What is your preferred painting method for interior trim–hvlp or airless sprayers? I’ve never used either on trim, but have read that you have to thin paint significantly for hvlp, which I would imagine impacts finish durability. And airless is obviously messier and has more waste, so more prep and cost?
Thoughts and recommendations?
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Replies
I just went thru this exercise before buying an HVLP set-up (Graco 4900 ProComp). I am NOT super experienced with a sprayer and I'm NOT a finish expert so take this with a grain of salt. I'm still playing with the sprayer and learning it's ins and outs, I haven't done any paid work with it yet. I went with a sprayer for finish quality as opposed to speeding up the job. For my average job a brush would probably be quicker.
The Graco and Titan reps showed me the clean-up process on their airless units and it was at least twice as long as the HVLP unit I have. Not a big deal if you're spraying all day but I do small lots of doors or trim work...I might spend 30 minutes setting up (including the curtains and stuff to be sprayed) 30 minutes spraying and 15 minutes cleaning the gun. The airless also used alot of paint by comparison, you end up with a 30ft line full of paint at the end of the job.
I use SW Pro Classic paint, I have to thin it about 10% to get a nice finish. I'm leaning towards 2nd coating to get the finish I want.
A couple of painting contractors I talked to said the airless units were great for production; doing acres of walls or in shop to do a house worth of trim and cabinets in a day. I didn't need that capacity.
-Norm
I'm surprised the clean up was longer for the Airless.
We have a Graco 4800 HVLP and 3 Graco airless pumps. I do not use them much anymore myself but the HVLP took me a lot longer to clean then an airless.
We never completly "clean" our laq. pump, just run some thinner through it after we're done with a job then charge the line with thinner and let it sit. The one we use for enamel get's cleaned after every use and we leave the lines charged with thinner.
What did they suggest as the proper cleaning of the airless?
For the orginal question, I'd say it depends. Are you painting in your shop or a house under construction vs. a remodel. The masking and protecting prep is definatley more time consumig with an airless however an HVLP is slower to use. If you get a HVLP and were planning on large runs of trim I would suggest one with a pressure pot and short flexible whip hose at the end.
An airless is less taxing to use to me because the lines & gun are smaller and weight less.
Out of all the sprayers we have the HVLP barely gets used.
That's why I noted my (in)experience in the first paragraph!
We focused exclusively on water based paints and the likelyhood that I might use the sprayer just once or twice a month. The demos were done at the local SW paint store; for the HVLP we unhooked the cup/gun and took the whole thing into the shop sink and washed it out with warm water. 10 minutes, done. The airless took substantially longer to flush the lines (they recommended not leaving them charged for anything more than a couple of days) and break it down to clean the filter, pump, etc. Titan in particular was touchy about a thorough cleaning after each use.
The Graco ProComp came with the remote pressure pot and 3ft hose, they had a promo so I also got the gun w/attached cup combo for free.
-Norm
Don't take me as an expert on the matter either ;)
I can see the advantage for limited to use with a HVLP. It's a PITA to clean the gun, BUT that's all you have to clean, with the Airless to really clean it is a pain. Our's see frequent use though.
Thanks for the info. The project is my basement remodel that's 950 sf and will include all of the baseboard, doors and trim, windows and built-in's. I'm more concerned with the quality of the finish, so maybe HVLP is out if I have to thin the paint too much??
You shouldn't have to thin the paint to much for an oil, I've never shot water borne enamel from ours though.
With the Airless you can coat the trim and walls with the same machine, the HVLP you can't, well technically you can, but I wouldn't suggest it.
The other advantage to the airless is cost, if this is for one project go to HD and buy one of the less expensive Graco's. We have two of their smaller units for several years now and they see regular use. I don't know the model numbers off hand but they were between 300-350. These are not great machines or the highest quality, but they will serve your needs fine. I'm surprised how long they have lasted for us.
A good quality HVLP set up is going to start around 1000.
Here's the HVLP I bought from the local SW store; http://store.spraymallstore.com/gr49prhvspco.html
I paid just over $1,300 with tax.
This unit will not spray SW Duration, and they said SW Superpaint would require too much thinning and the finish quality would be a crapshoot.
Another thing to note, the whine from the tubine is LOUD!
-Norm
VT
I bought a HVLP for similar reasons as you. Clean up of both the machine and the surrounding areas. I think the only time walls should be sprayed is the primer and I let the rockers do that so..
I didnt think that I would ever use mine to spray paint, mainly to do cabinets and trim and most/all of that would be water base lac or pigment lac but my HVLP rep told me that I would have no problem spraying water base paint with it.
Doug
In addition to the above post, if you purchase an airless buy a line set and gun for laq. and another for paint.
There was also a recent discussion about airless units on here, might try the search
love my airless... but yes if you do it right i can spend 30-45min clean'n it up after use...... i do spray it down with w/d40 so overspray on the pump itself is easy to clean off... for multi day sprays i drop the gun in a bucket of water and cover the pump in a plastic bag... for after use clean up (latex) i might pump 5-10 gal of warm soapy water thru it the first 1/2 gal will be paint that gets pumped back into the bucket... maybe 2 gal of warm water thru the gun with the tip... then thru the gun without the tip & in handle filter then run the rest thru the lines... on my oil based rigs again paint gets pumped back into the bucket leave mineralspirits in the line & pump..
HVLP i have one cheap harbor freight unit i use alot it will get down to a 1" pattern that works great for my steel rail work i only use thinned oil based paint in it... i thin with a mix of mineralspirits and MEK... i've sprayed maybe 100gal of paint out of it...not bad for less than $50 cleanup is maybe 10 min
p
Gdawg,
You said you are primarily concerned with the quality of the finish; I assume that you are referring to both looks and durability. I'm not sure if you were planning on using oil or latex, but if you're determined to spray I think oil based is the way to go. Delivered by a sprayer, waterbased paint isn't as forgiving (self leveling) as oil and tends to look sprayed when dry - good for walls, not so much on trim.
Personally I would go with the airless because the HVLP is agonizingly slow and I always spend way too much time messing with the equipment/thinner to paint ratio, pressure, etc.
That said, the airless puts out a ***load of paint and if you've never used one before, trimwork is not the place to learn. Because of the pressure requirement you can only "turn it down" so much; the only way to get consistent coverage without overdoing it is to move REALLY fast while keeping the gun perpendicular to the surface at all times (No pivoting or standing still, etc.)
To give you an Idea, the elapsed trigger time it takes to paint one side of a door casing is about two seconds - That's side, top, side - and your hand starts and ends about 10 to 12 inches off the floor. Doors, panels and cabinets are trickey, too because each facet recieves paint at a very different rate and you really have to learn to aim with your hand instead of your eye.
So I guess i'd say that for you, HVLP is the way to go. I wouldn't worry about compromising the paint by thinning, either -use Penetrol (paint conditioner) and take some time dialing in your equipment, making adjustments, and remembering the ratio used.