Spraying latex

[JimD]

I've used white semi-gloss latex paint on all the trim in our house. I am wrapping it up and need to paint some bi-fold doors that collectively about 6 feet wide. They are fully louvered. I've painted all the trim with a small roller and a brush. But I am dreading that approach on these doors due to the louvers.

I have a Fuji 3 stage mini mite but I need a bigger .018 needle set for latex. I have one bookmarked on Amazon but got to thinking about an airless sprayer. A cheap one (Graco) would be about twice as expensive as the needle set but should require less and possibly no thinning of the latex.

I think I should probably just buy the needle set but are there other thoughts?

 

[Phil S]

You can rent an airless sprayer at Sherwin-Williams. Or you could borrow mine but I am up in Raleigh

 

[Barry W]

I have sprayed latex with both my Graco Pro airless sprayer with little or no thinning (substantial orange-peel) and my Earlex HVLP sprayer (very smooth finish) which required tremendous thinning. I now save my HVLP sprayer for oil and other non-latex finishes.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Use an airless (I use a Graco) and add a little Flood's Floetrol.

 

[chris_goris]

I've used white semi-gloss latex paint on all the trim in our house. I am wrapping it up and need to paint some bi-fold doors that collectively about 6 feet wide. They are fully louvered. I've painted all the trim with a small roller and a brush. But I am dreading that approach on these doors due to the louvers.

I have a Fuji 3 stage mini mite but I need a bigger .018 needle set for latex. I have one bookmarked on Amazon but got to thinking about an airless sprayer. A cheap one (Graco) would be about twice as expensive as the needle set but should require less and possibly no thinning of the latex.

I think I should probably just buy the needle set but are there other thoughts?

Buy a quart of SW Pro Classic and just brush it on, I know its a little painful and time consuming, but you wont have ANY brush marks or runs from too much paint out of a sprayer, especially a latex gun. That product is truly a joy to work with and I despise painting.

 

[shawn]

I'm with Allen. Airless or conventional. That Floetrol is good stuff. I've had success with my HVLP conversion gun thinning about 20% and a few ounces of floetrol.

 

[JimD]

I like Floetrol too. I think I still have a little on-hand. Thanks for all the comments.

 

[Gofor]

I painted my shed using my neighbor's Graco airless. I used the largest tip he had (I think it was the largest that Lowes sells for that machine). The latex went on even and it made quick work out of a large job. IIRC, I did use Floetrol but did not thin the paint other than that. Good machine.

However, for a louvered door, I would use a conventional or HVLP with a large fluid orifice and a pressurized cup or remote pressure pot to have better control of the amount of paint coming out. An airless is designed for putting a large amount of paint on a large area. Basically, it is all or none with no in-between. It does not work well for detailed work like all the nooks and crannies presented by a louvered door.

If you do use airless, have a paint brush handy to level the runs and to get into the tight spots that didn't get paint. Apply it in light coats (i.e. move the gun FAST) and hit it from all directions. By the time you have hit it from the front, back, bottom, top, left and right pretty much everything will be fully covered even if it looks a little speckled at first. If you start getting too much build up, let it dry a couple hours before progressing. (no need to clean the equipment between coats, just submerge the gun in some water or alcohol to keep it from drying, especially around the tip) You most likely will have to let it dry once or twice to flip it over to get all the surfaces. Hit the tight areas first and finish with a general overall sweep. Louvers are a pain to paint, regardless of how you do it.

jmtcw

Go

PS. After finishing up and thoroughly flushing the airless spray, I would recommend the Graco Pump Armor fluid for preserving the gun during storage. It will prevent a lot of the problems associated with airless equipment that is not used daily.

 

[golfdad]

Another plug for Sherwin Williams Pro Classic. That’s all I spray

 

[mpholway]

Another plug for Sherwin Williams Pro Classic. That’s all I spray

Dirk,
Some follow-up questions: Do you cut it? If so, with what? What spray system do you use?
Thanks,
Matt

 

[mkepke]

FWIW, I'm going to try spraying Ben Moore latex with an inexpensive HVLP conversion gun with a 0.025 tip. Should require 10-20% thinning including Floetrol.

But more theory than practice as I'm still a week or two away from having a temp spray booth set up to do the actual spraying.

-Mark

 

[golfdad]

Matt I use 16oz of Proclassic mixed with 3-4 oz of water And 1 oz of Floetrol. Spray at 20-25 psi at the gun with a 1.4 nozzle. I am going to exsperiment with a 1.8 and only 2oz of water if I ever find the time:icon_thum

 

[cyclopentadiene]

After learning the Golfdad approach a couple of years ago, I have used it extensively. I refinished my kitchen and bathroom cabinets with the high Sherwin Williams water based latex that cross links (forgot the name, about $75 per gallon but very hard). I also used it to paint the small sections f siding on the outside of my home using exterior latex as well as the interior for 5 of the rooms in my home thus far. I painted the inside of the hem 15 years ago when we purchased the home and it required about 2 gallons per room with a roller. I sprayed everything using this formula and used less than 1 gallon for each room (2coats). I have an Earlex 5500.

I. have also used this formula to refinish a post modern Danish dresser for my daughter. We purchased two idential dressers at a tag sale for $60? I used the drawers in the best shape for one dresser and refinished the drawer fronts and painted the carcass. The other drawers had some veneer damage so I applied sections fm new veneer and sprayed the entire dresser. I sold the fully painted dresser n Craigslist for $100 and the lady tried to pay me more. That was my first time spraying latex and the finish was almost flawless. This was the practice before tacking my kitchen cabinets.