# Spray or Roll?



## mc handyman (May 17, 2009)

_Tried searching the forum but didn't find a solid answer_

I have been doing allot of work on REO properties, actually that is about all we do now. The most common work orders have been painting interior throughout including ceilings, walls, and trim that was previously painted. We have been using SW Pro-Green.

Here is my question. What is quicker, spraying or rolling? Although I have experience with spraying, mainly exteriors, I have yet to spray interiors. When taking into consideration masking, and covering/protecting all the surfaces in the home is it really worth the effort? How about the waste of material? 

For the past four months we have had on average 3 homes to paint a week and we are on a continual time crunch. what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance for keeping to the subject and you professional advice! :thumbup:


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## JHC (Jun 4, 2010)

If you can get a system in place to do them they can be much faster. Same color throughout like a builders white I would be spraying for sure.


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## RCPainting (Jan 29, 2006)

Like JHC said, systems! If you get a guy or two really proficient at masking, they can mask a whole house easily in a few hours. I sometimes cringe at the amount of waste, but when you compare the wages of a helper and sundries to a spray/roll man it works out.


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## plazaman (Apr 17, 2005)

If its 1 color on walls, 1 on trim, and 1 on ceiling, you can spray it. masking will be the key for success


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## wyly (Aug 23, 2011)

only time I found it worthwhile to spray is recoating popcorn ceilings and sometimes not even then...masking takes time and you can get a lot of painting done in the same time...just too much hassle for me hauling a spray unit around...


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

Roll it. Much less waist and risk. The first time you blow some masking off the wall you will wish you did. Plus with reo your much less likely to be robbed of your roller and brush.


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## wyly (Aug 23, 2011)

yeah that too or when your sprayer breaks down and you end up rolling anyways and later get a hefty repair bill for the sprayer...


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

I always brush and roll interior walls. You should be backrolling it anyway. If I'm doing a complete repaint with trim I mask the floor and windows, spray the lid flat white, spray the trim, roll and cut the walls. I can do 800 sq. feet (Two bed, one bath, kitchen, living room and kitchen cabinets) by myself in about 16 hours.

Never brush cabinets.


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## SeasideCA (Jan 6, 2010)

*graco lithium sprayer*

last week i used my graco lithium battery sprayer on three empty bedrooms. i sprayed the corners and then rolled out the walls. it was very easy as opposed to using my airless sprayer. the portable make very lttle overspray cause its NOT 3500 psi. It does not blow off the masking i used to protect the ceiling either which i cut in by hand. it was a nice combination of spray and hand rolling.

just my 2 cents


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## Frankawitz (Jun 17, 2006)

Seaside that's a Good idea go in spray all the corner then come back and roll it out good idea, I would set up a guy to spray corners then have two guy come behind him and roll the ceilings and walls, man you could rock out a house in no time. Damn I wish I had a job.


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## mc handyman (May 17, 2009)

JHC said:


> If you can get a system in place to do them they can be much faster. Same color throughout like a builders white I would be spraying for sure.


Ceilings white, walls off white...nothing inside the homes and carpeting is always replaced. The general consensus sounds like spray away!:thumbup:

Just out of curiosity, what is the waste/over-spray ratio? Say we usually apply 7.5 gallons with rolling how much extra paint should we be figuring in?


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## mc handyman (May 17, 2009)

SeasideCA said:


> last week i used my graco lithium battery sprayer on three empty bedrooms. i sprayed the corners and then rolled out the walls. it was very easy as opposed to using my airless sprayer. the portable make very lttle overspray cause its NOT 3500 psi. It does not blow off the masking i used to protect the ceiling either which i cut in by hand. it was a nice combination of spray and hand rolling.
> 
> just my 2 cents


That sounds like one hell of a system you got going! I was looking at those when they first came out with them but they were three times as much as a standup airless. Worth the price? What kind of coverage areas can you pull out of that thing?


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## mc handyman (May 17, 2009)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> Roll it. Much less waist and risk. The first time you blow some masking off the wall you will wish you did. Plus with reo your much less likely to be robbed of your roller and brush.


We don't even leave a screw driver or brush at these homes when we are not onsite. To many first hand experiences with the hood rats targeting out jobs. We even started parking several homes down the rad after unloading material/equipment in the morning to reduce the risk of being targeted.

The worse thing that could happen this way is if the come and snatch all of our poly... which now that I am thinking about it would really  suck!!!


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## mc handyman (May 17, 2009)

wyly said:


> only time I found it worthwhile to spray is recoating popcorn ceilings and sometimes not even then...masking takes time and you can get a lot of painting done in the same time...just too much hassle for me hauling a spray unit around...


That actually brings up another motivation for us to do straight spraying... seems like no matter what we do there is always some popcorn being damaged and pealed off.


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

spraying is always faster and uses less product... after prep time and product you will still save money.

spray and backroll for the best of both worlds! the roller will even out and push around the paint... whe sprayer apply's it for you. it's the actual getting the paint on the wall that takes the most time, think about it!

we would backroll on new construction and appts that would probably need touch up. it's easier to blend in stipple than no stipple

just spray it!


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## mc handyman (May 17, 2009)

world llc said:


> spraying is always faster and uses less product... after prep time and product you will still save money.
> 
> spray and backroll for the best of both worlds! the roller will even out and push around the paint... whe sprayer apply's it for you. it's the actual getting the paint on the wall that takes the most time, think about it!
> 
> ...


Thinking we can have on guy spraying and the other following with the roller. Dipping in the bucket certainly does take the most time! Thanks allot for your reply. I have a strong feeling that I have wasted thoasands of dollars in the past two years by not spraying when considering man hours and jobs we had declined because we didnt have the time. 

I am going to surprise the guys this morning when I hand them some poly and tape and roll in the sprayer!


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## JHC (Jun 4, 2010)

mc handyman said:


> Ceilings white, walls off white...nothing inside the homes and carpeting is always replaced. The general consensus sounds like spray away!:thumbup:
> 
> Just out of curiosity, what is the waste/over-spray ratio? Say we usually apply 7.5 gallons with rolling how much extra paint should we be figuring in?


10-15% waste at most. Good spray technique and not having to change colors will lower that even more.


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

3m makes an E-Z masker... a masking machine. The plastic is folded up and pulls down. Comes in different length plastic

We would spend a few hours plasticing and prepping, then when it is all ready, blow through with the sprayer.

When done, 1 guy cleans the machine, and the other guy pulls the plastic and tape

If more than 1 color, work from top down. Ceilings, walls with spray shields to cut, then trim with spray shield.

There is always some touch up needed when working with more than 1 color


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## Terrorron (Nov 7, 2008)

mc handyman said:


> Thinking we can have on guy spraying and the other following with the roller. Dipping in the bucket certainly does take the most time! Thanks allot for your reply. I have a strong feeling that I have wasted thoasands of dollars in the past two years by not spraying when considering man hours and jobs we had declined because we didnt have the time.
> 
> I am going to surprise the guys this morning when I hand them some poly and tape and roll in the sprayer!


So? How'd it go?

"Shoot and scoots" were _always_ a money maker for me...


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## mc handyman (May 17, 2009)

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the input on this one... I just wish I would have thought about it much sooner.

We cut our time literally in half! The main thing that we saved time on was edging and dipping the roller in the bucket. There was a bit of a learning curve on it starting out but really got the hang of it... especially when I decided it would be wise to turn the pressure down.

Still had to do a fair amount of touch up work and cutting but overall we saved allot of time- and for me- I saved allot of money. 

I didn't get any pics of this last one but we will be hitting another one tomorrow morn and I will be sure to bring in some pics of us doing our new process.

Seriously, Guys-Thank you!


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