I am almost ready to paint the house that I am currently building and I have a several questions for those who know. Consider the following: the siding is Hardie Lap Boards, the house is in Alabama, I am using a light color (almost pewter) for the body and white for the trim, I have 3-4 laborers to work with, I am in a rural area without close neighbors.
1. Should I have my guys spray or hand paint the house?
2. Will one way give a better paint job than the other?
3. What is the approximate difference in coverage between the two methods?
4. Pros and Cons of each.
5. I don’t have a sprayer yet but with a budget of $450 can I get a decent one?
6. How many man hours would you guesstimate the job will take?
7. Any suggestions on type of paint, sheen, brand, etc. ?
8. How many coats will I need to get a job that will last and look really good?
9. Drying time between coats?
Thanks for sharing your expertice!!!
Replies
I'm building some Hardie plank houses and the way my painters do it is to first spray the trim, then caulk everything, then spray the siding, then hand paint everything a second coat. Trim gets 3 coats including the primer. If you want me to answer all 9 of those questions, I'm gonna have to charga ya... :-) As far as using laborers to paint... everyone thinks they can paint and that it is easy... I'm not so sure.
7. Buy expensive paint from a good paint store, like Sherwin Williams. The cost of the paint is far outweighed by the cost of the labor. But, you could buy economy paint on sale at Home Depot and in two years you can re-use your painting skills.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Here's a few things I've used that work well for the hot, humid conditions here in L.A. (as in Lower Alabama):
1. As Eddie suggested use premium paint, like SW Superpaint or Valspar. I always prime Hardi (even though it's preprimed) with Kilz 2 latex.
2. Use a premium caulk. I use OSI Quad Pro Series...it's a PITA to use (keep some paint thinner handy) but it performs like no acrylic latex.
3. Invest in some good 4" brushes. While I would suspect spraying Hardi would be acceptable, if my name were on the check, I'd brush/roll it.
4. Use at least one coat primer/ two coats paint--if there is any new or unprimed wood, use two coats of primer.
5. Althugh drying times are dependent upon many factors, I've found that you can often apply one coat in the AM and the second in the PM in our climate. However, the humidity can make latex paint "run". Jason Pharez Construction
Framing & Exterior Remodeling
the hardie web site lists the paints they suggest- a lot of them
Rent a sprayer for 80 or 90 bucks a day- just don't abuse it. Spraying paint isn't as easy as you might think (or if it is, you're doing it wrong) Paint must be applied in thin coats, and spraying almost always requires back rolling or brushing. This means someone sprays an even coat while someone else follows with brush or roller to work the paint in - this is the most efficient way to spread the paint and also monitor your progress as far as thickness goes. Even "smooth " siding will have a slight texture and if you try to cover with spray alone it will go on way too thick and wont penetrate/bond.
Keep the gun a consistent distance from the surface at all times, and don't "fan" or shoot from one point - the gun hand must always be moving parallel to the surface while the trigger is depressed. Paint comes out fast, so move fast.
Two or three people is a good number for this operation, with everyone holding a brush or roller (even the sprayer). For smooth siding, get some of those "staining pads" - 6-8" wide sponge/brush combo's that can be screwed onto poles. These work great for back brushing.
Tint your primer close to (but not exactly) the finish color, and try to work in the shade. Don't spray out more than you can brush in at one time before it gets tacky.
As to your other questions, you ask too many -not enough info. Buy a book. I will answer one, though. How many manhours will it take? from the info you've given -Exactly 137.
1 with laborers? I don't know that it would matter much. You will get an unskilled level of work either way. I'd go with the brushes I guess
2 with laborers instead of painters? I'm starting to chuckle
3 an airless can use two times as much paint. With unskilled people, maybe more
4 brushing generally gives a better job and mistakes made with a brush are cheaper to fix. Spraying is faster, so three can watch while leaning on their brushes while one sprays
5 rent a sprayer if you go that way. if the total budget is 450, you are in trouble. you still need to pay the laborers and buy paint.
6 hours? try days - but first suggest how big the house is
7 hardie has suggestions for kind of paint
8 primer plus two coats
9 read the label- out loud so the laborers can hear you. The help never reads the instructions
Thanks
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i'm in la also. (louisiana) i purchased a graco xr7 at lowes for about $500, and just finished painting my rent house with it. it will wear your butt out, climbing and moving constantly because painting moves so quickly.
the house is sided with asbestos shingles, with much the same texture as hardi. i rolled it 10 years ago, and it was a struggle to get good coverage. this time, i used a semi-gloss paint, masked with visqueen and tape, and used a big edger to protect in areas wwhere overspray might be a problem. it's a 1100 s.f. house, and i masked, painted and unmasked the gable ends of the house by myself sunday in about 6 hours (mostly moving ladders) i finished the front by brush in 3 hours because i had exposed rafter tails, 4 windows, and a front porch. by the time i masked all that, i would have wasted 3 more hours.
i've painted cars in the past, so i am familiar with keeping the gun perpendicular to the face being painted. the learning curve was nil, and the finish is great.
The Hardi web site says to use 100% acrylic paint. I just finished painting my new hardi board siding with Pratt and Lambert eggshell.
It looks great. The final finish looks just like a prefinished product.
I brushed it on. I have a sprayer but it just never seems to get the paint into the cracks so you end up brushing anyway. The paint store I deal with called their rep and said if the primed siding had just been applied, it would not need to be primed. I did have some planks which looked like they had seen some weather so I primed them.