Hello,
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Spray-Plast (i.e. heavy duty sheetrock primer), but I’ve never seen it in action. I have a few questions:
- Is this something for a ambitious do-it-yourselfer with an airless spray system?
- How can you tell when you’ve put on enough?
- Is it worth the effort (1 gal covers about 100 sq. ft. so it could get quite expensive)?
- Does it really improve the quality of the drywall finish that much (professional estimate of about $2000 to spray-plast a 4000 sq.ft. house (new work))?
- Does a regular paint store carry the stuff or do i need to order from the manufacturer?
- Does it make future sheetrock repairs more difficult to blend in?
Thanks,
Roger <><
Replies
The theory behind Spray-Plast is that it gives you an AWCI Level 5 finish without physically skim-coating. It works pretty well. If you had a big airless spray rig (minimum 3500 psi) and were a GREAT applicator, you could do it yourself.
I used it in a remodel about a year ago, with the intention of blending new and old wall surfaces for uniformity. I was disappointed with the results, and wound up skim-coating the job after all.
How do you know when you have enough of it applied? Right before it starts to sag visibly...which happens differently at different temperatures and humidity levels. In other words, you have to spray a lot of it to get the feel.
You can buy Spray-Plast through a gypsum wallboard distributor. If a contractor will coat your new 4000sf house for two grand, hire him today.
Spray-Plast or skim-coat will not have any effect on future drywall repair efficacy.
The big question is, what's the matter with a good drywall job covered by a few coats of paint? The only people I've ever known who could even tell the difference between a level 4 and a Level 5 finish are contractors. Unless the house is in an extremely high-end neighborhood you'll never recover the cost of a Level 5 finish. As I understand AWCI standards, Level 5 is for walls that will be painted with a gloss finish, and i don't see much of that in residential construction.
(I don't use the word "sheetrock" because my father spent 40 years with National Gypsum, and "Sheetrock' is USG's trade name.)
-Jonathan Ward