[Chappers]

Hello chaps, a U.K painter here,

I wonder if I can pick some brains here regarding spraying to a finish internals.

I work on new build sites. In the U.K spraying isn't really used a great deal. There are a few companies that do spray to a finish, but, for the life of me, I just can't figure out how they can do it without having to mask/cover and protect their finishes.

Presently, I spray mistcoats with my airless, but as time goes by I can foresee that spraying to a finish on commercial sites is going to be how things move along. Obviously time is money on new builds and laying down tape and plastic just isn't going to happen as the whole thing would be pointless. I've sprayed units to a finish before but I've found that overspray is a nightmare and end up having to go back over walls again after spraying the door frames and skirting (trim). I've tried using a shield, but man oh man, in some of the units we work in its a real headache, though I should add: I've never tried using a fine tip, are they more controllable/less overspray?

I've thought about different ways of tackling door frames (door trim) and something that I thought that might save using a shield would be to cut two pieces of rigid plastic template that go around the outside of the frame as you would when masking, and then tack the plastic to the wall and reuse on the remaining door frames. I guess something similar could be adopted for skirting's (floor trim) too?

Thoughts?

 

[Ohio painter]

Hello mate, I moved from UK to USA over 20 years ago now, happy to try and help out someone from home.

Generally speaking I don't do a lot of interior spraying on new construction.

Here is what I think may help, what stage of building construction are you spraying? usually paint on the sub flooring isn't an issue for it needing covered.

There shouldn't be any trim, skirting, door / window casing installed, or even doors, usually all that gets installed after painting, even if it has to be painted.

I think the airless is too much sprayer for spraying door frames, an hvlp would reduce the overspray dramatically, then mask off the door jamb / trim with a 12" (25mm) wide masking paper that comes with a tacky edge, once you get the hang of it you can mask off quickly. Also look out for the 3M plastic / tape dispensers (3M 3000) they make quick work of masking once you get use to them.

I find spray shields hard to use efficiently.

Personally I think an experienced crew who can cut and roll can't be beat, sure others would disagree.
Hope something here helps you out.
What part of UK are you from? Life long Chelsea fan here, you may have noticed my avatar. Cheers.

 

[ToolNut]

Hello mate, I moved from UK to USA over 20 years ago now, happy to try and help out someone from home.

Generally speaking I don't do a lot of interior spraying on new construction.

Here is what I think may help, what stage of building construction are you spraying? usually paint on the sub flooring isn't an issue for it needing covered.

There shouldn't be any trim, skirting, door / window casing installed, or even doors, usually all that gets installed after painting, even if it has to be painted.

I think the airless is too much sprayer for spraying door frames, an hvlp would reduce the overspray dramatically, then mask off the door jamb / trim with a 12" (25mm) wide masking paper that comes with a tacky edge, once you get the hang of it you can mask off quickly. Also look out for the 3M plastic / tape dispensers (3M 3000) they make quick work of masking once you get use to them.

I find spray shields hard to use efficiently.

Personally I think an experienced crew who can cut and roll can't be beat, sure others would disagree.
Hope something here helps you out.
What part of UK are you from? Life long Chelsea fan here, you may have noticed my avatar. Cheers.

I disagree with this statement an airless with the correct tip such as a 210FF use the 3M hand masker and 9" paper to mask of the frame and casing is the right tool. I have shot both SW and BM with HVLP and unless you have an expensive 4 or 5 stage unit you have to thin the paint so much it affects the leveling qualities of the paint and also to thin this much makes the paint look streaked. With the small tip on the airless any overspray will be minimal. The paints I was referring to was pro classic and advance both semi and gloss.

 

[Sir Mixalot]

Yep, I use low pressure and a .211 tip with great success on casing and baseboards. :thumbup:

 

[tjbnwi]

I just finished a large family room in an occupied home. The ceiling vaulted from 11' to 22', the room is 20' x 16'. I used my Graco, but did not spray it. I used the pressure roller attachment with 8' of heavy duty extension tubes. Set up planks and bakers to bump me up a few feet as I moved to the high point of the ceiling.

It worked really well. I rolled all of the walls with the pressure roller also.

Biggest complaint I have is Graco does not clear anodize the tubes, as they do the gun. My hands were black by the end of the rolling process.

Saved me about 8 hours time (my best guess). I'm ordering the inline valve, and the adjustable roller tube.

Trim I shoot with my Fuji Q4 T-70 gun connected to a pressure pot. I have gone the airless route with the FF tips, I like the HVLP better for fine finishes.

Tom

 

[ToolNut]

I just finished a large family room in an occupied home. The ceiling vaulted from 11' to 22', the room is 20' x 16'. I used my Graco, but did not spray it. I used the pressure roller attachment with 8' of heavy duty extension tubes. Set up planks and bakers to bump me up a few feet as I moved to the high point of the ceiling.

It worked really well. I rolled all of the walls with the pressure roller also.

Biggest complaint I have is Graco does not clear anodize the tubes, as they do the gun. My hands were black by the end of the rolling process.

Saved me about 8 hours time (my best guess). I'm ordering the inline valve, and the adjustable roller tube.

Trim I shoot with my Fuji Q4 T-70 gun connected to a pressure pot. I have gone the airless route with the FF tips, I like the HVLP better for fine finishes.

Tom

I may be wrong (again) but isn't that a 5 stage.

 

[Rustbucket]

I may be wrong (again) but isn't that a 5 stage.

The Fuji Q4 is a 4 stage. Hence the 4 in Q4. Fuji doesn't make a 5 stage at the present.

 

[tjbnwi]

I may be wrong (again) but isn't that a 5 stage.

As rust pointed out, it is a 4 stage.

What makes this work without thinning the paint is the pressure pot. Instead of relying on the turbine to pressurize the cup, I use a Jc-10 hooked to the 2.5 gallon pot and adjust the pressure accordingly.

The turbine supplies the air cap to atomize the fluid.

Tom

 

[Chappers]

Hello mate, I moved from UK to USA over 20 years ago now, happy to try and help out someone from home.

Generally speaking I don't do a lot of interior spraying on new construction.

Here is what I think may help, what stage of building construction are you spraying? usually paint on the sub flooring isn't an issue for it needing covered.

There shouldn't be any trim, skirting, door / window casing installed, or even doors, usually all that gets installed after painting, even if it has to be painted.

I think the airless is too much sprayer for spraying door frames, an hvlp would reduce the overspray dramatically, then mask off the door jamb / trim with a 12" (25mm) wide masking paper that comes with a tacky edge, once you get the hang of it you can mask off quickly. Also look out for the 3M plastic / tape dispensers (3M 3000) they make quick work of masking once you get use to them.

I find spray shields hard to use efficiently.

Personally I think an experienced crew who can cut and roll can't be beat, sure others would disagree.
Hope something here helps you out.
What part of UK are you from? Life long Chelsea fan here, you may have noticed my avatar. Cheers.

Ello mate :thumbsup:

I have considered HVLP, but from what I've seen it's slow, slow, slow and would be just as quick with a brush, same has to be said for masking. I have a 3M tape gun, but I'd rather use that as a last resort as buying tape and paper/plastic is not just expensive but also very time consuming which defeats the object from a new build perspective.

If you take a 1 bed flat for instance: with brush and roller they can be done in a day, if you faffed about taping everything up, I'd say it wouldn't be any faster with taping and spraying, possibly longer?

I do believe that making a template up of two pieces of identical thin plastic that would surround a door frame [door trim] lightly taped in an arbitrary fashion would work; it would be very similar to shield in effect - the latter I too find a right pain to use.

Like I said in my opening post: at the moment I'm just mistcoating with my spray -- I'm waiting for a new Graco 1095 Platinum to turn up, my Graco 495 just isn't up to the job and struggles with a 1219 tip -- but I can see a time in the not too distant future where sites are going to demand a spray finish. There are companies that spray new builds in my area and I've spoken to the guys working for these companies who tell me they don't use *any* brushes at all. I've tried on a few occasions as an experiment to spray units to a finish but found that overspray was a nightmare, admittedly, I didn't use any fine finish tips.

I'm going to grab myself an assortment of fine finish tips and see how that works out and see if overspray I'd dramatically reduced.

I'm a Spurs fan... Shame Chelsea lost out on a Champions League final bro.

 

[ToolNut]

Tips and tip size is the secret to it, I use a 210FF for say base board and trim this works well but is too small for say doors. A 210FF is a 4" fan with 50% overlap would be like using a 2" brush so for doors I move up to a 310FF or even a 410 Plus to mask with these small tips there is very little overspray, so instead of using the expensive plastic use paper, I usually use the brown 9". Another advantage of the paper is it's heavier so there is less danger of it blowing up into your painted trim. And to keep cost down use the beige tape 3M 2020. It runs a couple bucks a roll. You just can't leave it on, but you don't need too. No need for the $9 a roll blue or Frog tape except in special circumstances.

 

[tjbnwi]

I've used spray shields with great success around trim and at ceiling intersections. Takes some practice if you do not have a helper.

Tom

 

[Chappers]

I've used spray shields with great success around trim and at ceiling intersections. Takes some practice if you do not have a helper.

Tom

I personally find them a complete waste of time on your own to be honest.

Each to their own and all that.

 

[tjbnwi]

I personally find them a complete waste of time on your own to be honest.

Each to their own and all that.

Which one do you have? I've had a few that were a pain to use by myself. The one I have no I purchased at Home Depot. Best one I've ever used.

Tom

 

[PaintingPros]

If you do try to spray the finish just make sure the air unit isn't running because you would hate to pay for a new a/c unit or heating unit because you are trying to spray the finish coat. On commercial jobs, it's a lot easier to cut and roll the finish coat.

 

[Chappers]

Which one do you have? I've had a few that were a pain to use by myself. The one I have no I purchased at Home Depot. Best one I've ever used.

Tom

Hi Tom,

I'm not sure what make it is. Cost me a few quid...£50 from one of the decorator centres here. We don't have a Home Depot over here. My one is about 4 foot long and made of aluminium; it's pretty heavy.

The best design I've seen are the ones that you can slide card into. I thought thin Perspex would be a good idea if I could track one of them down.