I have an airless sprayer and use it to paint homes. A custom home builder asked if I want to paint the house he is building but was surprised I paint with an airless sprayer. He thought painting is always done with rollers.
Will the airless not paint as good as rollers do? These custom homes are purchased by picky rich people from what I heard, so will the paint job not be of a high quality when I am done? Are there things I can do to improve the quality while using an airless?
Airless sprayers are great, and I am a big fan of them. BUT, they leave a lot of overspray. EVERYTHING has to be covered up or removed entirely. If they are that picky, they won't like dried paint droplets on their "stuff". For this type of job, I would go with brush and roller.
One can backroll behind a person spraying with an airless. I do it with a big nappy sheepskin roller. This evens it out and gives it a good stipple. It is a two man operation. But again, you will get paint everywhere that isn't entirely covered. Takes more time to mask and cover than to just brush and roll carefully. Just MHO.
Steve
Depends what you're doing with it. Definitely spray and backroll when you prime the drywall; you can do the whole house in a day. Spray the trim package with oil if it's painted...you'll get a factory-like finish if your prep was good. Make sure your prep is impeccable as a spray finish will make any imperfections stand out, esp. extra and/or crappy looking caulk and nail holes that aren't filled properly. Keep in mind that the amount of masking is incredible when spraying anything. SW sells flake resistant plastic that you should use when spraying. Nothing ruins a good spray job like paint flakes from your plastic. Spraying trim is standard protocol on all the high end custom homes around here. Cut and roll the walls when its time to paint them. When you mask your trim, leave the caulk showing. That way your lines will be straight and you will have the solid wood to tape to, as taping to caulk will result in much more paint getting under your tape and horrible lines...which leads to a very aggravating cleaning and touching up process. The neat thing with oil paint being used for the trim is that you can very easily remove latex paint with denatured alcohol. On the plus side, for all your attention to detail, you can charge $2.50-$3 more per sq. ft. than on some 1500 sq. ft. ranch. If your builder has never seen sprayed trim, he needs to start looking around a bit more at what other people are doing. High-end builders around here insist on it.
Mike
"ississauga" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...
if you are concerned at all about 'picky rich people' i would simply pass on the job. no matter what you do they may not be satisfied....
randy
I should add that Randy is correct in a way. Here's some Solid Advice Meant In The Best Possible Way That Could Keep You From Eating Many Thousands Of Dollars: If you don't have the experience to already have a game plan before starting a high end custom home then you shouldn't try painting one on your own. Guaranteed, you'll underbid, take too long, and end up frustrated if you don't have the background and crew. You won't pull it off with the 2nd cousin you haven't seen in 10 years and the two guys he met in the drunk tank over the weekend. Around here, reputation is everything. The painting market is oversaturated. Builders don't give second chances to new companies very often. There is a world of differenct between a house belonging to a "picky rich person" and a 1300 Sq.Ft. repaint. My advice to you is to explain your experience very clearly to this builder (who sounds like he could use a good "explaining to" with regard to painting) and do a couple easy things for him first. Never let a good builder go if you think you can meet his demands. Work your way to the top, don't try jumping there. At the very least, hire a foreman who has run a crew on high end new construction jobs. Get advice from as many local sources as possible before bidding. This can be as true for exteriors as well as interiors.
Mike
Oh, those "picky rich people". I wonder if it's really those newly "I've got more money now" people who think the world should kneel at their feet.
Just like when I go to the carwash. It's so funny. The owners of BMW 7 series, Mercedes S series, and other $65,000+ cars just get their cars and go. The owners of "mid-luxury" cars do a walkaround and start pointing out every nit and nat they can find and demand that the carhop quickly redo their cars. Go figure--must seem like they have a sense of entitlement, doesn't it?
Ricky
Those other people are leasing and will be in a new car in a year or two. Some of us actually plan on keeping our cars. *REALLY* picky people wash their cars themselves.
Dimitri
backroll.
David
ississauga wrote:
On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 23:33:01 -0700 "David" used 16 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair
eggroll
-Graham
Remove the 'snails' from my email
I'm REALLY picking & I never wash my car or have it washed; except when it rains. :)
:) with six you get...
David
G. Morgan wrote:
First, if you're asking these questions you're really not qualified for the job.
Most painters will backroll a sprayed finish on a standard drywall. Quality materials, quality prep and exacting technique are what improve the quality of the job, and most tools can be used interchangably if you have perfected the use of the tool you choose. Locally, high end homes will be sprayed for both primer and finish coats, and backrolled. Some woodwork will be sprayed with an airless or HVLP setup, especially lacquered finishes that are locally popular in fine cabinetry areas, but much of it is still brushwork.
Of course locally, after your masterful work the faux artist comes in and covers it up anyway.. :)
Jeff
No always. There is indeed something else going on here, also. An acquaintance had the valet parking concession at a REALLY high end event every year. The really rich folks, even those with classic cars that were not likely leased, didn't have a qualm about having their cars parked.
OTOH the few hoi polloi driving old bombs were the most irate, snotty and suspicious, and didn't want anyone else touching their cars. I've seen it myself - my teen stepson refused to go to events at a certain club (not ours, a relative's) with his crappy Hyundai, when he heard that there was valet parking there. I do not lease cars, yet I have been to events there several times.
Well, this is getting OT.
-v.
How did this get from car washing to valet parking? The point I was trying to make is that supremely wealthy people don't *have* to care. A coworker's friend drives a $300K Bentley and some uninsured idiot hit him causing $10K in damage. He didn't even attempt to litigate. ("Can't squeeze blood from a turnip.") He just paid to fix the car. $10K is no big deal to *him*. It's not that the wealthy people trust valets more or trust car washes more. It's that they can handle whatever problems may result, including (if it comes to it) litigation. You can bet your bottom dollar that the guy who has to save for a few years to even
*finance* the Corvette he intends to drive for the next 15 years is going to be much more irate when a valet/car wash scratches the hell out of it in his first year of ownership.There are lots of reasons people in expensive cars don't care as much in addition to being wealthy enough to afford problems:
There are probably more reasons.
Dimitri
They know they can make life miserable for the club/event manager for the rest of his/her years if some kid scratches the car, and the manager knows it, too.
They are angry - put the money they could have spent on a car into high risk investment. Cost of success :o)
Because he goes to school with the kids who park cars and sees them peel out of the parking lot every day :o) His "crappy Hyundai" is his most valuable posession, his image, his route to freedom and all that entails :o)
I know a millionaire who sold his wife's used lipsticks at a garage sale. Gross!!!!!!
I had a classmate in prep school whose German-born dad painted rich folks homes - and got premium bucks for being meticulous - even got written up in the NY Times for it. For most of my life, my godfather (who spent half his ten navy years painting - that's what navy folks do when bored) did a spotless job painting our house. Now he's old and since he wouldn't let me learn, I make a mess. What I do recall tho, is he used to drain the brush excessively. Of course, I use a sponge spreader and finish ten times faster than he did.
- = - Vasos-Peter John Panagiotopoulos II, Columbia'81+, Bio$trategist BachMozart ReaganQuayle EvrytanoKastorian
I realize that I am jumping into this discussion a couple months late, but it seems that there are some here who are knowledgable regarding airless sprayers.
I recently bought the house next door for rental income. It has two units that both need painting. I also hope to purchase more property in the next couple of years. The tenents will not be super picky rich people, nor will they be very low end. Pretty smack dab middle, about $600 a month for a two bedroom. Here in Albany, there a lot of up and coming young professionals, who come and go with the current administration or sooner. I expext that average turnover would be arournd two years.
So, is it practicle for me to buy a sprayer, and how much do I need to spend. I've seen them from $20 to close to a thousand. I've got no problem spending the lower end, but would hesitate before spending much more.
Does it take a lot of practice? And if I am only going to do two units once every couple of years is it worth it? Any suggestions on brands or models, etc?
Regarding valet parking, I'd never let anyone park my car because I'd be too embaressed at the smell of the spoiled milk soaked car seat and my fast food wrappers on the floor. Plus I'm way too cheap to pay for it.
Gwen
I saw a house that was spray painted supposedly by a professional painter, but it was obviously a very poor job that can be seen from the street. On closer inspection, there was overspray on things that should not be painted. My personal preference is with a quality brush ($30) and paint roller.
On 12/9/2004 10:21 PM US(ET), Phisherman took fingers to keys, and typed the following:
It was probably done by one of the 'gypsy rover' groups that go house to house and offer cheap painting and driveway coatings. They use cheap materials (motor oil on driveway) and are in and out in an hour. There qouted price is often jacked up at the end of the jog. They usually target the elderly and are certainly not 'professionals'.
On the other hand, my house was spray-painted by a pro with the Ben Moore exterior paint I chose. He and his team prepped the heck out of the job (scraped a LOT), and it's still great after eight years. Four + days' prep, one day's actual paint.
So, it sounds like the problem was with the prep, not the paint.
Banty
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