DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Which power tool painting several apartments

4K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  jsheridan 
#1 ·
Hi,

I own a couple of apartment buildings and I need to repaint (white on white) apartments all the time. I either hire someone or just do it myself. I thought that it might be a good investment for me to buy some kind of power tool to make painting an entire apartment much faster and easier. Any recommendations on what I can get to speed things up?

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
By the time you mask off windows and doors, mask off trim, set everything up, get the sprayer primed and ready to go, add in clean-up time, well, you would have the apartments done by simply rolling and brushing. Sprayers provide very little "magic" for a couple of apts. I've done apts. for 35 years the old-fashioned way, and, believe me it CAN be much faster just brushing and rolling.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ltd
#4 ·
Hi,

I own a couple of apartment buildings and I need to repaint (white on white) apartments all the time. I either hire someone or just do it myself. I thought that it might be a good investment for me to buy some kind of power tool to make painting an entire apartment much faster and easier. Any recommendations on what I can get to speed things up?

Thanks!
Hi - unless you are VERY good with a sprayer, that would probably end up more work. I would look into a power roller system. My Spraytech airless paint sprayer has a roller attachment were just squeezing the trigger on the handle reloads the roller. That way you aren't going back and forth to a tray. Downside is you need to buy rollers with a perforated core, generally pricey. Cleanup would be similar to an airless paint spraying system. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gymschu
#9 ·
As a home owner.DIY'r, I have a power roller. But when I learned how to roll paint here, I haven't had it back out of the box. It's heavy and after an hour or so you will want to take a break. Like I read here, 'if they were that good, why don't you see paint contractors using them?'
 
#11 ·


I've got a Wagner PaintMate that I've used when I've had a LOT of interior painting to do. I really like how much area I can cover, and how quickly. It's also not particularly heavy, and the handle is actually like having an extension on the roller.

What I don't like about it is that it's harder to get a good, even coat of paint down. The squeeze trigger is a little touchy, making it "feast or famine" on the amount of paint that's in the roller.

Anymore, I primarily use it for rolling on primer. I prefer a regular roller for putting on the paint.
 
#13 ·
Greendot, the amount of time going to get it/returning it, setting it up/cleaning it out, masking everything out (as brushjockey pointed out)/removing all the mask, figuring out how best to work it, and then fixing the globs you're likely to get, will really make it not worthwhile. And then there's the rental cost. If it was productive, pros would be giving you the go ahead. If they're not willing to do it, you shouldn't either. If you're painting the whole apartment with the same paint (walls and ceilings), get a three inch brush and cut the whole apartment in at once, don't cut and roll, cut and roll, brush everything out first. Then get an 18 x 1/2 inch roller, in addition to the nine x 1/2 for the small areas, and go to town rolling the whole place out at once. When you're cutting in, take the ladder into one corner and cut everything from the ceiling down to the light switch level from the ladder, then move the ladder, repeat all the way around to where you started. Then get down on the floor and cut everything up to the light switch around the room until you return to your starting corner. Do the room in two halves, top and bottom, no up and down, up and down. If you work smart and consistently, you'll have the room done sooner than you would with a sprayer, trust me.
 
#22 · (Edited)
John, they can be heavy, though I don't know about unwieldly. I use more of my bodyweight to move it back and forth, as opposed to just my arms. I do with all rolling, but moreso with an 18. When I roll ceilings I sort of keep my arms locked and gently rock side to side somewhat on the balls of the feet and that motion carries the roller with it. When you roll walls lean in to the wall and pull back, holding the pole in place and slightly bending from the hip. I spell that out in one of my articles on rolling ceilings and walls at suite101.com, in the bottom link of my signature.
 
#21 ·
They are- but they can rock if you like them. Personally I usually use a 14"- only can get on line- I get them here_:
http://www.thepaintstore.com/Wooster_s/33.htm

Nice split between fast and heavy. I use the 14" open end frame.
There are lots of different tools in this painting trade...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top