Ask the Builder: Air ensures quality paint sprayer results

DEAR TIM: I’ve got quite a bit of painting to do both inside and outside my home. I watched a neighbor use an airless paint sprayer and he made a mess of things. It seemed to spit the paint out. Professionals use real paint sprayers with compressed air that produce excellent results. I can’t afford a pro rig and wonder if there’s an alternative. – Emily T., Rockford, Illinois

DEAR EMILY: Two years ago I tried a newer airless paint sprayer. It was a complete failure.

The mess your neighbor made may not have been entirely his fault. It could have been a poor-quality sprayer. Or perhaps he failed to lubricate the sprayer’s internal parts. I still have not figured out what went wrong in my case, but it left me with a sour taste in my mouth for the nonprofessional spray equipment.

I have used paint sprayers for years, and the ones that incorporate air are the best. The compressed air does a marvelous job of atomizing the paint instead of spitting tiny droplets of paint that can make what you’re painting look like a piece of splattered modern art.

The good news is that I just tested Wagner’s Flexio 890, a DIY spray paint tool that uses compressed air. The results were remarkable and the tool worked perfectly out of the box. The learning curve was as flat as a hill in Kansas.

To achieve professional results with a sprayer, I suggest the following tips. First, read and re-read the instruction manual that comes with whatever spray tool you end up buying. Many of them are well written and assume you’ve never sprayed before. There is a technique you need to use to get professional results, but it doesn’t take long to figure it out.

Wear the oldest clothes you own when spraying paint for any length of time, and wear a hat. Don’t wear jewelry. Realize that if you intend to spray for hours, you’ll get thousands of tiny dots of paint on you, especially if you’re painting anything over your head.

The paint I used with my new DIY spraying tool was a top-quality exterior paint. It was quite thick, and I decided to thin the first container of paint. If you decide to thin the paint, pay close attention to the thinning instructions on the paint label. My paint said I could not add more than 16 ounces of water to the gallon of paint. I decided to thin a quart of paint, so I added 4 ounces of water and stirred it well.

It’s really important to know how to adjust the volume of the paint that’s being sprayed. If you apply too much paint too fast, you’ll waste paint and you could end up with runs and sags in the paint. The tool I used had a simple adjustment knob. I’d start with the knob in a position that delivers a minimal amount of paint. You can always turn the knob if you feel too little paint is being broadcast by the nozzle.

One of the nice features of the paint sprayer is you don’t have to fret and worry about the paint skinning over and drying if you stop for a few minutes. The only paint exposed to the air is the tiny amount at the tip of the nozzle. If you’re using a water-based paint and want to break for lunch or answer a call from a friend or Mother Nature, you can just drape a wet paper towel over the tip of the nozzle to keep the paint from hardening.

Before you start to paint, practice with a large scrap piece of drywall, OSB board or a large cardboard box. Pay very close attention to the distance the tip of the nozzle is from the work surface. With most sprayers, the tip needs to be about 6 to 8 inches from the surface being sprayed. If you’re too close, you’ll end up with a mess, and if you’re too far away, the paint can drift away in the air.

When you spray outdoors, be very, very careful on windy days. Paint overspray can happen and it might be a nightmare to clean up. You may not think overspray is happening, but – believe me! – the paint can drift 10 or 20 feet away, making a huge mess. Use drop cloths to protect anything you don’t want paint to cover.