Electric paint sprayer < $100

[Kainedogg]

I am starting my garage project and plan to paint the 710 sqft space with an electric sprayer to save time. I plan to purchase either at Lowes or Homedepot since they offer a military discount. Might even do Harbor Freight if someone has a good suggestion. Since I expect my floor budget to break me, I don't want or need a costly sprayer; just one to ease the burden of this project.

 

[internetdude]

I bought the el cheapo model from a store equivalent to HF, I think it was $20 ish on sale. I tried spraying un-thinned latex which was a total fail and I chucked the messy thing in the trash. I have since bought a Power Painter Plus which sprays un-thinned latex and is a MUCH better quality unit. It's under $100 on Amazon, I paid more because I bought locally. I don't know if you are spraying latex but if you are, thinning it out is messy and a waste of time, I much prefer the unit I have now.

 

[AZ Pete]

The last time I did a spray job on a house, I rented a professional rig. Took less than a half day to paint the entire exterior. Rent eas pretty cheap.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Cheap sprayers don't do a very good job. Just rent a decent one for the job and move on. Probably cost about the same and will work much better.

 

[Kainedogg]

I would rather own one for future projects. Wagner seems pretty decent...at least in the commercials.

 

[wasfuzz]

I would stay away from the small sprayers. Rent or spend around $200 for a pro type sprayer. better job, better finish, dump all your pain into a 5 gallon bucket (thru a paint strainer $2.00 item) ask how I know to do this. Always, always use a product called Flotrol (helps the paint for spray better but will not thin the paint). Spray heavy enough for the paint to run and have someone follow you and back roll the surface!
I can paint my whole 150 yr old farmhouse (2.5. stories) and gargae in about 4 hrs. Takes longer to tape off windows, etc and clean up then to paint.

 

[swissguy]

I started to spray my Garage with one of these cheap ones. No good.
Rented a "Airless" system and did the job real fast!

 

[retfr8flyr]

To me the big problem with spraying is doing inside work, by the time you mask everything, you could have half the job already done with a roller and you still have to back roll everything, you can't just spray it. Outdoors I would choose spraying over rolling but indoors I just don't see it as better. I did the inside of my 40x22 garage last summer and I looked into renting an airless setup but I decided by the time I masked everything off, sprayed a little and then back rolled the walls, when you are by yourself you can't spray very far without stopping to back roll or the paint will dry on you. Then I would have to clean up the floor and everything else, it was just easier to do it with an 18 inch roller. It also cost me a lot less, no cost for the sprayer and you use a lot of extra paint with a sprayer.

 

[Zeke]

To me the big problem with spraying is doing inside work, by the time you mask everything, you could have half the job already done with a roller and you still have to back roll everything, you can't just spray it. Outdoors I would choose spraying over rolling but indoors I just don't see it as better. I did the inside of my 40x22 garage last summer and I looked into renting an airless setup but I decided by the time I masked everything off, sprayed a little and then back rolled the walls, when you are by yourself you can't spray very far without stopping to back roll or the paint will dry on you. Then I would have to clean up the floor and everything else, it was just easier to do it with an 18 inch roller. It also cost me a lot less, no cost for the sprayer and you use a lot of extra paint with a sprayer.

I roll almost everything except ceilings and rough textures. It takes me a combined 45 minutes to set up my Graco airless and clean it out. I'm pretty far down the line in 45 minutes with a roller. Not even counting masking, etc.

 

[67carl]

You could buy this airless sprayer from Harbor Freight: with 20% off coupon it would be about $180. It's got great reviews - read them for suggestions, helpful hints, etc... Some users say it is a very good copy of a high end sprayer and works very well. Once you're done with it you could resell it for $100 so your end cost would meet your budget.

http://t.harborfreight.com/58-horsepower-airless-paint-sprayer-kit-60600.html

I had a Wagner from HD and it was ****. Loud, leaked, dripped paint everywhere, pain to clean. That was a few years ago so maybe they fixed it.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

You could buy this airless sprayer from Harbor Freight: with 20% off coupon it would be about $180. It's got great reviews - read them for suggestions, helpful hints, etc... Some users say it is a very good copy of a high end sprayer and works very well. Once you're done with it you could resell it for $100 so your end cost would meet your budget.

http://t.harborfreight.com/58-horsepower-airless-paint-sprayer-kit-60600.html

I had a Wagner from HD and it was ****. Loud, leaked, dripped paint everywhere, pain to clean. That was a few years ago so maybe they fixed it.

Why not use a 25% off coupon and get it for $150?

 

[DCarr]

i bought mine from HD 3 yrs. ago, it works great. Its a Wagner and I dont recall the exact price but was under 150$. I sprayed the inside of my 40x30x13 shop, 96' section of wood fence w/ Thompson Water Seal. No regrets, it works excellent.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Skip the sprayer (especially the Wagner). Get a paint stick style roller, the kind where you **** paint in to the handle. Cheap, easy to use, easy to clean and saves a lot of time when compared to a traditional roller and pan.

 

[Wuaname]

I don't end an electric paint sprayer right now but sounds like a cool tool to have lol. How are these sprayer for inside the house ? Is there over spray to deal with? I'm thinking when the ole lady wants to reprint a room it would be easier with this.

 

[James_B]

At the start of the renovation process of our house, we bought a cheap HVLP sprayer rig. What we found was that the paint needed to be thinned so much to be compatible with the sprayer (you check the viscosity by timing the draining of the paint through a hole in the bottom of a measuring cup) and it needed so many coats of the thinned paint to get decent coverage, that using a traditional brush/roller combination would have been quicker.

We gave up on the HVLP system and bought a Titan XT-250 airless system. It was a far better system.

 

[retfr8flyr]

If you're going to spray latex, then airless is the only way to go. HVLP works great for auto and woodworking finishes but not for painting walls with latex paint. The big problem with airless is all the overspray and bounce back. The pros will use it on the inside in new construction because they don't have to worry about overspray and they always paint before the floors go in, so they don't have that worry either. For inside work in a finished house, I just don't see using an airless system.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have a Wagner power painter that I used to stain the exterior of my garage, which has cedar shingle siding. For that purpose it worked pretty well - it got a lot of stain on the shingles quickly, and then I brushed it out. On the other hand, I don't think they would work very well for interior walls. Staining or painting rough wood (like fences) or shingles is where they excel.

 

[bleacht]

I used the following paint gun to spray my deck and it worked great. I didn't need to thin the stain and saved me a ton of time.

http://t.harborfreight.com/high-volume-low-pressure-spray-gun-kit-44677.html

 

[James_B]

I used the following paint gun to spray my deck and it worked great. I didn't need to thin the stain and saved me a ton of time.

http://t.harborfreight.com/high-volume-low-pressure-spray-gun-kit-44677.html

That's identical to the one we used. It'll probably work well for spraying something thin like a stain. Unfortunately the paint we were trying to spray was a lot thicker and needed lots of thinning.

 

[LeonardY]

I bought a reconditioned Wagner Procoat 0515034. I only paid $99 for it. I sprayed my exterior of my house and done a few rooms. It works great. I have to thin the paint slightly. My original thought was after I was done, I would sell it. But I found it so useful that I kept it.

My dad had several of the Wagner power painters. They worked but I spent a lot of time cleaning nozzles during the paint process. I was amazed on how the nozzles would wear out. The power rollers work well especially if you have a 7'2" brother in law. We painted a whole 1 story in 4 hours. I just followed him with the five gallon bucket of paint. It's amazing how fast you can be when you don't have to reload the roller.

 

[Kainedogg]

I am more confused than anything now...lol. HPLV, Airless, brushes that handles twist and 18" rollers. I am painting the interior of the car garage 3 colors. (2 with a stripe) and it has rather high ceilings. Maybe the 18" roller in conjunction with a few smaller brushes will make painting this room tolerable.

 

[Just Primer]

I am more confused than anything now...lol. HPLV, Airless, brushes that handles twist and 18" rollers. I am painting the interior of the car garage 3 colors. (2 with a stripe) and it has rather high ceilings. Maybe the 18" roller in conjunction with a few smaller brushes will make painting this room tolerable.

That's where I come in. I am a Paint Contractor. It's just another day at the office to me. I own all the equipment and I have done it for 20 years.

I won't lie though I am not cheap. However sometimes piece of mind and a quality job is worth the cost.

Back to the other side. A good do it yourself Unit would be the entry level Graco at Lowes for 350, or possible a Titan if they have one of equal value. I have had issues with just about everything with an electric motor from Harbor frieght. I do purchase Air tools and cut off disks from them.

 

[nehog]

... I plan to purchase either at Lowes or Homedepot since they offer a military discount...

If you are veteran, be aware that HD is spotty on granting the discount. Lowes is much better.

That said, I'd consider renting over buying.

 

[flyng_fool]

Buy a used pro style airless off of craigslist for cheap, and then get this attachment, it's the best of both worlds!

http://t.homedepot.com/p/Graco-Pressure-Roller-Kit-244512/100163091