Airless Paint Gun Rental Tips to Paint Two-Car Garage Interior

[roo_ster]

The recent tailgate-paint post reminded me to ask y'all about those airless paint sprayers you can rent.

I have a garage that will soon be empty and I want to use it as my learning curve.  I'll do all the usual prep, I have that down pat.  I would, however, like a few pointers to get over the newbie screw-ups.

I think it will need 2 coats of primer, probably white Kilz latex primer, given the various surfaces and some various colors already on the walls.  I want to use the same white latex semi-gloss we used in the rest of the house on the walls & ceiling after that.  (Yeah, the usual is eggshell & flat, but I want scrub-able walls & ceiling.)

My dad has used such a sprayer to get two coats of eggshell or flat on the entirety of the interior walls & ceiling of a 1200sqft house in one day (given previous prep and he didn't care about the carpet that was going to be torn out).  I'd like to get the entire garage done in one day, too.  I think latex Kilz requires 30 min between coats and the white semi-gloss latex requires 4 hours.

Also, do those polyurethane concrete sealers work well in an airless sprayer?

[Hawkmoon]

I thought Kilz was shellac. I'm pretty sure it isn't latex. If they have a latex version now, I wouldn't use it.

For the paint, semi-gloss can be rather harsh and glary. Eggshell is washable, and a lot easier to live with if you are at all sensitive to glare.

[brimic]

I thought this was going to be a thread about the Wagner Power Painter.
The best way to use one of those things is to take it out of the box, smash it into a milllion pieces, then paint with a roller- this method will save several painful steps along the way.

[Jamisjockey]

I thought this was going to be a thread about the Wagner Power Painter.
The best way to use one of those things is to take it out of the box, smash it into a milllion pieces, then paint with a roller- this method will save several painful steps along the way.

X1million seven hundred thousand seventy six.

My number one complaint about the power painters is they use way more paint than the old roller system.  Number two complaint is stopping every 5 minutes to open the thing and fill it.  Number three complaint is if you quit for the evening, you have to clean it, or the paint will dry in it and it will be useless the next day.

[Tallpine]

We used to spray clear poly on exterior doors with an airless.  This was in the shop: we laid them flat, last thing in the evening (or very early morning!) and let them dry overnight*.

But I dunno ... just for painting sheetrock you might do just as well with a roller on a long handle.  By the time you finish one coat of Kilz, you can start over again.

If I were to spray it, I would do vertical passes floor to ceiling (if I could reach?) and overlap about 50% on each pass.  That's how we used to laquer the interior doors.  I used to do maybe a thousand deep knee bends per shift 


* I worked swing shift and sometimes didn't get off until 3 or 4 am

[roo_ster]

The garage has 10-12' ceiling.

So, the rental units are crap, too?  I knew the Wagners were torture devices.

[Fly320s]

How does an airless sprayer work?  What provides the "push"?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

garage?  18 inch roller long nap for the win.  the latex kills isn't bad though i use oil outa habit most times

[never_retreat]

An airless sprayer pumps the paint to the gun at high pressure, over 1000 psi for some.
Yes you can paint very quick with them just don't stop moving before letting up on the trigger or you will have a 1 gallon run.
Me and a friend painted a 2500 sq foot house in less than a day. All one color of course. we could put it on almost as fast as his kid could open the buckets and get them mixed with a drill.

[dogmush]

My Campbell-Hausfeld airless works great. It'd definatly do a two car garage in a day.  I perfer latex (for cleanup).  If the rentals are big enough it's a great tool.

As was mentioned, vertical strokes with 50% overlap is a good technique.  Let go of the trigger while the gun is still moving.  Read the paint and use the correct tip size for the paint.  You won't get the coverage the paintmaker thinks you will.  As far as the painting itself, keep the gun perpendicular to the wall, and concentrate on smoothe even movements.  The amount of paint an airless puts out will make it obvious if you vary the gun speed or change distance from the wall. Never hold the gun still with the trigger pulled.  You'll be fine, it's not that complicated.

This is my airless I wouldn't go much smaller then a 1/2 HP motor or you're down in Wagner toy range.

How does an airless sprayer work?  What provides the "push"?

Electric motor runs what is basiclly a hydralic pump.  Instead of hydralic oil the piston pushes the paint at high pressure that is then atomized through a metered tip.  It lets you spray WAY more paint at a time (thicker coats) then siphon guns or HVLP equipment.  Also doesn't require thining like a siphon gun does.

[Tallpine]

The big airless at the woodshop had a heater and a return line from the nozzle, so that it recirculated constantly. (like a hydraulic system)

Had to run it about 15-20 minutes in the morning to get the laquer warmed up.

[Tallpine]

Oh yeah, and another advantage of an airless is that you can use the nozzle at any angle.

A cup sprayer is basically worthless unless you are shooting a vertical surface.


I was pretty good at that at one time, until I got deathly sick because the company wouldn't buy fresh charcoal filters often enough