Hey, guys and gals...

I'm in the process of painting my father-in-law's house and I need some information. I'm considering a paint sprayer such as the Wagner unit and I've got a few questions.

First, does it work well? I'm used to painting cars and there are so many different spray guns that spray very differently. Will these work well enough without having to respray several times?

Second, will it save cost me extra in paint? Will I use a lot more paint or will it use roughly the same amount of paint as brushing? I'm looking to save time, of course, but I also don't want to commit financial suicide.

Third, if these are decent type units, can anyone recommend one? we've all heard of the Wagner Power Sprayer but I've also seen the Black and Decker units at our local Ace Hardware. Is there a preferred unit?

I'd rather reside the house but we're trying to convince my father-in-law to move in with us and sell the house. We're spending the least amount of money we can and still make the place shine. The siding is cedar and in very good shape so new paint on it won't be covering a crappy surface.

Thanks for any help.

Mark the paint guy ( house this tme )

I don't know the answer to your question...

But I thought the thread title was "Holy saint prayer... is it worth the cost?"
And I was thinking... what are you paying?
Lol.

Sorry. Carry on.

quote Originally posted by theBDub: "Holy saint prayer... is it worth the cost?" Sorry. Carry on.

aaaahhhhh.......NOPE.

Why not rent one?

If you're talking about the hand held units, they're not worth it, IMO.

If you're talking about the pumps that weigh 100+lbs and look like a pressure washer, I think they're worth the rental cost.

The hand held units are the ones I'm looking at. The Black and Decker units are $70-90. Not too bad if it saves me a ton of time but I also don't want to use twice as much paint to do the job. That's expensive...

quote Originally posted by ryan.hess: Why not rent one? If you're talking about the hand held units, they're not worth it, IMO. If you're talking about the pumps that weigh 100+lbs and look like a pressure washer, I think they're worth the rental cost.

I agree with ryan. The airless sprayers like professionals use at easily rented and will easily pay for themselves in making up lost time. In addition the Wagner is messy and time consuming.

If you can paint the whole house without stopping it's a time saver. The time it takes to clean the sprayer between uses is a killer.

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Ancient secret......

The Wagner handheld self containe (no external paint pot) units are a pita on a big job--ok on little projects--as long as you meticulously clean them each and every time.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: The Wagner handheld self containe (no external paint pot) units are a pita on a big job--ok on little projects--as long as you meticulously clean them each and every time.

I have one of them, and it was more trouble than it was worth due to over spray. Tried it in a bedroom and there was more on me than the walls

quote Originally posted by Firefox: The hand held units are the ones I'm looking at. The Black and Decker units are $70-90. Not too bad if it saves me a ton of time but I also don't want to use twice as much paint to do the job. That's expensive...

NO!

We had one at Mom's that she got to paint the house, that thing sucked.

If you are going to spend that much, just go rent a real sprayer, worth their weight in gold.

Brad

quote Originally posted by twofatguys: If you are going to spend that much, just go rent a real sprayer, worth their weight in gold. Brad

and they weigh a lot

I have an airless sprayer that I use for ceilings mostly. Paid for itself ages ago. Usually you can count on a ceiling to take 4-6 hours to get a good dead flat paint job. I do condos...houses would be more.

With an airless? 30 minutes...dead flat, perfect painting.

Add another 30 minutes for cleaning it, and another 20 for prep on top of what you would usually have to do and you are still way ahead.

I had one job that was just ceilings. He had already painted the walls. It was a 4 bedroom house. I went in on day one, and taped off the walls and hung plastic. Day 2 I sprayed all the celings in about 4 hours. Then I took the afternoon and painted out the living room. He came home-I said done, he said perfect and I made $1500.

You do use more paint. Not a huge amount more, and realistically if you are getting a better job for it, its worth it.

I bought a crappy one from home depot for $600.

The only thing a wagner is going to be any good for would be doors. Even then, it would be a pain.

Ones like the Wagoner save you time, but use a lot more material. Dont use it on a windy day or you paint everything in the neighborhood, lol. I dont know what the house siding is, but maybe a power roller would work for you It will also use more material than old way.

watch menards, they have a wagner unit that is more industrial, i borrowed it from a friend to do my garage (inside) and it worked well, clean up was kinda time consuming, but in the end it was still faster and easier than brush/roller
but menards runs good sales on them often, we almost bought one until i found out a friend had one, i could use

we have cedar siding, that is stain on it, and i dont think they would work well for me, but if i had paint on my house i would most def. buy one.

i just looked at their ad and menards has one for $139 that has wheels on it, i think it was a step above this one around $200

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quote Originally posted by Gridlock: I have an airless sprayer that I use for ceilings mostly. Paid for itself ages ago. Usually you can count on a ceiling to take 4-6 hours to get a good dead flat paint job. I do condos...houses would be more. With an airless? 30 minutes...dead flat, perfect painting. Add another 30 minutes for cleaning it, and another 20 for prep on top of what you would usually have to do and you are still way ahead. I had one job that was just ceilings. He had already painted the walls. It was a 4 bedroom house. I went in on day one, and taped off the walls and hung plastic. Day 2 I sprayed all the celings in about 4 hours. Then I took the afternoon and painted out the living room. He came home-I said done, he said perfect and I made $1500. You do use more paint. Not a huge amount more, and realistically if you are getting a better job for it, its worth it. I bought a crappy one from home depot for $600. The only thing a wagner is going to be any good for would be doors. Even then, it would be a pain.

Spoken/written as truth! I've used an airless several times, always rented or borrowed but, they do a fine job. Just make sure you keep that spray nozzle moving. Slow down or stop and you'll be cleaning up a mess.

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Ron

Thanks for all the help, guys. I have several family members that have surfaced to help paint and we might just sling the paint by brush. I'm going to look at all the suggestions and see where it leads me.

Thanks again.

Mark

The Handhelds require cleaning and refilling way to much for a whole house. We bought one of these http://www.acehardware.com/...6&CAWELAID=109352872
Works great, holds a whole bucket of paint and cleaning is just running some water mixed with cleaning solution. I also used it to stain my deck after paintng the house. was cheaper than renting around here as we needed if for a few weeks and the rental place wanted 30 per day.

Add me to the membership of those who had a Wagner handheld. Had mine in the early 80's.
First, the TV commercials don't tell you how LOUD they are. Without ear protection, you WILL lose your hearing, and all the neighborhood kids might too. Okay, I exaggerated, but just a little.
Second, the posts about too much trouble to clean up... definitely.