I have a treated poplar-4 board fence that I put up around part of my lot and my pole barn, although I think it looks good wood tone, but I need to get some paint on it this summer, what would be a good sprayer to paint my fence with black fence paint, anyone have any advice on a good sprayer? I have about 2000 board feet and 70+ poles to paint.
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Paint Sprayer
- Thread starter dw1
- Start date
Kaizen
Well-known member
unless you have access to a professional airless sprayer I'd just roll it on and back brush it. even with a sprayer you will have to back brush it. those wagner homeowner type things work ok but super loud and imo more of a pain then they are worth.
you won't be able to air spray with auto body type guns as its too thick, and you'd need a hell of a lot of hose
you won't be able to air spray with auto body type guns as its too thick, and you'd need a hell of a lot of hose
Garageguy65
Well-known member
Check out craigslist. Look for a airless sprayer.. Titan 440 or like a Graco tradeworks 170 or a graco x7 or x9. ( tradeworks are sold by sherwin williams as a rebrand, the x7 sold by Home Depot, is a tradeworks 170).
You can get parts cheap.. I have a x7 I got from a pawn shop with 100 ft of hose. Only thing is they run off 110v. So if you have a run from power you will need a generator.
The x7 is the style that drops into a 5 gallon bucket..
You may look at the graco x5. That is a smaller unit..
I went with a x7, as I have a house and 320 ft of fence (both sides) to spray.
My friend is a professional painter. He runs titans, said he has graco also. Both are good
You can get parts cheap.. I have a x7 I got from a pawn shop with 100 ft of hose. Only thing is they run off 110v. So if you have a run from power you will need a generator.
The x7 is the style that drops into a 5 gallon bucket..
You may look at the graco x5. That is a smaller unit..
I went with a x7, as I have a house and 320 ft of fence (both sides) to spray.
My friend is a professional painter. He runs titans, said he has graco also. Both are good
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
Many people will disagree, but assuming this is rough lumber it may be a good place for one of those cheap Wagner power painters. They're not good for a fine finish, but on something like a fence it should work fine. I used one to stain the cedar shingles on my garage; it throws a lot of product at the wood, which gets it into the grain, and then you brush it out with a brush. It goes pretty quick and the end result was good.
The other thing I'd recommend is using an opaque stain instead of paint, if you can get it in the color you want. Over time it just tends to fade away, instead of chipping or checking like paint will, so it will be easier to reapply down the road.
The other thing I'd recommend is using an opaque stain instead of paint, if you can get it in the color you want. Over time it just tends to fade away, instead of chipping or checking like paint will, so it will be easier to reapply down the road.
CGT80
Well-known member
It takes years to become very good at spraying, but if you get some tips and are careful, a fence shouldn't be too hard. Setting up the machine and cleaning it are very important and a decent amount of work. You will need to choose the right tip diameter and fan size, and the right filters. All of the machines I ran used three filters. You may have to thin the material as well, or run a decent machine and brush or back roll.
I used to spray elastomeric paint and that stuff had the consistency of pudding. Our big machines could run multiple guns and could pump that stuff, but the surface couldn't always handle a product that was atomized that coarse. We would spray it and then work it in with a roller.
Some of the fence products or stains are quite thin. If you spray a solvent based product you will need to clean the pump out with thinner. Paint thinner was something like $1.97 or $2.97 when I started in the business. Now it is $15 per gallon, and lacquer thinner is $20 per gallon. You will burn up easily a gallon or two to clean an airless, more if the hose is longer.
My little airless is a Graco 190es. It is the lightest commercial unit they had. It pumped up and down, so it could move more material than the smaller ones. The titan 440i, IIRC, is a great little machine as well. My uncle has a few of those now for his business, and one is dedicated to just clear lacquers.
If you rent a sprayer, it only has to work this time for you and the store is on the hook. If you buy used, you take the chance that it was not taken care of. Most people are bad about cleaning airless sprayers, especially pros. My uncle taught me to be very thorough. We always pulled the filters and cleaned them, and the guns and tips were always spotless. The machine will get paint on it, but you don't have to hang on to that while working.
If you don't want to do the job, get an estimate from a painter or handyman. It might be better than renting or buying an airless and learning to use it.
The big Speeflow hydraulic units are very good, but probably not what you would be looking for.
I used to spray elastomeric paint and that stuff had the consistency of pudding. Our big machines could run multiple guns and could pump that stuff, but the surface couldn't always handle a product that was atomized that coarse. We would spray it and then work it in with a roller.
Some of the fence products or stains are quite thin. If you spray a solvent based product you will need to clean the pump out with thinner. Paint thinner was something like $1.97 or $2.97 when I started in the business. Now it is $15 per gallon, and lacquer thinner is $20 per gallon. You will burn up easily a gallon or two to clean an airless, more if the hose is longer.
My little airless is a Graco 190es. It is the lightest commercial unit they had. It pumped up and down, so it could move more material than the smaller ones. The titan 440i, IIRC, is a great little machine as well. My uncle has a few of those now for his business, and one is dedicated to just clear lacquers.
If you rent a sprayer, it only has to work this time for you and the store is on the hook. If you buy used, you take the chance that it was not taken care of. Most people are bad about cleaning airless sprayers, especially pros. My uncle taught me to be very thorough. We always pulled the filters and cleaned them, and the guns and tips were always spotless. The machine will get paint on it, but you don't have to hang on to that while working.
If you don't want to do the job, get an estimate from a painter or handyman. It might be better than renting or buying an airless and learning to use it.
The big Speeflow hydraulic units are very good, but probably not what you would be looking for.