Zeebo

I am interested in hearing from just those painters who just decided to buy an entry (for example, Titan 440) to mid level airless sprayer and teach themselves how to use it on exterior / interior surfaces.

I know the arguement for not doing this (just buy and do) and learning from an experienced painter who has mastered the deployment of an airless. I don't want to make this post about discussing the merrits of having someone teach me...I am examining this. However, I am the type of guy who likes to do things on his own and experiment.

There has to be many painters out there that have purchased airless sprayers and knew nothing of its operation and just started to spray.

I mostly do repaints and use brush and roller....but believe there could be a more efficient way with some aspects of my painting. Lately, I have been asked to paint stucco ceilings that have never been painted or sealed. These ceilngs have sprayed on stucco and require a coat of oil paint or 2 to seal them as their initial application. So a sprayer would be helpful I think.

Can you please provide some feedback about....

1. Learning curve
2. mistakes you made
3. any suggestions or tips on operation
4. was it as easy as you thought or more difficult
5. methods / ways you used to learn the skill of self taught spraying
6. did it help you with repaints or just new construction
7. did you get an instructional video with the sprayer and / or purchase one

Thanks for the feedback

Zeebo

plazaman

airless is easy, especially is you back roll, you really cant make a mistake.
I personally, dont spray, i have guys that do, but they didnt know anything about it either. There is a small learning curve, but you will pick it up easily. Once you understand tip sizing and pressure, you will get the hang of up.

Pick up a graco or titan , line up a few sheets of drywall, board, anything, and practice.

spraying in occupied area may be hard, watch out for over spray.

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Zeebo

Thanks for the feedback and the encouragement.

Zeebo

neolitic

I practiced on a lot of large appliance boxes.

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thom

I started spraying new houses more than 20 years ago. For me it came naturally and was a pretty short learning curve. A guy I worked with just couldn't get the hang of it. He would pull the trigger before his hand was moving. Got heavy runs at the start of each pass. He just couldn't do it.

plazaman

he must have a slow reaction time . lol

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Zeebo

Thanks guys....keep it coming...good suggestions.

Zeebo

Philly Dude

Zeeboo - All I do is residential repaints. I Got a job that had a huge cathedral popcorn ceiling. As luck would have it someone was selling a used wagner paint crew on craig's list cheap. I bought it, put plastic on everything and spayed away. I paid $100 for the wagner. It paid for itself in one job. I've since used it on 2 other jobs and I'm thinking of getting a graco for a big outside job I have booked for spring.

I too was intimidated by the learning curve. But I learned on the first job. I think a stucco ceiling is a good first job for learning.

I say buy a wagner and see if you like it. If you think the set-up and cleanup and extra masking you have to do makes it worth it for the work you are doing.

paint_booger

I like your tenacity! You will do well in this business!

mattsak

I did exactly what you're trying to do. I'd had a side job painting 4 columns on a back patio. My friends brother was supposed to borrow him his sprayer, but when it was time couldn't find him, so I went to home depot and bought a $400 graco xr5. I went home read the instructions and practiced on a dog house. I did the job, the mistake I made was watering down the paint too much. I followed instructions my foreman gave me. I had to come back a second time for a second coat. I'm from Az so we use water-based here,never personally sprayed or painted w/oil based. Anyway after 2 or 3 more jobs I finally got the hang of it. I learned don't even add water depending on the paint, or add a little but thicker it is of course it will cover better or with 1 coat usually. I'd also later got a wagner paint crew new for $40 from a customer, I think they run about $200 in stores. I've had no problems w/it, used it for about 4 jobs so far. The main thing is clean your sprayer every time. I've used it on new construction just recently,repaints,commercial,even a friends chicken coupe. It wasn't hard at all really, the problems I had were minor at the beginning with watered down paint,had to carry a cloth to dab my runs a lot. The other problem I'd had was I guess I got water or paint in the on/off switch,luckily my dad found the problem real fast. I purchased another one then back in business.Another thing is very important and saves a lot of time is filter paint first so you don't have to stop and clean suction tube and filters.

Teetorbilt

The first time I rented one to paint a fish house. It was a learning experience. If you live in a windy area, roll. I got overspray on my car that was 80 ft. upwind.

With all of the taping, paper, etc. I can go faster in most cases cutting and rolling. I also dont have to worry about cleaning the neighbors windows, cars........

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regal

Just talked to a maintinance guy today who returned from work after the airless he had used for less than a week injected paint into his hand.(first person I have ever known this to happen to) He said the doctor said he came close to loosing his finger. if your hand is cut by an airless, dont treat it as a "nothing doesnt hurt" because the paint in your blood is the danger. Graco has wallet cards to have on you, in case it happens, to give to a doctor that explains how to treat the injury. Also always wear a respirator, dont say "its only latex" crystal silica a main ingrediant in latex can cause cancer when inhaled while sanding latex or putting it in a fine mist from spraying. Good luck and be safe.

KellyPainting

Ya, I taught myself...maybe thats why I can't use a shield to save my life.

DelW

Zeebo,
All good points given.I taught myself also and it does takes some time and practice(OK, lots of practice) Plazaman's point about tip size is extremly important. Use the right tip, use the lowest pressure to get the desired results and the rest is pretty much practice. When I first got my 440i I wanted to spray everything, I mean, hell I've got this cool new sprayer so I must be superpainter right? Well that wore off pretty quick and I've learned that a sprayer has its place and in most cases its quicker to brush and roll especially on repaints.

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Zeebo

Once again...thanks for all the advice, encouragement and suggestions

Zeebo