DIY WHOLE home painting

[JordonMusser]

I know, crazy question.. BUT:

I am considering painting my 3600sqft house myself. I am handy with a spray gun (at least one for painting cars). I would rent the proper equipment (as I understand it Home Depot rents decent airless sprayers)

The house is empty. the only masking would be windows, bathtub and some mixing valves and I would take down all the doors.

I also get paint for about 30-40% off (probably same as a pro painter).


Anybody that has attempted this, thoughts? I am only 10% serious, but that depends on the bids come back as!

 

[Daedalus]

If you have the time, why not? The fact the house is empty is a clincher, again if you have the time. All your time will be spent in prep/masking, and some on cleanup. The actual painting is fast with a sprayer. The fewer colors you use the better, as changing colors means flushing the machine and more masking. For that big a home, as much as you would save, I would buy a sprayer.

 

[Richard Cranium]

most of your time will be spent on prep. That is how they paint new houses...

 

[rippered]

You still must back roll or brush every coat. Look into a masking machine, completely worth the 40$ it costs. I use a masking machine for the paper only, but when I was a pro it was worth it to get the special plastic for it. A shield is also handy, but some things still need masking. Go to a real Paint Store for your paint.

 

[southalabama]

Roller.

 

[stingry]

Are the floor coverings in place or have they been pulled? This is a big item, if not, they will have to be covered and covered well. Airless sprayers produce large amounts of overspray and it gets everywhere!! You have to balance the prep time vs. the time saved with an airless. I have done both. Two people, one cutting in with a brush and the other rolling with a wide roller can paint a lot in a day. They say the pressurized rollers work well, never used one myself.

Cheers
Steve

 

[TAMPAGT07]

My house is only about 2700 sq ft and I just roll it every 7 years or so..... It goes pretty fast...In fact I just did three rooms a few months back..... It took more time to move the furniture out/in and prep, then the actual painting...

 

[Slednut]

Just rolled two coats on my new garage/living space addition with one hand. Had rotator cuff repair surgery. Doing twice as much with two hands would be a piece of cake.

 

[rsanter]

I have sprayed and I have rolled
If the house is new and incomplete ( no flooring) then spraying is fine.
Otherwise I just roll it on. I think it turns out better and I do no masking.
Get good at cutting in at the trim and ceiling and you don't have to mask and then pull the tape
It takes me less time to cut in that all the prep and pull

Do it yourself, I would

Bob

 

[gungatim]

Roller.

Ditto. not worth the wasted paint and clean up for spraying. I did my entire house (3400 sq ft.) when I built with rollers, 5 gal buckets, and the screen that fits inside. paint, primer and ceilings as well. well worth the savings over paying someone. My neighbor has a similar sized home and he bought a sprayer and did himself, sold the sprayer for almost what he paid and said next time he would roll it...

 

[Falcon67]

We did this house when we moved in 2010. Roller. Had a friend that would loan us an entire pro spray rig. After consideration of the work and mess, we went as a roller/cut in team. Hiring out with friend would have run $2 sq/ft of wall surface.

 

[JordonMusser]

No trim, and no finishings at all. so masking would be minimal.. hence I was thinking spraying. Plus the raw drywall/mud I am sure will really soak up paint. Walls are all the same color (off white) and the ceilings are white.

House is 3600sqft. What is a realistic time expectation? 2 days?

I am thinking about painting the first floor and see how that goes. If it takes too long, etc I could always hire out the second floor. Also waiting for a firm quote. If I can save $2000, I probably wont do it.. $5k? now we are talking...

 

[evildky]

I own an old Graco Nova SPX sprayer, I own a lot of rental homes. If you want to paint the whole house one color, baseboard, trim etc and there is no flooring to worry with it's great otherwise, roll it. I rarely use the sprayer just because of the mess and extra setup time and clean up time.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

The rollers that has a paint reserve in the handle work great. (I think some are marketed as a paintstick but I've used a few different ones).
I don't mask anything. I use a good brush for "cutting in" and carry a damp rag with me just in case (well OK a few oops happen every time).

 

[wnstwolf]

You are talking interior or exterior? Sorry was not sure. If the house is empty the sprayer is an alternative. I primed and did all ceiling work with a sprayer I got off the internet. If you have a lot to do and keep going, like the entire first floor, then spraying is not so evil. I had no trim or flooring or doors up and masked off all the windows. Spraying was awesome on the primer and in the common areas where we had a lot of the same top coat it was good. Totally came to a hault when you have multiple colors room to room. Just too much down time.

If your house is full of your stuff I would be fearful of where paint would end up. If all your trim is up forgtaboutit way too much prep

 

[gungatim]

No trim, and no finishings at all. so masking would be minimal.. hence I was thinking spraying. Plus the raw drywall/mud I am sure will really soak up paint. Walls are all the same color (off white) and the ceilings are white.

House is 3600sqft. What is a realistic time expectation? 2 days?

I am thinking about painting the first floor and see how that goes. If it takes too long, etc I could always hire out the second floor. Also waiting for a firm quote. If I can save $2000, I probably wont do it.. $5k? now we are talking...

That is why you prime it first. Good flat white primer (2 coats) on everything, ceilings included. then cut in (get your wife or MIL to do that), you will only need to do corners and at ceiling to wall intersection without trim. then go to town, one room at a time. I would plan a day or two on primer, let it dry a day and then a day or two for paint. When the cut in is done, start painting that room, when you're done, they will be done with the next room. just keep following them and repeat...

edit: and you won't need to paint the ceiling, bare flat white primer is all you need.

 

[Zeke]

Are the floor coverings in place or have they been pulled? This is a big item, if not, they will have to be covered and covered well. Airless sprayers produce large amounts of overspray and it gets everywhere!! You have to balance the prep time vs. the time saved with an airless. I have done both. Two people, one cutting in with a brush and the other rolling with a wide roller can paint a lot in a day. They say the pressurized rollers work well, never used one myself.

Cheers
Steve

You won't believe me and I don't care. But you are wrong about airless and overspray. Only if you let it by shooting outside corners and having part os the spray pattern completely miss the target. A 12" tip held 12" from the wall or ceiling and perfectly perpendicular will transfer 99% of the paint to the surface with only a little 'dust' falling back.

I work with one guy 40 years ago that didn't even cover the carpets in rentals. He vacuumed at the end of the day and it looked perfect. My job was to roll a foot out on each outside corner and around every door and window. He brought the spray into that margin just enough. We did drop a hardwood floor area and a wood handrail but that was only because he didn't want to wipe those down and the end of the day.

He and I wore a mask but nothing covering our hair. Neither of us had white hair at quitting time. Sure, the guy was one in a million but I can do it too now that I know how.

 

[JordonMusser]

Just FYI, 2 quotes back centered around $7100 (3600+1600 garage)

I figure $1000 in paint, so I could save $5000 leaving $1k for supplies over run, materials, etc.

Just have to decide if I can pry myself away from work long enough. Wish I could paint at night!

 

[Tone-NY]

Figure out your hourly rate and add that to the equation.

 

[Casey69]

I know, crazy question.. BUT:

I am considering painting my 3600sqft house myself. I am handy with a spray gun (at least one for painting cars). I would rent the proper equipment (as I understand it Home Depot rents decent airless sprayers)

The house is empty. the only masking would be windows, bathtub and some mixing valves and I would take down all the doors.

I also get paint for about 30-40% off (probably same as a pro painter).


Anybody that has attempted this, thoughts? I am only 10% serious, but that depends on the bids come back as!

unless you simply abhor painting or don't have the time, there's no sense in paying someone to do it. it's easy & the paint & materials are cheap. i would think $1K would easily cover both paint & materials for 3700 sq ft. don't get flat paint though - it's cheap, but can't be cleaned. get at least a satin finish & maybe do a semi-gloss for the kitchen & bathrooms, but you could get away with satin in those areas too.

as others mentioned, use a roller - it "mashes" the paint onto the wall & a sprayer will leave overspray everywhere.

 

[JordonMusser]

Well, if I take a few days off work I still get paid.. so in theory my time is free. But, obviously I dont particularly like missing work. I would start this weekend to see how far I get, but I have prior obligations.

Thanks for all the insite. My buddy offered to help (he works for himself, so taking off during the week is no big deal).

 

[ArkTinkerer]

You mention drywall and mud. If this is new construction are you going with smooth or textured (eggshell) walls? If you or someone else is going to spray texture, go ahead and spray the paint.

 

[JordonMusser]

No texture on the house walls, smooth finish. But yes.. new construction. Garage will get texture.

 

[sberry]

I have sprayed houses, as one said, its not too messy and super fast. Mask. prime wait and paint. I might consider 2 coats of white top coat anything I wanted white and roll a second top on as a color coat etc.

 

[JordonMusser]

Another option is buying some of those paintMates (basically a roller with a reservoir) and talking some friends into pitching in.

 

[48RON54]

So, let me see if I got this right..... I am in a similar boat and wife is bugging me to paint the outside of the house.... And she is pushing me to use a sprayer..... Are you guys saying that in general it would be faster for me to brush/roll it on and also are you saying that even if i do spray, I will likely have to back brush or back roll over it again anyway?

 

[Zeke]

So, let me see if I got this right..... I am in a similar boat and wife is bugging me to paint the outside of the house.... And she is pushing me to use a sprayer..... Are you guys saying that in general it would be faster for me to brush/roll it on and also are you saying that even if i do spray, I will likely have to back brush or back roll over it again anyway?

Depends on the surface. Spraying is definitely the way to go on rough surfaces and back rolling helps work it in.

@Jordan if your new house is slick wall you need to go in at night with a strong narrow beam flashlight and shine it parallel to to wall surface to look for humps and edges in the taping. That is unless it's plaster.

And you can paint at night with the right lighting. Couple of twin 500w lights on poles and you can actually see more at night than on some days. If you rent a gun, get a pole extension for it. Even just a 3 foot section is good especially for the ceilings unless you're 7 feet tall. Your arm will want to fall off after the first hour if you're not used to using a spray gun. The pole allows you to keep your arm closer to your body.

As I mentioned, do not fan the gun with your strokes and start a pattern of up and down or side to side and stick with your pattern like you were laying bricks on a wall. Overlap enough to see a good wet coat and don't make runs. Keep the gun at a right angle to the surface. Pole guns allow you to do that because you can angle the tip on the extension and paint w/o a ladder to about 9 or 10' up. After that you lose control of the gun. Get on a ladder or scaffold.

An old painter told me that if the paint is on evenly, it won't run even if a bit of a heavy coat. Surface tension will hold it unless you make a big fat pass over something already wet. Working a pattern is the key. I see so many so called painters (they want you to think they are painters because they were white pants) waving the gun around helter skelter. They look like they are tracing a maze. That is not the way to paint with a spray gun.

Before becoming a general contractor I was a union painter for 4 years and then an independent for 6 more years. I still paint — I was out painting for a customer earlier today. Good money in painting if you're good at it.

 

[JordonMusser]

Thanks for the excellent advice Zeke.

I wish they were plaster, budget than that I will be sure to check the walls for flatness, hopefully they did a decent job. I didnt go after the low bidder on drywall, but not the "commercial" guys either.

 

[fastjohnny]

Airless for primer and ceiling, then roll color on walls. I don't backroll the primer or ceiling (ceiling is stippled/stomped).

 

[rburke65]

Wow....you would not do this if it resulted in only a $2000 savings! Really!

 

[wnstwolf]

This was talked about when I was about to prime/paint my new construction. Zeke got me over the fence on going with the sprayer. He mentions that if you have experience the flooring material may not be harmed. I am so glad I had no flooring down. First time users of spray equipment should not start with a furnished house. There is a slight learning curve. By your third coat/top coat you should be real good....

BTW x10 with the 500w lights at night. Do this only if you want to see how bad your taper and sheet rock look. Those things show every flaw!

 

[GarageWarrior]

I painted a house for sale a couple months back with a brush and roller - way too much work and took too long, like 4 months working a few hours every day. Though that included other repairs and refinishing kitchen cabinets. Did outside painting with a sprayer on another house a couple years back and it went very quick - was done in a day - definitely the way to go.

Somebody earlier said that halogen lights show every flaw - that's spot-on. I was painting at night with a couple 1500Watt halogen lights and they do show every flaw, so I ended up spending a lot of time fixing up walls, and caulking windows and trim that could have been left alone.

Another thing - if you can take a week off and have it done - figure you make $5K and that's a decent pay. But if you only take a couple hours after work and have other things going on - that project can drag on for months - figure if the house rents for $2k a months and it takes you 2 moths to finish - all of the profit is now gone...

 

[JordonMusser]

Ha, yea.. I dont want to know how bad the sheet rock is! It will keep me up at night!

How did yours go Wolf? How long did it take? I have experience painting cars (not good at it, but I can do it) so I understand the basic useage of an air gun.

rburke-
I know it sounds crazy (even to me) but I gotta balance my schedule. A typical day for me is up at 6:30 and not 'done' with the day until 8;30 or 9pm. So anytime spent doing other things takes away from other areas of my work life. If I could knock it out in a day and save $2k, it would be a no brainer. But if it takes myself plus 2 friends a week to do, and it takes away from my focus from my day job.. it may not be worth it.

I could have framed the house, drywalled, etc.. but I would also lose my job

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I've sprayed a whole house inside several times with my little $350 Graco from Home Depot and it worked fine. I'm with Zeke, it CAN be done very neatly and I've gotten better the more times I've done it.

 

[Fishplate]

I have a 3000sf house with popcorn ceilings. Tried the roller - first stroke took the popcorn off, but not completely, just enough to screw it up. I had an Graco sprayer, so we spent a day and a half masking everything in the house, then sprayed every ceiling in about two hours.

No way I'd roll an empty house.

 

[eastbaysubaru]

I rolled my entire 2,400 SF house before we moved in. Then I had the baseboards/trim installed and masked/sprayed those. The trim and baseboards look so much better sprayed as there's no brushstrokes. That's what I would recommend but it does take a lot of masking. I would also recommend setting aside at least four days for that size of a house. You want to make sure you're not rushed.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

-Brian

 

[waggie]

Get good at cutting in at the trim and ceiling and you don't have to mask and then pull the tape
It takes me less time to cut in that all the prep and pull

this is the key . I've painted every house (interior) i've lived in. At first I masked everything, but after being unsatisfied with the result I took the time to learn proper cutting technique. Takes a while to get good, but now i save so much time and money on masking tape.

 

[JordonMusser]

waggie- I learned the trick if painting the "other" color along a tape line first, to seal the tape edge when doing stripes and such. I am definitely not good enough to cut in with out tape fortunately, the only cutting I will have to do is the ceiling/wall interface.

Brian- That is what I was thinking.. 4x 10hr days. I figure I can get out of work at noon and spray till 11pm or so. That is unless the neighbors call the po po for noise Wish I could start this weekend!

 

[JVB]

I just painted our whole entire house. Ceilings and walls in a 3br 2 bath plus the garage. Cost me 250$ (I had all rollers brushes etc) and 2 days by myself. Call some handy friends and get to work. Paint is cheap and you will save a good bit of money.

 

[Zeke]

Calling friends to paint is one of the worst things I can think of knowing how most people feel about painting and how they go about it. Like everything else, there are methods to facilitate the job. For instance, when readying paint for spray it has to be strained and thinned regardless of what the can says. Synthetic roller covers have less backspray than lambswool. Many brushes won't last a day w/o going limp and making the work harder. Much smarter to have more than one and throw the one you're using in the rinse sink when it gets that way and pick up a fresh one. Use the biggest brush that will accomplish the work.

There's a lot to painting. Funny, I've never met anyone that wasn't a 'painter'. Either they can and will do what they know to do or they've BTDT and won't do it again but they'll be glad to tell you how to do it.

It's the biggest ******** trade of all.