Any painters in the house?

[boomhower]

Closing on my first house next week and am painting the whole interior. Any tips on tools or methods? Anyone use one of those Wagner power rollers? It's a ton of painting and am looking to get it done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

 

[manimal]

Congrats on the new house!

Have you ever painted before?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

If you've never painted before or are slow at it, my advice is to hire it done. I'm a good painter but am very slow and meticulous so we ended up hiring out the painting on our house. Worth every penny and they did the whole house (except a couple of rooms) in 3 days.

 

[skull]

Never used a power roller. I just use the 18in rollers. Get a good cut-in brush like this one http://www.homedepot.com/Paint-Brus...splay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051 and don't use tape. If you get a good brush you don't need tape it just slows you down and you can make it look better without it.

 

[boomhower]

Hiring it out isn't an option. House, furniture, etc. has put a killing on the bank account. This is going to be a DYI job. I have painted much but my wife has, everywhere we have lived she has painted the whole place at least twice. But I can take time off work a lot easier than her so I'll likely be doing the bulk of the work.

 

[marvdmartian]

Tried a power roller, and discovered a couple things about them.

1. The time you might save using one of them, will likely be used up in the time it takes to thoroughly clean one after you're done using it.
2. The power paint stick that I bought got HEAVY, fast! Doesn't help that the ceilings in my house, instead of being the standard 8', are about 4" higher. Doesn't sound like much, but if you're not used to holding something at the height it takes to roll a ceiling, your shoulders are going to kill you, quick!

I ended up ditching the power roller for a regular old roller and pan, and actually like the results better.....but that's me.

 

[chipy]

i tried a power spray, professional grade, and wasn't great at it.

so, switched back to traditional paint rollers... great results but it taks a looooong time.
i'm like Indy... i did great but took me a long time so i hired-out part of the painting for quicker results.

congrats man and good luck!

 

[SolMiester]

Closing on my first house next week and am painting the whole interior. Any tips on tools or methods? Anyone use one of those Wagner power rollers? It's a ton of painting and am looking to get it done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I did painting with my Dad before I got back into IT.....Painting is all about the prep mate.....I wouldnt use a wagner roller, its just not worth the mess...you have to worry about too much paint etc and stopping train tracks...

We would use an airless sprayer for ceilings, cut the trim for the walls and then roll the walls to met the cutting in for a clean finish.

Satin (or Matt) on the ceilings, hides dents, dirt etc....Most important is to try and use a uniform action when rolling...start the top into the cutted in trim, 2 rollers wide, complete to the bottom, and then to finish, 1 motion from top to bottom to remove any tracks....I would use a micro fibre roller with an acrylic (waterbased) paint...

Door trims and floor trim are the last to paint with brush using your enamel (oil or water based) contrasting colour.

 

[0roo0roo]

to do it right takes longer than you think.
if you can't handle the time. hire

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Prep is everything. Buy a large box or two of the clear plastic drop material and use it liberally and cover and tape everything. Then don't be afraid of the paint, use it liberally loading up your rollers and brushes and go, go, go.

Most rookies spend way too much time spreading the paint and worrying about getting paint on something they shouldn't or about drips and runs. (thats what tape and drop cloth is for) They end up spending 3x too long painting an area and not getting good coverage requiring too many coats.

Load up your roller and go back for more paint often and cover a 8 foot square area quickly, then step back and look for any runs and hit them again with your semi-dry roller. Soon you will learn how much paint you can apply without runs.

When using a brush for trim, have a damp rag in your non painting hand and clean up any overage quickly as you go. And again, learn to apply enough paint with the first stroke. Most people go over an area with too many strokes leaving too many brush marks. If you get some runs, hit it once with a semi dry brush and move on. NEVER try and make an area look better by putting wet paint on top of semi-dry paint, wait and sand if necessary and put on another coat.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

It's real important to keep your paint at the right consistency regardless if you are using water based latex or oil based enamel on cabnets and trim.

Pour up just as much paint as your going to use in a smaller bucket or roller tray and religiously keep your large paint cans and buckets sealed. Buy your paint in 5gal buckets when possible.

Don't be afraid to thin your paint if it gets too thick to spread smoothly. With latex just add water, and with oil based its really, really important to always have clean thinner on hand and keep your paint at the right consistency.

And of course NEVER let paint dry in your brushes or rollers. If you do might as well throw them away and buy new ones. Clean them until no visible paint comes out then clean them some more.

 

[Kelvrick]

Rollers for the power roller are expensive and proprietary. Worth if only if you're going to put in the effort to do a good cleaning on the roller. All time saved is negated if you use an 18" roller instead and you're not pushing around a heavy ass stick.

I bought one and only used it for 1 room. To me, a solid wood extension rod just felt "solid" and let me roll that fucking roller. If the house is already painted, I'd go over it with those big car wash or tile/grout sponges to wash the walls and just fucking paint over it. Screw priming. You'll likely need two coats anyway.

If you do prime, then tint your primer. Maybe you can get away with 1 coat of primer and 1 coat of paint.

A husband/wife team should be able to do the walls for 2 rooms (10x10) in a day. My wife would edge, I would roll.

Don't bother with behr/velspar at lowes or home depot. Get real paint like kelly moore, sherwin williams or benjamin moore.

Fuck mixing sticks. Spend the $5 bucks and get a mixing attachment for your drill. Just don't be a dumbass and throw paint all over your floor/walls/selves.

Get your supplies from home depot or lowes and get some lowes 10% mover coupons at your post office. Too lazy? Buy em on ebay for about a buck each.

I hate cleaning rollers after painting so I buy cheapish (not cheap) rollers and chuck em. I don't go for the wooster rollers or home depot/lowes economy brand. I just get the mid grade stuffI only need 1 roller per color anyway. Wrap in aluminum foil after the first coat, come back a few hours later, unwrap and do the second coat.

 

[weadjust]

Power rollers are a waste of time and money. I own rental property and paint often. I prefer a 5 gallon bucket with a roller screen. Make a copy of the paint code on the lid so you can match the paint if you need more or touch up later. If you buy two or more gallons of the same mixed color. Combine them in a 5 gallon bucket and mix for consistent color. Get some Lowes 10% off coupons. Create multiple email accounts at yahoo to get additional coupons. Some post offices have the coupon in the change of address packets.
Link to Lowes coupon

http://www.lowes.com/cd_Coupon+Registration_253641591_

 

[SolMiester]

I cant say enough about the RIGHT roller, even new rollers will leave fluff, EXCEPT micro fibre, my Dad swears by them!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Don't bother with behr/velspar at lowes or home depot. Get real paint like kelly moore, sherwin williams or benjamin moore.

Completely agree with this advice -- my painters used Sherwin Williams and the stuff is awesome looking and is REALLY durable.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally Posted by Kelvrick Don't bother with behr/velspar at lowes or home depot. Get real paint like kelly moore, sherwin williams or benjamin moore.

Whole-heartedly agree with this advice -- my painters used Sherwin Williams and the stuff is awesome looking and is REALLY durable.

Yep, I would add ICI Dulux to that list

 

[Shawn]

I bought a sprayer. It's great but I wasn't very good at it. Got a lot of overspray onto the ceilings.

 

[vi edit]

I bought a sprayer. It's great but I wasn't very good at it. Got a lot of overspray onto the ceilings.

Good in the construction phase and in areas where you DGAF about overspray or fallout from the sprayer. But in a finished home where you are repainting they just aren't worth the hassle.

 

[Shawn]

Good in the construction phase and in areas where you DGAF about overspray or fallout from the sprayer. But in a finished home where you are repainting they just aren't worth the hassle.

Well we redid all the flooring in the house and a had a popcorn ceiling that needed to be painted so I painted the ceiling first with the sprayer then the walls. If it wasn't for the overspray it would have been perfect. But I recommend rollers for the walls.

Also don't go cheap on the paint or rollers. If there are stains or dirt on the wall just use a primer first. I had to go over a water stain on the ceiling 6 times with cheap walmart ceiling paint. Also, I'm pretty sure those cheap rollers just soak up and waste paint instead of putting it on the wall.

 

[Kelvrick]

I bought a sprayer. It's great but I wasn't very good at it. Got a lot of overspray onto the ceilings.

I don't think sprayers are really worth it unless you're doing exterior and doing a whole lot of one color. Cleanup is also a bitch and I hate seeing wasted paint and water.

Regarding cheap rollers, just don't go really cheap where the rollers will slide all over the place. Just from my experience, I'm not going to be in the mood to clean rollers after painting all day and if I do, the roller won't be cleaned well enough. Find a nice medium grade (or splurge with a nice one) and if you do it right, you'll only need to waste 1 roller per color anyway.

My recommendations for real paint isn't exclusive, it was just a warning against big box store paint.

 

[mrblotto]

Prep is everything

This

Congrats on the new digs! :thumbsup:

 

[Zedtom]

I have a lot of respect for professional painters. When I paint I have to lay out old sheets and plastic to catch spills, use masking tape, and change into old clothes.

The pros wear white pants and shirts that are usually clean. The helper cuts in the corners and the pro rolls on the paint quickly and efficiently.
They make it look easy.

The OP should remember to take a break outside every half hour to clear the lungs. The new latex paints aren't as toxic as they used to be, but they still have fumes.

 

[brainhulk]

 

[rh71]

we paid $6k for handymen to paint the whole interior of a 2700sq ft house. Professionals wanted anywhere between $8k - $13k! Kinda ridiculous. I don't know who the people are who hire them.

If we weren't in a rush to finally move in after 3 months of construction and living at my in-laws for a year, we would've done it ourselves. Would've probably taken weeks. But I ain't paying $13k just for paint!

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Closing on my first house next week and am painting the whole interior. Any tips on tools or methods? Anyone use one of those Wagner power rollers? It's a ton of painting and am looking to get it done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Good fucking luck, buddy.