We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

Also, do I need to prime the texture? I've heard you should, but a guy
told me that the sprayed-on texture has primer built-in.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

--- Bob

Good old fashioned roller and tray. Especially NOTHING with the Wagner name
on it. Priming with drywall primer will cause you to use less paint. The
texture mud and the drywall paper don't take paint the same. It'll look
much better with a primer especially if you are using a satin or semi-gloss.


--
Steve Barker



wrote in message
ups.com...
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

Also, do I need to prime the texture? I've heard you should, but a guy
told me that the sprayed-on texture has primer built-in.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

--- Bob

On Jan 27, 12:14 am, wrote:
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

Also, do I need to prime the texture? I've heard you should, but a guy
told me that the sprayed-on texture has primer built-in.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

--- Bob

Depends Bob..

If you are painting the whole home interior the same color I would rent
a professional paint sprayer. I did this after we bought our home and
before we
moved any furniture in. It was perhaps the easiest and quickest paint
job I have ever done. I was quite satisfied with the results. However
if you are planning on painting the rooms different colors, I would say
go with a primer, tray and roller. A lot more time consuming but
better results.

wrote:
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY
person to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

Also, do I need to prime the texture? I've heard you should, but a
guy told me that the sprayed-on texture has primer built-in.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

--- Bob

I would advise against any consumer sprayers. Go with a pro level
sprayer or roller. Overall I would recommend rolling.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

wrote:

We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

Also, do I need to prime the texture? I've heard you should, but a guy
told me that the sprayed-on texture has primer built-in.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

--- Bob

New drywall needs to be primed. Look up website for the texture product
used and see what they advise. I would bet that it should be primed.
We had a "power roller" (gadget-freak hubby) and it was a piece of junk.
Doesn't add any ease to the job and makes for less control.

If there are gaps between your trim and the drywall, do caulk. Tape the
trim to keep caulk off of it, remove tape right away.

cleaning those things takes longer than painting a whole room with a regular
roller.

Here's what I did after they finished the house, I did the interior painting
with assistance from my son. I contracted the floor coverings after
painting.

Go through the entire area with a shop vac, then wet sponge/cloth remainder
on wood trim. Take interior doors off hinges, place on sawhorses and paint.
Let the doors dry outside. Left these doors off during prep, texture and
painting of walls. Caulked all trim to wall areas and set nail holes, and
joints in trim. Masked off trim, exterior doors/all hinges, windows, light
fixtures, wall outlets, bathroom and kitchen non-wall areas etc. Used the
blue tape almost exclusively All this took about 2 days. Textured all the
walls and ceilings with rented spray texture and hopper. Opened 2 exterior
doors and air dried for 2 days.

Regarding painting, there's not enough light in the rooms, you may have to
open some windows or provide artificial lighting cuz the texture covered
most of the light entry from the covered windows. I rented a commercial
sprayer and compressor. The corners of the rooms where they meet the
ceiling are toughest to get painted. Each room took about 30-45 minutes to
paint. I started pulling the tape off after about 3 hours drying time.
Primed all first, used oil based primer in bathrooms and kitchen. Used oil
based paint in bathrooms and kitchen. Brush painted all the trim with
primer and enamel. Reinstalled interior doors on the hinges last.

Most time consuming was prep followed by trim painting. Be sure the window
masking is well attached, overspray may lift and paint the glass. Avoid
shortcuts on the masking/prep, will save you alot of time afterwards.
--
Jonny
wrote in message
ups.com...
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

Also, do I need to prime the texture? I've heard you should, but a guy
told me that the sprayed-on texture has primer built-in.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

--- Bob

What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Roller is good if you're a pro and know how to do it without getting a lot
of lines.

New house is infinitely different than doing it with stuff in there. I used
a Graco XR7, and was pleased as punch. You have one person spray, and
another roll right behind them with a sheepskin roller. Have several
rollers, and change to a drier one as that one loads up. You get lots of
paint on there for a first coat, and the backrolling puts a nice stipple on
it. Once a roller gets full, just wash it with a water jet, no need to take
out all the paint to use it for backrolling. In fact, don't use one dry,
but put some amount of paint on it before you backroll, or your stipple
pattern will be noticeably uneven.

You also get overspray on EVERYTHING, so prep is vital.

Also, spray the walls first if they are going to be a different color than
the ceiling. Let the spray go up enough to get into the corners, a little
onto the ceiling. Let dry for a couple of days. Tape off the walls with
GOOD TAPE AND 18" strips of paper. Now spray the ceiling, backrolling it,
too. Pull the tape and paper with the paint wet, or you will pull off a lot
of stuff you don't want to. Do the final cut in with a one inch tapered
brush.

I know that paint sprayers aren't the most popular ways to paint, and there
are lots of nuances to them, but if you are doing NEW construction, and the
overspray won't get on furniture or appliances, it's the best way IMHO to go
and get a thick coat of paint on evenly and have it look good once it dries.

The sprayer also shines when spraying over popcorn. Mask and spray, and it
looks like new. Although, it is about as easy to just remove the popcorn,
and once you've painted the popcorn, it is a pure D bitch to get off
compared to unpainted.

No comparison outside for block walls and open areas as well.

Don't waste your money on the wanna be Wagner Power Sprayers and the like.
I got an XR7 on ebay for $325, and it has saved me that much, and more.
Plus, two guys can paint 250' of block wall before lunch. Try that with a
roller.

Just my experiences. YMMV.

Steve

It don't take a pro to roll on paint.

--
Steve Barker


"Steve B" wrote in message
...


What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Roller is good if you're a pro and know how to do it without getting a lot
of lines.

Steve

"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
It don't take a pro to roll on paint.

--
Steve Barker

No, it don't. But there are some tricks in doing it so that a month from
now, you can look at it at an angle and not see all the roller marks. It
all depends on what type of end product you are satisfied with.

Steve

Steve Barker wrote:

It don't take a pro to roll on paint.


We do a lot of our own painting on small additions and remodels but sub
it on large projects and entire houses and I would agree with Steve B.
There is a major difference noticable to an 8 year old between a wall
rolled by someone who "knows how to run a roller", and someone who just
paints a wall with a roller. Its like watching a guy who really knows
how to run a shovel. You would think any idiot can dig a ditch, but get
next to a guy who really knows how to run a shovel and he'll out dig you
two to one and he may be smaller and weaker. Ask any equipment operator
what its like having a good guy in the trench and they will tell you
there is even something to running a tool as simple as a shovel.

In our experience the two main the problems are roller marks and the
average joe is constantly trying to stretch the roller load over WAY to
large an area. This goes equally for cutting in. You often see
streaked/dry cut-ins where people try to stretch a brush load over 5'
where a typical 2 1/2" brush shouldnt go more than perhaps 12"-18" at
most. A heavily loaded roller (and I mean heavy) shouldnt cover any more
than about 5 square feet (30"x30") in our opinion. You often see people
trying to roll a 2' wide swath of an 8 foot wall with a single load. The
roller handle is flexing they are pushing so hard trying to wring all
the paint out of the roller. When we break in new guys on painting we do
a few things,
-first they look around for a roller tray and we tell them to sh*t can
the tray and use a bucket and screen. Trays are fine for a closet or
small area but they are an absolute waste of time, have to be filled
often, spill easy, are hard to move around, and make loading the roller
take longer. You need a little extra paint with a bucket and screen but
a half a gallon of paint aint squat for a nice job.
-next is not to exceed 5 sq. ft. per load. A 30" wide swath of 8' wall
should take three roller loads and perhaps a light load for laying off.
A good trick that we have found is to tell them that the rolling should
be quiet. If you hear the roller, its too dry. That seems to get them to
reload more often.
-rolling without lines is something people can usually only learn by
doing. A very soft touch, long stokes, and rolling away from the shaft
end of the frame works best for us. As was stated, there is nothing
worse than looking at an open wall in low angle low light
(morning/evening sun) and seeing those roller marks.

Some other tips we use on all our jobs are to always sand your prime
coat. This is especially true when you spray primer. Drywall is often
times hairy from sanding and still has a bit of dust on it even when you
vac. Sanding the primer with 220 (we use a Radius360 pole sande which is
invaluable) makes a world of difference.

We caulk about a 1/16" bead at all wall/trim joints and roll the paint
slightly onto the trim (ever so slightly) even with stain/urethane trim.
Another would be to untape immediately so you dont risk a ragged edge
where the paint has dried to the tape. If you do a single tape job this
can happen anyway as the prime and base coat will dry to the tape
regardless. In super primo situations we will untape after the first
finish coat, let it dry and retape just off that first coat. This gives
the best edge in a real critical/highly visible area.

Also is to ALWAYS two coat no mater what. Never listen to even the
quality mfrs who are calling some of their paints one coat. The color
depth and cleanability with a second coat is well worth the work.

Lastly is to use high quality paint. Nothing from the home center. Good
paint should be so thick your stir stick will stand up in it. Dont waste
your time saving 3 bucks a gallon at the home center.

Good Luck,
Mark

use a roller, they're about $1 for a walmart cover - which I find to
be adequate, I don't care what anyone says, I"m not going to spend $8
for a roller cover when I can use a $1 one that looks great.

I've painted over texture before, it takes a very heavy nap roller
cover. These are about $1.50 a piece at walmart, they come in three
packs. Just load that roller up with paint and roll with a little
extra pressure...it's not much different than painting a normal
wall. You may have to go back and touch a few areas with a brush,
you'll see what I mean after you start.

Don't ever use a sprayer. If you're a professional painter and are
painting an entire house one color and it has no floor covering or
trim, that's the only way I could see it being a time savings.

Here's a little tip for you though, if you're really into saving
time... have a helper. For some reason, two guys can get the job
done in a fourth of the time, from masking the flooring to clean up.
Also, if the ceiling is at all questionable, do it at the same time as
the walls because you're masking the floor anyway and you'll paint
over any splatter onto the walls right away so you don't have to worry
about them.

Good luck, If you really focus, the job won't take near as long as you
think it will.

On Jan 27, 12:14 am, wrote:
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Let me validate what some posters have said: consumer paint sprayers
do a considerably poorer job than a roller or professional sprayer. I
am very comfortable with a pro-grade sprayer, having worked for a
summer for a professional painter doing the exterior of a local school
and having painted the 1,100 sq. ft. apartment I lived in at the time
with one.

Much as it sounds more time-consuming and less fun, I would recommend
rolling on the paint. There's a reason there are vastly more rollers
in the paint store than sprayers. Get yourself a couple of good roller
cages, several high-quality roller covers with a good depth to the
knap for the textured surfaces, and have at it. You'll appreciate the
additional dollars you lay out at the beginning not only because of
the higher quality look of the job when done, but also because of how
well good roller cages and covers will last if you take care of them
when cleaning up.

Oh, by the way, in case you didn't know, if you've been using a roller
and are going to be using the same exact paint on it the next day,
wrap it in a plastic grocery bag and stick it in the 'fridge. The
paint will still be fresh as a daisy when you take it out, even two
days later. Honest to God, I have been able to avoid cleaning and
drying rollers for DAYS by doing that.

As to sprayers, it is faster to apply paint using a sprayer as long as
you do plenty of perfect preparation: covering
_every_single_square_centimeter_ you don't want to get paint on with
thick plastic and taping it securely. It will take you much longer
simply to prep a room to use a sprayer than it will to prep and paint
with a roller. And still, any good painter will tell you that you
still need to follow behind the sprayer and roller the fresh paint to
get it to bond properly to the surface. Sprayed-on alone paint will
not hold as well as rolled-on. But it is absolutely FABULOUS for
painting those damnably annoying popcorn ceilings that were so popular
in apartments in Southern California a number of years ago.

Sprayers are fun, yes, but hazardous if you've never used one before,
especially indoors. Paint gets aerosolized and will coat everything
including your hair, eyeballs, teeth, throat and lungs if you don't
have a good head cover, quality eye protection and a first-rate
respirator. Believe me, you don't want any amount of Behr Pure Premium
in your lungs or on your eyeballs or contacts. Whatever eye protection
you use will be useless when you're done...covered with paint. Oh, and
the paint comes out of the nozzle under TREMENDOUS pressure...the risk
of serious injection wounds is VERY real for an inexperienced painter,
especially in an enclosed space where the hose can get tangled and
hung up. I know from second-hand experience.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

Why would you want to, unless there's a significant gap between the
wall and the trim? For one thing, you'd have to make sure you got a
paintable caulk (a mistake I made redoing our kitchen). For another
thing, if you're that concerned about appearances, you better have an
amazingly steady hand at laying down a bead of caulk, or the
imperfections are gonna drive you batty. Trust me on that.

On Jan 27, 12:14 am, wrote:
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

I recommend using a non-powered paint stick. I have used a wagner
sprayer and hated it, regular roller and tray, and a generic paint
stick. The handle of the stick sucks up paint, and you just slide up
the handle as you go to get more paint. It takes almost no time to get
used to it, no drips or sploches, and you finish in about a quarter of
the time as a roller and tray. Because the handle is so long, you can
stand on the floor and reach the ceiling easily. The stick cleans up
just fine in the bathtub, although it does take more time than a
regular roller and tray. I was able to paint the ceiling of my
20'x25' kitchen in about an hour (including the cut-in with a brush),
and clean up took 20 minutes. As always, however, YMMV.

"Kyle" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jan 27, 12:14 am, wrote:
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Let me validate what some posters have said: consumer paint sprayers
do a considerably poorer job than a roller or professional sprayer. I
am very comfortable with a pro-grade sprayer, having worked for a
summer for a professional painter doing the exterior of a local school
and having painted the 1,100 sq. ft. apartment I lived in at the time
with one.

Much as it sounds more time-consuming and less fun, I would recommend
rolling on the paint. There's a reason there are vastly more rollers
in the paint store than sprayers. Get yourself a couple of good roller
cages, several high-quality roller covers with a good depth to the
knap for the textured surfaces, and have at it. You'll appreciate the
additional dollars you lay out at the beginning not only because of
the higher quality look of the job when done, but also because of how
well good roller cages and covers will last if you take care of them
when cleaning up.


I can second that. After spending the good part of this year painting my
house I was genuinely amazed at how long a GOOD paint roller can last when
it's properly cleaned. Same goes with the brush, a GOOD brush will last
forever and be just as pliable and uniform as the day you bought it if you
clean it well.

Oh, by the way, in case you didn't know, if you've been using a roller
and are going to be using the same exact paint on it the next day,
wrap it in a plastic grocery bag and stick it in the 'fridge. The
paint will still be fresh as a daisy when you take it out, even two
days later. Honest to God, I have been able to avoid cleaning and
drying rollers for DAYS by doing that.


I did not know this. I'll have to try it out this weekend when I finally
finish the damn ceiling. I'm assuming that this trick works with Acrylic
and Latex paint as well?

As to sprayers, it is faster to apply paint using a sprayer as long as
you do plenty of perfect preparation: covering
_every_single_square_centimeter_ you don't want to get paint on with
thick plastic and taping it securely. It will take you much longer
simply to prep a room to use a sprayer than it will to prep and paint
with a roller. And still, any good painter will tell you that you
still need to follow behind the sprayer and roller the fresh paint to
get it to bond properly to the surface. Sprayed-on alone paint will
not hold as well as rolled-on. But it is absolutely FABULOUS for
painting those damnably annoying popcorn ceilings that were so popular
in apartments in Southern California a number of years ago.

Sprayers are fun, yes, but hazardous if you've never used one before,
especially indoors. Paint gets aerosolized and will coat everything
including your hair, eyeballs, teeth, throat and lungs if you don't
have a good head cover, quality eye protection and a first-rate
respirator. Believe me, you don't want any amount of Behr Pure Premium
in your lungs or on your eyeballs or contacts. Whatever eye protection
you use will be useless when you're done...covered with paint. Oh, and
the paint comes out of the nozzle under TREMENDOUS pressure...the risk
of serious injection wounds is VERY real for an inexperienced painter,
especially in an enclosed space where the hose can get tangled and
hung up. I know from second-hand experience.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

Why would you want to, unless there's a significant gap between the
wall and the trim? For one thing, you'd have to make sure you got a
paintable caulk (a mistake I made redoing our kitchen). For another
thing, if you're that concerned about appearances, you better have an
amazingly steady hand at laying down a bead of caulk, or the
imperfections are gonna drive you batty. Trust me on that.

"Jonny" wrote in message
link.net...
Here's what I did after they finished the house, I did the interior
painting with assistance from my son. I contracted the floor coverings
after painting.

Go through the entire area with a shop vac, then wet sponge/cloth
remainder on wood trim. Take interior doors off hinges, place on
sawhorses and paint. Let the doors dry outside. Left these doors off
during prep, texture and painting of walls. Caulked all trim to wall
areas and set nail holes, and joints in trim. Masked off trim, exterior
doors/all hinges, windows, light fixtures, wall outlets, bathroom and
kitchen non-wall areas etc. Used the blue tape almost exclusively All
this took about 2 days. Textured all the walls and ceilings with rented
spray texture and hopper. Opened 2 exterior doors and air dried for 2
days.

Regarding painting, there's not enough light in the rooms, you may have to
open some windows or provide artificial lighting cuz the texture covered
most of the light entry from the covered windows. I rented a commercial
sprayer and compressor. The corners of the rooms where they meet the
ceiling are toughest to get painted. Each room took about 30-45 minutes
to paint. I started pulling the tape off after about 3 hours drying time.
Primed all first, used oil based primer in bathrooms and kitchen. Used
oil based paint in bathrooms and kitchen. Brush painted all the trim with
primer and enamel. Reinstalled interior doors on the hinges last.

Most time consuming was prep followed by trim painting. Be sure the
window masking is well attached, overspray may lift and paint the glass.
Avoid shortcuts on the masking/prep, will save you alot of time
afterwards.
--
Jonny
wrote in message
ups.com...
We just bought a new spec house, and we're painting it ourselves as
soon as the drywall is textured. I've heard a lot of bad things about
Wagner Paint Crew power sprayers. What's the best way for a DIY person
to paint the interior of a new house?

Wagner-type sprayer?
Rent a professional sprayer?
Roller?
Power roller?

Also, do I need to prime the texture? I've heard you should, but a guy
told me that the sprayed-on texture has primer built-in.

And should we caulk where our white window/door trim meets the drywall
before cutting in the color on the walls?

--- Bob



That's a pretty good plan, Bob. If for any reason the OP can't spray I'd
use a power roller. I have one that works like a caulking gun. You draw
the paint into the hollow handle using a special fitting. Advancing the
paint down (up when you're rolling) the tube to the roller, which has a
perforated interior tube to allow paint to the nap, is done by squeezing a
lever on the handle. I found it easy to use and waaay faster than the usual
roller method.