G3 Remodeling

Hello everyone. I am brand new to this forum and have really enjoyed the feeling of the place and would like some imput.
I am a remodeler who is about to use an airless sprayer for the first time. I used to be "Mr. I Brush and Roll Everything" but I did that to one house exterior and the time killed me. So I manned up and bought a sprayer...just an entry level sprayer from Sherwin Williams...the Pro Force 30.

Can any of you help me with any tips...backrolling ? Is is needed and what does it do? That was my biggest question. Well hell I am open to anything

Bummie

Check out this thread....... http://www.contractortalk.com/f8/backrolling-exteriors-4710/

Glad to have you aboard. This is a great site!!!!!!!

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welovepainting

We back roll wood, block, brick and sometimes stucco. Backrolling pentrates the surfaces by working the paint in. It makes for a more uniform and consitant look.
For aluminum, steel, or many other sooth surfaces spray only. My only tip would be make sure you have alot of drops for the roofs, bushes, and decks and watch the wind for overspray.

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House Painters Commercial Painting Contractors Cleveland, Ohio
http://www.welovepainting.com
http://www.cleveland-ohio-painting-contractor.com

firemike

Welcome G3,

Yes, backrolling is a must for most textured surfaces and interiors!

Do you do mostly interior or exterior?

Exterior - Most importantly - WATCH YOUR OVERSPRAY! Having to detail the neighbors Lincoln can eat up your profit quickly. You can spray at a reduced pressure when you backroll, and get a superior job. The backrolling forces the paint into the tiny cracks and crevices, and helps with adhesion. It also helps even out the paint film thickness. Basically, the sprayer is just "applying" the paint to the surface, you are actually "painting" it with the roller.

Interior - again, watch the overspray. I like to spray and backroll interiors when I can, much faster and easier. I have a Graco power roller too, not quite as fast as spraying and backrolling, but close. It is especially nice when you are working with only 1 or 2 colors and have a lot of rooms to do but can't spray.

If you plan to do a fair amount of spraying, invest in a hand masker and a couple spray sheilds, along with dropcloths, plastic, etc. When spraying walls and the situation allows, I like to use tarpaper along the bottom edge. Works great to spray up to, gives a nice clean line if it's flat, and easy to clean up.

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-Mike-

G3 Remodeling

Thanks for all the replies guys. Mike I havent done any spraying as of yet, tomorrow will be my fisrt time and that will be a newly remodeled interior. I did buy a 36in spray shield and have canvas dropcloths and plenty of plastic and have already masked everything off ( I did all the drywall and texturing ).
Now when I backroll my roller needs to be wet right? Should I just roll the roller on the wall and spray it directly with my sprayer?
I do really appreciate all the help. I have been in the homebuilding trade since I was 12 or 13 and am now 30. My dad was in commercial building and decided to get into the residential side of it and I followed along. My main trade is/was finish carpentry... I did everything from cookie cutters to custom jobs in the Dominion in San Antonio and all over the Hill Country. My Dad left to go to KC where he was diagnosed with cancer and once he knew he was going to lose his hand ( where the cancer was ) I decided to pack my business up and put it to the side and take over the remodel business that he started while he was there.
He was about as tough as tough could be. The day after his surgery he showed up on one of my jobs trying to help hang sheetrock...one handed. I sent him home right away...he was always looking to help me out.
I learned alot from him and would always call when I needed to ask a question reguarding work. He passed away last October and it never really hits me until I do need some help or advice. So now the internet and the bookstore are my main sources of information.
Sorry for getting so off topic and laying out my life story here....guess I needed to get that out there.


Thanks again

George T.

true21b

Hi George,

Just a few quick tips about spraying:

First, the object is to try to duplicate what a robotic arm would do.
That is, like an arm spraying a car or parts at the factory. This arm is calibrated to move up & down (or across) without any pivoting of the gun.
If you are spraying vertically, move up & down keeping the direction of the gun straight at the surface about 10" away (depending on pressure) and not turning your wrist. Keeping your arm straight (like a robotic). You bend your legs (if you don't want to kill your back) when you get lower, don't bend your wrist & point the gun down. When you are getting closer to like a corner of a wall you would start pivoting your arm to the left (presuming you are right handed and are spraying from left to right) so you don't launch overspray past the corner. Also, when moving up and down, to move over to the next stroke takes practice so you don't have build up where the stroke ends and the new one begins. Overlap 50% with each stroke. Hope this makes sense.........If you can picture how a robotic arm would move across a surface applying an even coat and being completley effecient in every stroke (as to not have sagging (curtains), heavy or light spots. This only occurs by an accurate movement (and angle) of the spray over the surface. If you move your wrist the spray now is hitting the surface at an inderect angle and the problems start.
Of course, this all takes much practice, but if you are patient and turn the pressure down and experiment, it is not rocket science and easily acheived by a robot.

Hope this helps

Bob

Tmrrptr

Welcome to the forum.
Internet BB forums are THE best place to get advice.

(Books are outdated info, store reps will only tell you of THEIR product, etc.)

515 reversable tip usually best place to start.
... all the advice given above should be followed...
paper masking,backroll over textured surfaces,robot-arm technique all great
r

firemike

Hey George,

Hope everything goes right tomorrow. Yes, the roller does need to be wet, just wet enough to roll out the paint, kind of like when your rolling as usual and its time to load the roller again. Once you start, you should quickly determine how much paint to apply as your backrolling. Too much and the roller will start to slide and leave a really bad finish, too little and it will feel dry. Once you learn the correct point, you can go pretty fast.

If you have a scrap piece of cardboard or plywood/wallboard, start with some practice there. You can play with the pressure to get the optimum pattern for the paint product you are using.

Good luck!

.

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-Mike-

Gordo

Watch the wind speed. Over 10 mph and its ditty dot time.

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Looks like some pros were here.

back@it

Something I have discovered with humidity and "no" wind, is that the area directly below the area being sprayed WILL get wet paint on it as the 'fog' will just settle to the ground. The humidity keeps the droplets wet enough to cause some 'mess'! So always be careful even when there is no wind...

Frankawitz

G3 Welcome. Hey when it comes to spraying are you mainly Production work, or repaints, I just posted some pictures in the Members Gallery of a exterior I just finished and we roller the whole house. but if your needing to get in and out sprayin will save you time once you get the hang of it. good luck. my old man use to tell me practice makes prefect, so practice.

G3 Remodeling

Thanks for the welcome Frankawitz. I work by myself so the faster I can get something done the better off I am. I DO try to do the best job as I can, thats why I try to ask all the questions that I possibly can and of course get that advice from people that do the trade. I started off as a finish carpenter and have evolved into doing many trades because of the small market I am in. If you dont do alot of different things you wont survive here. I hate the " Jack of all trades master of none" because I take alot of pride in my work.

The house I painted just before this one was an exterior that with carpentry repairs took almost two weeks. Thats powerwashing the exterior and chimney,storm window removal, scraping, replacing broken panes and reglazing on 9 windows. and much much more. But I see where a sprayer could have chopped my time down. As for now it might take me longer than it would to brush and roll until I learn the sprayer. I welcome the challenge though....thats what gets me out of bed everyday...the challenge.

painttofish

Careful spraying oil. It travels a long way before it dries!