"Paul Franklin" wrote in message
.. .
There was a thread here some months back about the Graco airless
snip
Plan is to coat with Olympic Max solid deck stain. I've done some of
the cutting in, and I've realized it will take me forever using a
brush and pad or roller. For one thing, the boards are nearly 1/2
inch apart, which is far enough that the edges have to be coated or it
will look like crap, but not so far as to make them easy to stain.
Second, the wood is rough enough and dry enough that it really sucks
up the stain, and even with a good brush I get about 8" per brush
load.

So, for those of you with airless sprayer experience: Will the X5 or
X7 handle this job? I'm sure it will spray the stain; it's not that
thick, but if I spray straight down, will I be able to get at least a
light coat of stain on the sides of the planks without overspraying
the tops? Should I make a first pass down the crack with the fan
spray lined up with the crack, and then coat the tops in the normal
fashion?

Any advice on this appreciated!

Paul F.




Thanks to all for good advice (especially Robert). Went with the
Graco X5 and it worked like a champ. Not counting prep and cleanup it
only took me about 3 hours to do railing and deck, and probably half
of that was moving drop cloths around to cover the plantings. (I think
drop cloths must be like clamps...every time you think you have
enough, a project comes along that needs more)

I ended up using a 413 tip and shot straight down right along each gap
between boards. This did a decent job of getting the edges of the
boards and the overlap on the faces was just right. The 413 let me
move a little slower than the 515 and that seemed to coat the edges
better.

Huge improvement, the deck looks pretty good now.

Thanks again,

Paul F.

On Aug 14, 7:53 pm, Paul Franklin
wrote:

Thanks to all for good advice (especially Robert). Went with the
Graco X5 and it worked like a champ.

My pleasure, Paul. I like helping people that are trying to help
themselves. And like most here, I really get a kick out of it when I
hear things worked out well. Thanks for the follow up post.

(I think
drop cloths must be like clamps...every time you think you have
enough, a project comes along that needs more)

Too true. For me, I have a about 5 large drop cloths, and have
resigned myself to buying a large roll of plastic and a sleeve of tape
for most jobs.

Huge improvement, the deck looks pretty good now.

Excellent!

Now, just one more thing. Get back to the box store and by the
airless equipment they should have something like "Pump Armor" or
similar to put into the airless when not in use. Many of the
internals are stainless and made from corrosive resistant materials,
but storing your airless properly is an important part of its long
life.

The internals will corrode and oxidize inside the pump while in
storage. If I keep mine in storage for more than two weeks, I put in
a pump protector. They sell one at Home Depot by Titan, and it's
about $10.

Mix it according to instructions, suck it in until you shoot green
liquid and turn the pump off. Let the siphon tube dribble out any
liquids that are in it. I take a piece of plastic sheet or a plastic
grocery bag and wrap the end of the siphon tube to keep dirt, dust,
etc, out of it, and then tape it to hold it in place before use.

Shoot a little water through your machine when you bring it out of
storage to get the liquid clear, then you are in business with a pump
that works as good as new since it has been stored properly.

Now go paint the house!!

Robert.