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Tools for spraying a skim coat

xxPaulCPxx | Posted in Tools for Home Building on March 14, 2007 06:04am

I’m thinking about sparying on a final skim coat, using a high build primer mixed with general purpose mud (2 parts mud, 1 part primer).  I asked the guy at the paint store exactly what kind of sprayer I would need to do this, and he didn’t have a clue.

I know I need and airless sprayer, what I don’t know is how big.  This will be a rental but I would like to know what size I should be asking for.

Any thoughts?

Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA

Also a CRX fanatic!

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  1. BillBrennen | Mar 14, 2007 09:24am | #1

    Paul,

    I have heard that the mud is hard on the airless pumps and that they will not rent you the unit if you tell them what you plan to do with it. The mud is abrasive, and at the high psi of an airless it can ruin the machine. This is only hearsay, I have never actually done it myself.

    Bill

  2. Piffin | Mar 14, 2007 01:18pm | #2

    If you are spraying this, it is a texture coat, not a skim coat. A skim coat is applied by skimming the surface with a trowel or float to apply a thin smooth coat.

    Spraying will not give you a smooth coat, but will spatter small blobblets of solids.

    So you need a texturing tool with a compressor

    If you want a smooth surface, you could roll this on and then float it smooth, but using a sprayer will just make a big mess unless you havetwo people smoothing for one spraying.

     

     

    Welcome to the
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    Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
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    1. mclaren | Mar 14, 2007 01:21pm | #3

      Goldblatt makes a hopper type texture sprayer.

      attach to compressor, fill and go.

      have a knockdown trowel ready, as you said it will be textured.

      Mclaren

    2. User avater
      xxPaulCPxx | Mar 14, 2007 06:42pm | #6

      In looking around, I found two different kinds of surfacers - one of them was the Pro-Hide Silver from Pratt & Lambert:  http://www.prattandlambert.com/documents/product_data_sheet/8161.pdf

      They say to use it as a spay on skim coat, mix 2 to 1 with mud and spray it on the walls - no backrolling.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA

      Also a CRX fanatic!

      1. dovetail97128 | Mar 14, 2007 08:23pm | #7

        Some links to sprayer sites for the type sprayer you need. http://www.paintsprayerslv.com/Graco/texspray/texspray.htm http://www.all-wall.com/acatalog/texture-sprayers-buyers-guide.php

      2. Piffin | Mar 14, 2007 09:48pm | #8

        I'm suire you can get a nice blemish hiding coat with something that way.But I live in the land of polished smooth skim coat plaster which has a beautiful look to it. Please don't try to call something sprayed on a skim coat because it is not.it will be a textruedd hide coat is all. 

         

        Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

        1. blue_eyed_devil | Mar 14, 2007 10:11pm | #9

          Maybe he needs to resurrect a D Mix thread.

          bring on the coffee!

          blue"...

          keep looking for customers who want to hire  YOU.. all the rest are looking for commodities.. are you  a commodity ?... if you get sucked into "free estimates" and  "soliciting bids"... then you are a commodity... if your operation is set up to compete as a commodity, then have at it..... but be prepared to keep your margins low and your overhead  high...."

          From the best of TauntonU.

          1. Piffin | Mar 14, 2007 10:18pm | #10

            blue, he does not have the hand strength to use a hammer so I doubt he can handle a trowel for a skim coat either, regardless of the type material. So he is looking for the easy way - the spray way!No offense intended Paul - but a spray just ain't gonna look like skim coat. They're two different animals. 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          2. User avater
            xxPaulCPxx | Mar 15, 2007 12:03am | #12

            No, I appreciate that!  From the looks of it I thought they were promissing a spray on smooth finish, if you say that's not what is delivered I believe you.

            After skim coating, my hand is usually numb and my trigger fingers get worse. 

             

            I'm crying in my soymilk now!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA

            Also a CRX fanatic!

          3. Piffin | Mar 15, 2007 02:11pm | #13

            it's my lame old shoulders that hurt after skimming. 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          4. User avater
            xxPaulCPxx | Mar 14, 2007 11:21pm | #11

            I was thinking about the D-MIX, and I've used it before.  Only thing I don't get about it is using the dry plaster.  Once water and plaster meet the chemical reaction starts... as far as I know adding more water will only ruin the plaster, not rejuvinate it.

            Mixing mud and PVA primer together has worked out well for me already in the past.  Spraying is looking less doable at the moment, so I'll probably go back to it.  I think I might try adding a little Floetrol in the mix to see if it helps smooth it out a bit.  I find in my climate it dries very fast after being troweled/knifed off, sometimes too fast.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA

            Also a CRX fanatic!

  3. Brian | Mar 14, 2007 03:41pm | #4

    Graco makes a line of self-contained texture machines - mix your mud down, dump in the stationary hopper, walk around with the hose and hit your walls/ceiling.

    It will be an orange peel, but if you spray it heavy and thin enough, you could skim coat, or just lightly for a knockdown finish.

    I have heard of high-build primers that can be sprayed airless, but I cannot imagine mud doing well in an airless sprayer.

     

    Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
  4. pinko | Mar 14, 2007 04:22pm | #5

    Hey Paul, I've used SW Builder's Solution interior surfacer to do what you're talking about (I assume you want a slick finish and want to conceal minor blemishes in your drywall). This is it:

    http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/sherwin_williams_paint/sherwin_williams_paints/interior_paint/pdfs/SW_BuildSol_IntPaint.pdf

    You don't need to add drywall mud. And if you did want to add the mud, you'd need an industrial sprayer probably not available at your corner rental center (if you trash one of their residential sprayers, you'll be buyin' it). Just rent a decent airless, use the size tip recommended on the paint bucket, and go to town. You'll get great results.

    Caveat: the stuff is expensive, and to make it work as a "surfacer" you need to use it in very high quantities...to the tune of about 1 gal/ 50 s.f. of wallboard! Plan accordingly.

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