Spray painting vs. traditional methods.

[JTM]

I recently bought a 3-story, 4 bedroom older home that I want to fix up and rent out. It has old worn-out wall-to-wall carpets throughout al 3 floors. My plan is to have the entire interior painted white -- including the walls, ceilings, and trim. Then have all of the carpeting removed and re-do the floors.

My question is, could an experienced painter do this type of job more quickly and for less money by spray painting instead of traditional brush and roller painting?

If so, are there any easy ways to find experienced spray painting companies? One idea I had was to try asking apartment complexes who they use since I think many of them have their apartment units spray painted.

[Bill]

This would be efficient if you want all of the trim the same color and level of gloss as the walls. Otherwise .....

A cheap way to get lots of paint for rentals is to go to Sears and look or ask about paint that was custom mixed or returned. Although they all offer a million custom colors, the bulk of interior paint is from a surprisingly small range of light colors: off-whites to white to cream. Sears often a bunch of cans on the lowest shelf for sale at $1 per gallon. If it's not there, ask the paint manager. He would love to get rid of it. Take all of it home. When you need to paint an apartment, figure out how much paint you need, then take that many cans and mix them. You won't really care what light color it turns out to mix to. You can also save all of the high gloss to mix for kitchens and baths.

Bill

[mark Ransley]

It could be cheaper ,id depends on the painter and his work load. Contractors spend thousands on spray equipment , why should they do it for alot less. Your idea is good, rent a sprayer it goes fast.

[JTM]

I know painters spend thousands on spray equipment. And, I assume that they have to figure those costs into the job. But, I assume that they buy and use the spray equipment because it saves them time and is more efficient overall for certain types of jobs. But, if the cost of the equipment isn't significantly offset by the amount time they save, then there would be no reason for the contractor or the customer to choose spraying over traditional painting methods. (Just being a devil's advocate here).

As far as me renting the sprayer and doing it myself, I probably shouldn't do that, but I have a bad feeling that that's what I'm going to end up doing. Year's ago, a friend and I spray painted an old house and it worked out okay. However, he was the son of a professional painter and I was just a helper. More recently, I tried this myself on the second floor of a house (4 bedrooms and a hallway) and made one gigantic mess -- including setting off the fire alarm system and having the fire department show up while I was painting.

With this property that I just bought, I'm trying to get myself into the mode of just hiring people to do the work and paying them. But, I am a real do-it-yourself (screw-it-up-yourself-first) type person, so it's hard for me to let go of that.

[m Ransley]

Till Christmas anybody good is booked,If you can wait call for bids in the new year when many are out of work. Get bids they will vary alot after the 1st of the year . Even now some painters cut next years prices if their schedule is thin , so their workers have work. Its supply and demand.