms and ceilings and had good results.

The paint is a fine mist, so it will get EVERYWHERE. If the house isn't gutted, then you will have to seal off those rooms and tape/cover (extremely thoroughly) anything that you don't want to have to clean paint off of.

We used an expensive paint from a company in England and it went on really well. We also had some high end Sherwin Williams that we got from a Sherwin Williams store. Painting with the Sherwin Williams stuff sucked. Some of the guys have mentioned putting an additive (Flowtrol or something like that) in paint that's going to be sprayed, and I can see why after using the SW paint.

Probably. I've also heard that getting the HVLP with the roller attachment is great, but I haven't tried it, and the roller attachment was 50% of the price of the sprayer that we got.

Graco Magnum Project Painter Plus Paint Sprayer
(was $230, now is $270)
Graco Pressure Roller Kit
(now $90, but I swear it was $135)

Latex is very heavy bodied, so to get it to work on an HVLP, you’ll need a very good one. I have a cheaper one and it works well with oil paints and varnishes, but it pretty much just spits out latex.

Spraying can be faster, but as mentioned, you will need to mask off everything, so you have to weigh the time spent. It is usually recommended to back roll when you spray latex, so you are still rolling.

Spraying trim gives a very nice finish, though, so maybe brush and roller for walls and spray oil based on trim?

Here is a question I should have included in the OP:

Recommend me a brand of paint. I don't know much, but I do know that cheap paint is not a good deal. I want one-coat latex paint.

See what happens when you go and get married? Now you got to make your house pretty and keep it clean!

Congratulations, by the way.

Thank you. :) I am preparing a house to sell. The plan is to pay off my home mortgage and retire at the end of May. And perhaps do some more painting. ;)

I really like Behr--the premium, top of the line one. Have had great success with it, with several different colors.

Regarding the sprayer, I have no input; however, I did use a Wagner Power roller in one of my old houses. I had no issues with it, and it made quick work of the entire house. Actually thinking of buying a new one (I didn't properly clean the old one) to repaint a large part of my current home.

I'd use a roller. By the time you mask off everything to use a sprayer, you can about have the room painted. As for paint, I've used, and really like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams.

I think all of the higher end paints are quite good, and up here into $100 gal. I think the durability gets better as you get into the top end product, that is not something you need to worry about if selling, but next level down from top are usually still very good product, little less durability and I find they do not flow quite as well, just missing some additives. As far as one coat, really depends how lucky you get and how much paint you apply. The upper end Benjamin Moore is my go to for quality paint, Behr has also been pretty good, Behr can NOT reproduce BM colours though.

Behr (one of the versions--top end) guarantees one-coat coverage.

^^^
Or they'll what? Come and paint the room for you?

Refund the cost of the paint, of course...lol.

So far, I've not had to take them up on that guarantee. It's worked on every color I've painted over and with.

They'll sell you another gallon so you can finish the job. ;)

BTW, where's Dipso? I assume he'd have some good advice on this topic for Supe.

This is impressive. I once painted over a dark blue wall and it took me about a hundred coats. Using cheap paint, of course.:rolleyes:

I'm patient. I'm thinking the Wagner PaintStick might be a good strategy. Eliminates the painting of the tray, which cuts time by around 50%.

Yeah...we were using some other "guaranteed one coat" paint to paint over a VERY light blue in our bathroom one time. Three coats later, the blue was still showing through (with a light beige). Tried the Behr, and I've been a customer ever since.