Which method do you think is better as far as adhesion and how long it will last?
My next door neighbor agreed to paint my house earlier this year and suggested brush painting it. Now she has all the priming done and she did that with a brush, but she called me this morning and wants to do the color by spray as time is growing short (she works at the school and they start on August 22). I think brushing would be better, but there is a house down the block that was sprayed that doesn’t look too bad, but it was only done a couple of years ago or so.
Spray. With a really, really good paint, like Behr 35-year exterior. Use a commercial sprayer that dips directly into a 5-gallon bucket.
My father and I painted his entire 1800-s.f. house in a 3-day weekend, with two coats (and primer, too, so 3 coats), including a second color for the trim. 7 years ago we did this, and the paint is still going strong.
(It really is the quality of the primer and paint that makes the difference, IMO, rather than the means of application.)
People who I trust on this topic say that house paint applied with brush and/or roller lasts longer than sprayed. Spray requires much more prep work – taping and masking any areas which will not be painted. The extra prep work makes spraying only slightly faster.
I’d be willing to concede that rolling, which would require less masking, should be at least as fast as spraying. Not sure about brushing, but I hate brushing and don’t mind rolling, so that’s certainly my own mileage.
Is there some reason using a roller is out of the question? You should use a brush for the trim, and for cutting in at the edges, and then roll all the large areas.
It’s cedar siding from the '50’s that badly needs to be replaced, but I don’t have the money. I’m hoping painting will buy me some time.
I’m not doing it, I hired my neighbor to do it as I’m not home enough to have the time and I’m afraid of heights so I’m kind of at the mercy of whichever way she chooses to do it. I think she is planning on spraying the first coat and brushing the second as she only wants to rent the sprayer for two days (at $65/day I don’t blame her).
BTW: Thanks, jasg, that’s what I kind of suspected. Also, thanks everyone for the replies.
Sorry, had to answer a phone call. Old cedar siding tends to be kind of rough, so it’s going to be hard to get into every crack, seam, and knothole with a brush. Spraying followed by brushing is a good idea. Since it’s been primed, the paint should adhere well, so the big advantage to spraying would be that it saves paint and takes less time.
I had my house painted about 13 years ago. The painter gave me a break on the price if he could spray it instead of brushing it. Being in a hurry to get it painted and protected against the weather, I agreed, plus I saved a few coins in the process. I also have a shed that I brush painted myself after the house was finished. Both the shed and the back side of the house are in direct sunlight in the afternoon.
Now, 13 years later, the back side of the house which was sprayed has faded but the shed still shows its original color. The painter had to dilute the Latex paint with a Latex thinner in order to get the paint to go through his sprayer. I believe it was the latex thinning agent that caused the paint to fade over time.
I requested some estimates last week to have my entire house “Brush” painted, the best bid was around $4K. Being an avid DIYer, I decided to “Brush” paint my entire house by myself. Painting a house is one of those projects that can be divided into several smaller jobs and there is no time constraint. The only barrier is the weather.
So far I have $350 invested; brushes, drop cloths, primer, etc. I estimated about $350 for paint which is a high estimate. So, barring any catstrophe like dropping a full can of paint on wife’s brand new Lincoln Navigator, I should have a nicely painted house, that will not fade, for $700. Wish me luck!!
