Airless paint sprayers

Nutty_Death · 6 Dec 2020 at 07:02

I'm planning on renting one next week to paint 100sqm of newly plastered walls and in addition ceilings.

My reasoning is that it should be much quicker and give me a flat finish.

Has anyone used one? What's the learning curve like? is it worth watering down the paint as it goes through it quickly? (final coat) I figured I could get my technique down on the first couple of mist coats.

JRJ · 6 Dec 2020 at 12:56

Not an airless sprayer, but bought a compressor and spray gun for the exact same reason, I have 100's of sqm of fresh plaster in our refurb to do. I wanted a compressor for my garage anyway so just got it a little sooner, so far done 6 rooms 30paint/70water and 50/50 two coats of each. Getting the spray guns settings were tricky but once mastered it went on beautifully and the finish is great. The only drama now is the compressor is struggling a little as the mix is getting thicker so may leave it at that now and swap to rollers for full coats.

I'd be tempted to take every room to this point and hire an airless for the final coats but we're trying to finish off room by room and close things down.

Only real downside was masking windows, oak window boards and door linings but this is more than made up in the time saved painting, I managed to get 2 70/30 mixes on every wall and ceiling in 2 double bedrooms a large study and hall in under an hour with minimal mess.

Thebug · 6 Dec 2020 at 19:39

They are fairly easy to use, i normally get a empty container and tip half out a 10l tub then put a couple of liters of water in to each then mix them up, there’s usually a lever on the machine you need to turn to prime the machine then turn back when it stops pumping, dont have the machine turned up to high as the overspray will go everywhere.

spend the day before you get the machine masking up as it takes ages, when you are done swap the paint for water and flush the lines through until it's clear coming through the gun

Nutty_Death · 6 Dec 2020 at 21:47

Thanks for the tips. Got it booked for next week. Race to get it all done before the kitchen gets fitted.

katie279 · 7 Dec 2020 at 17:26

I use this one:https://www.spraydirect.co.uk/acata...9OcFM6tR0I0s60kkA_wFEgYJ0ZG50xyBoCWtwQAvD_BwE

Bit pricey, but brilliant - no compressors, wires etc and don't need to think paints at all. Gives an amazing finish.

Nutty_Death · 7 Dec 2020 at 19:20

katie279 said:
I use this one:https://www.spraydirect.co.uk/acata...9OcFM6tR0I0s60kkA_wFEgYJ0ZG50xyBoCWtwQAvD_BwE

Bit pricey, but brilliant - no compressors, wires etc and don't need to think paints at all. Gives an amazing finish.

Is that for painting rooms? Looks like it'll last seconds. I have a sprayer booked for Thursday.

katie279 · 7 Dec 2020 at 19:51

Yep - you can get larger pots for it, but find it more than capable. Obviously if I was spraying an entire house I'd go more industrial, but brilliant device to have around the house for quick room paints/touch ups etc and still get a totally professional finish. Did 18 doors both sides with it earlier this year.

One of the hidden benefits of this one is it offsets the 'set up' costs of a sprayer (ie they're always faster than rollers once set up, but bit of a faff) - this you just slap a battery in, chuck in your paint and away you go.

Plenty of reviews you can see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei4cePEIzl8

As I say not a panacea, but great little tool to have!