Spray painting interiors?

Question

With any luck, we'll be closing on another rental property this month. The inside desperately needs to be repainted (no surprise), but I was thinking about spraying the interior this time rather than logging another 25 miles with my paint roller, especially since I will probably have to prime AND paint. If there's one thing I hate more than painting a wall, it's painting it twice.

I'm thinking about simply hitting all the walls with my airless sprayer, but I'm not sure if this is more trouble than it's worth. The popcorn ceiling is in decent shape and I can probably leave it alone and the carpets could probably stay after a good cleaning, so what's the best way to prep the area for spraying? Obviously I have to cover the carpets very well, but what about the popcorn ceiling? Can I cover it with a "drop" cloth? Should I simply jam a spray shield in the corner where the wall meets the ceiling and carefully cut in the edges? I'm looking to pick up a paint brush or roller as little as possible here.

I have an organic respirator and some good goggles, but is there anything else I should consider so I don't become another "Tim Allen" statistic? Perhaps a paint hood and bunny suit?

Thanks BP team!

Marc Freislinger · Answer

When I worked in apartment maintenance we sprayed every apartment. That worked out to about 3 a week. We had two-tone colors, so we had to cut in the ceilings and the baseboards. We now still usually spray the rentals that we manage.

With a good sprayer, you won't need to worry about covering the carpet, except around the edges. You can tape a 12" strip of paper around the border of the room to the floor for spraying near the bottom of the wall. Any of the "dust" in the air from spraying the walls will generally dry before hitting the ground, and can just be vacuumed up.

Using a spray guard can be an art. I never really figured it out. A guy I worked with could cut in the ceilings all around an apartment in 20 minutes. I used to roll the top 12-18 inches with a roller all the way around, and cut in the ceiling with a brush. I did the same at the baseboards, and simply used the sprayer to fill in everywhere. The trick to keeping the paint off the ceilings without a spray guard is simply to keep the sprayer head pointed perpendicular to the wall, not to tilt it up. So for me, this meant rolling down to where I could reach. If you use this method, you'll also need to roll down a little lower in the corners, since the meeting walls will force the paint up.

If you do decide to go with the spray shield, get as long of one as you can comfortably manage, and get one that is aluminum. Expect to wash it often. Push the guard into the corner, and spray from the corner down, with your spray parallel to the joint line. This will help prevent light spots between sprays.

After maybe 1 apartment, I quit using a respirator, but I can't stand them. Keeping the spray head the correct distance from the wall, and keeping some windows open will help with over spray. Be sure to do a thorough masking job before starting, all your outlets, etc. I can't see why you'd need a full body suit unless you plan to mess up pretty bad :)

Marc Freislinger · Answer

We used a Titan sprayer, which was designed to spray directly from a 5gal bucket. We always used new paint, but after replacing the entire piston assembly once (about $300), we began straining it anyway. Using a pro sprayer instead of a "handy-man" fill-up sprayer will let you keep going instead of stopping to refill, and will also spray straight paint without needing to be watered down.

The sprayer itself was in the $1000 range, but I think I've seen some at Lowes cheaper. The cheaper you get, the fewer apartments you'll be able to paint between replacing washers and seals. Make sure you get a sprayer that actually comes apart and allows you to replace them, or you'll be buying a new sprayer every 20 apartments.

I believe our sprayer came with an exterior spray head, so we had to buy an finer-spray interior spray head to help with the over spray.

Cleaning the sprayer between each use is vital. Fill one five gallon bucket up with hot water (~120) and spray it through, you can spray the paint that's in the hose back into the paint bucket. Once the water starts coming out, spray into a toilet or another bucket until you're getting pretty clean water. Then leave the water in the hose/sprayer. They make an additive to put in the water if you'll be leaving it sit for more than a day or two.

We use http://www.titantool.com/portal/us_440_impact_en_titantool,,230635.html

Mitch Kronowit · Answer

Thanks for all the help everybody. We successfully spray painted the interior of our REO a couple of weeks ago. For future reference, here is the post-mortem:

1. Since we were keeping the carpets, they had to be protected, so prior to "paint day", I masked off the carpet by running 18" masking paper along the edges and taping it to the baseboards.

2. With the carpet edges masked out to 18" inches, a drop cloth was used to cover the rest of the carpet. There was plenty of overlap, but the pressure from the airless sprayer tended to lift the drop cloth, so it should be taped down or have a helper pin it while you spray down low.

3. The walls were painted in a shiny semi-gloss which would probably make it difficult for another coat of paint to adhere properly. Plus some of the colors the previous occupants selected were, errrr, how do I put this delicately.... bright and tasteless. The paint guy recommended Bullseye primer for sticking to the old glossy paint. This stuff is almost as thick as sour cream, so turn your sprayer to max pressure. Also use a .017" nozzle is you can (I only had a .015" but it worked well).

4. Fortunately, the Bullseye primer and the popcorn ceiling were practically the same color. So instead of worrying about getting overspray on the ceiling, I just free-handed the "cutting in".

5. The primer can be top-coated in one hour, but NOT IF IT'S TOO THICK, which happened in several places. We found by knocking down the thick areas with a roller, it dried much faster.

6. It took almost 8 gallons of primer for a 1,000 sq. ft. house. The color-coat (paint) was about half of that (4 gallons) and much thinner so the pressure was reduced.

7. The color-coat was a very light tan, sandy color, so I had to protect the ceiling from overspray. I had a helper jam a paint shield into the corner where the wall met the ceiling and I cut-in the top of the wall all around the room. Basically he shifted along every couple of feet reseting the paint shield and then I would come along and hit the wall with a couple of swipes from the sprayer.

8. We didn't tail the color-coat with a roller since it was going on so well (probably because the walls were already primed). We did keep a roller handy to knock down a few drips and runs, but the walls came out great. Only after a few days did I notice a few "stripes" where the overlapping spray was less than optimum, so I touched up those areas with a roller. For a rental, I believe the paint job was more than adequate. Were we to sell the home, I would have tailed the paint with the roller just to make sure it was tip-top.

9. Do NOT underestimate the need for personal protection when spraying indoors. Although a large room may not be too bad, confined spaces like closets are basically asking to "fog" yourself in paint. Cover all your skin. No you won't be "dripping" in paint, but you will get misted. Cover your head with a hat or better yet a paint hood. Finally, protect your eyes with good googles that wrap around your temples and were a good dusk mask. No, I didn't wear my organic respirator, but I went a little better than a simple dust mask. 3M sells a grey face mask for painting. It's a little thicker than the typical dusk mask and had some layers that help filter out latex fumes. Get at least two.

I will definitely spray our next house. We got the entire interior complete in one day and that included primer and paint. Of course, I spent 30 minutes in the shower cleaning myself, but I could cut that down to 15 minutes if I cover myself better!  ;-)

Scott Hubbard · Answer

I too use a similar sprayer as Marc.  The key will be masking as the prep work can take longer than the actual spraying.  Also, if using two colors or two different paints, you have to break down the sprayer in between uses.  I can prep and paint a 1300 sq ft house with two colors in two and half days which includes trim and cutting in.  This is with a two man crew.

I was paying for a painter and the workmanship sucked, so I asked if I could work with him on my next project.  I learned his techiniques and went out and bought my own sprayer soon thereafter.  The sprayer paid for itself on its first use.  Now, when I am on a tight budget, or want a custom paint job, I do it myself and save lots of money.

Jeffrey K. · Answer

If you are going to spray the primer make sure to back roll it.  Painters are cheap.  We paint a unit with all the prep and two coats for half the price of a month's rent.  It is not worth it to me to spend all that time doing something the pros can do in an afternoon.

To spray and prep well is really an art left to the pros.  Painting is easy.  Painting well is hard.

In rentals make sure to paint the whole unit the same color (walls and ceilings).  I used Mautz Eggshell Antique White and I use Mautz Satin Snowdrop for the trim.  It really looks nice.

Rob Gillespie · Answer

Depends on the price range of the home. We have had TONS of interiors sprayed. You just need someone to back roll. Prep work is the longest part. One of the most profitable rentals I have been involved in, we sprayed EVERYTHING white! Walls, Ceiling, and trim! LOL! This house is a cash cow! You can usually hire a job like that out labor and materials on a 1200 sq ft. house for about 1500 bucks.

Marc Freislinger · Answer

Painting the walls and ceilings one color can make the room feel smaller, but it does make spraying much easier.

Chris M. · Answer

I'm still in the stage where I'm managing my properties myself as I only have 3 units now and 2 of them are around the corner from my house. My day to day is stressful so working on these places myself is almost an escape for me.I guess when I hit more units then I'll farm out the work. Still building out the rolodex on maintenance contacts.

My mom gave me the advice for the single color back when I bought my first place. It makes small units look larger. I've taken to using glidden commercial matte paint for all rooms and semi gloss white for the trim as I've seen the matte finish hide any blemishes on the walls better and the semi gloss makes the trim pop.

I haven't painted a ceiling in one of my rentals yet. Kinda dreading having to do that since my walls are a different color from the ceilings. I'll have to look into the approach that Jeff takes.

Chris M. · Answer

This is excellent information and something I have been looking at doing for my next place since it took forever to roll and cut the last one.

Can you expand a bit more on the equipment you use and if you modify the paint mixture at all before spraying?

Spray painting interiors?

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