04-09-2007, 09:46 PM
I just had my house painted last summer. I hired a long-time friend of mine who has one of the more detail-oriented personalities of anyone I know. He puts a friendly spin on the phrase 'anal retentive.'
He also treats new tech like most of us here look at Macs: he's constantly upgrading and finding the best.
The two biggest surprises I learned from him were:
1. the superior results (protective and looks) that are produced from the new high-end ($2500) super-fine sprayers; it gets into the finest cracks and is easy to apply 2-3 coats.
2. the importance of using the best paint.
That sprayer was just amazing to watch. It went on like a car finish, no exaggeration. He insisted on using only Benjamin Moore's best. Although for the trim, I decided to try and sneak in Home Depot's finest (starts with a B...). But after the fourth can, the stuff separated in his sprayer hopper, and he knew right away what I'd done. That was such a great lesson.
If you're wanting to save money, go to CraigsList and put an ad in there for a top notch independent sprayer painter guy, who is willing to have you work with him. That's how I worked with my friend, and I got a great deal in the end.
He also treats new tech like most of us here look at Macs: he's constantly upgrading and finding the best.
The two biggest surprises I learned from him were:
1. the superior results (protective and looks) that are produced from the new high-end ($2500) super-fine sprayers; it gets into the finest cracks and is easy to apply 2-3 coats.
2. the importance of using the best paint.
That sprayer was just amazing to watch. It went on like a car finish, no exaggeration. He insisted on using only Benjamin Moore's best. Although for the trim, I decided to try and sneak in Home Depot's finest (starts with a B...). But after the fourth can, the stuff separated in his sprayer hopper, and he knew right away what I'd done. That was such a great lesson.
If you're wanting to save money, go to CraigsList and put an ad in there for a top notch independent sprayer painter guy, who is willing to have you work with him. That's how I worked with my friend, and I got a great deal in the end.