# interior painting:roll or spray??



## SeattleDIY (Jun 22, 2008)

I have been using a roller and brush for years to paint interiors.  most of the time it come out good. but i see the pros spraying everything from the wall to the trim. They mask well and it comes out great. many years ago I tried spraying trim in my garage and the overspray was crazy.after that I never tried again. I think it was my inexperience that was the problem.

So what has your experience bben with spraying paint on interiors?


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## TaskBoy (Jun 22, 2008)

I only roll now. I once sprayed our garage and it was overkill even for that big of a job--I had to roll to touch up anyway. I sprayed my daughter's room what a waste, too--had to roll touch up too. Spraying uses way more paint to get the same coverage. It's good for odd-shaped, deep areas like inside kitchen cabinets. Too much masking for me otherwise.


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## kok328 (Jun 22, 2008)

I'd spray versus roll anyday when it comes to finish, although it's a whole different story when it comes to prep and cleanup.


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## glennjanie (Jun 22, 2008)

Hello Seattle:
I think *airless spray with porper masking and covering works very well. The overspray is not such a big problem with airless. Square Eye does a fantastic job with the airless and its a whole lot faster.
Glenn*


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## Charlie (Jun 23, 2008)

I have never sprayed a house, but i have painted a car before and didn't really get too much over spray. 

Using a spray gun has a learning curve though. Finding the right spraying motion takes some practice and masking is very important. 

I think if you are going to be painting the entire house, than you would be well served by using a paint gun, but if you are just doing one room, I would stick with the roller.


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## PortlandTradesmen (Nov 29, 2008)

Part of the problem that I have with spraying is the wast of masking materials and paint.  The only painting that I do is brush and roll.  I find that when I'm biding against someone who is spraying on interior painting my prices are competitive and on exterior projects my prices are high unless there is a lot of trim detail.


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## Kerrylib (Dec 1, 2008)

I think the other posts have about covered it.  Spraying requires good masking and taping to avoid overspray.  Yes new airless sprayers do minimize that problem, but you still have a lot of atomized paint particles floating around so a mask is a must.  I would imagine you also need to pretty much completely empty the room before starting.  If you were repainting a whole house before moving in or something like that I imagine a sprayer would make the work go much faster.

When I've painted w/ brush and roller, I just move things away from the walls, cover where there is a potential for spillage and start at it.  With a little practice and patience you can almost get away without any dropcloths.  However, always respect Murphy's Law.  If you don't cover that expensive antique, you're bound to dump paint all over it.


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## Robin F (Dec 1, 2008)

It's messy and the setup- from covering everything in the room, setting up the sprayer and then cleaning it afterwards- seems to be more hassle than it's worth in a lot of cases. With a roller, you just pour some paint into a pan and go- you can often dispose of the roller afterwards, so not much cleanup at all.


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