After the debacle in the living room, I had brand new sheetrock and texture. So I guess that is the silver lining of the ordeal. Since the room is abnormally large, I wanted to try using paint sprayer rather than rolling. I have Carple Tunnel Syndrome & rolling kills my wrist. I was hoping this was a great alternative. I purchased mine at Lowe’s (with a coupon, of course) and for a little more than $100. There were cheaper alternatives, but they weren’t ideal for large-scale, indoor projects (so said the labels). There were also more expensive options, but my budget nixed those. I also was able to read reviews of the Spray Station 2900, and, for the most part, they were pretty positive.
I was excited to get started painting, but I just couldn’t seem to find a paint color I liked. After the Graco sat idly in my living room for a while, I was finally able to find just the right color. As for the set up and prep process, it was very easy. I had the entire thing assembled and ready to go in under 10 minutes. I did a few test sprays on some cardboard to get familiar with the different settings. One initial concern was that the paint container seemed small, and I was concerned that I would constantly be refilling it. Fortunately, I was wrong. The paint went a long way, and I never had to refill the container for the entire wall that I did.
The sprayer is electric-powered. My only suggestion in that area is that the electric cord was shorter than I would have liked. Luckily, I have several outlets in that room, but if I didn’t, then it would have been annoying. To compensate, the “wind tube” (the black tube that pushes the air from the motor to the sprayer) has a very long length. The downside, however, is that it was not that flexible. My primary complaint with that tube though is that it came undone four times while I was spraying. I made sure it was securely attached to the sprayer every time, but after 20 minutes or so, it would detach again. There was no attachment to help secure it which should be added.
My test wall was the large wall connecting the kitchen to the dining room. As far as the sprayer, it wasn’t all that heavy even with all the paint in the container. The trigger is large enough to easily hold while painting. It sprayed on like spray paint, and I was hoping that appearance would fade the more I sprayed. Unfortunately, it did not. I used the grid spray pattern that was suggested in the manual. After the entire wall dried, there were distinct spray paint lines that wouldn’t appear if you rolled the paint. While I am a novice as a spray painter, I think I am the intended audience for this product. I was left underwhelmed by the product for large-scale projects and certainly for walls.
After a final review, I have decided I’m going to have to repaint my test wall with a roller. I think the Graco is ideal for small projects- furniture, trim, etc. I do have some small furniture pieces that I plan to spray paint, and I believe I’ll have different results. My other complaint is that it took A LOT longer to spray a wall than it would have been to roll it. I would have probably spent no more than 30 minutes rolling (trim not included). Instead, with the sprayer I spent over two hours. It’s also not ideal for edging, even on the finest setting.
FINAL VERDICT ON A 10PT. SCALE:
Price: 8
Quality of product: 7
Ease of product: 8.5
Quality of results: 5
Thank you guess I’m sticking to the roller now. 🙂
I think I’ll give it a try for my small projects but stay away from any wall painting with it. Thank you, very informative.
Thank you. This was very useful information. I’m rolling!!
Hi! I’m sorry this went so terrible for you! I own an airless sprayer and it is fantastic for rooms and ceilings. After the research I’ve done, it seems airless is the only way to go with latex paints on large scale. Whereas hvlp is great for stains, varnishes and small projects. If you want to venture into trying spraying again anyways. Ha. I will say though, airless sprayers are much messier and you have to tape off everything. I had an entire house of ceilings to do, it was so worth not having a major link in my neck from painting!
FYI, totally random how I came across your blog. As I was looking for an hvlp sprayer for a bed painting project. I just started a blog… As in last week. 😂 Need a sprayer for painting a bunk bed I don’t feel like brushing… But after reading this, I may just brush/roll!
http://Www.domesticdesign.ca
I have the 2900 as well and I must say that it’s a godsend for complex surfaces. In my case I used it on my 16×26 ft. Deck, not the floor, that I rolled, but the spindles and handrails. The deck has170 spindles and having painted it once before I know that the spindles and handrails alone take two days. Using the sprayer for the spindles and handrails I was able to finish the job in a single day. For outdoor furniture it’s a fifteen minute job for each piece with the sprayer vs an hour or more a piece for hand painting.
But you are right about large surfaces. I painted a tool shed with the sprayer worked well but took much longer than with a roller.
In the end, it’s a tool, right for some jobs, not some others.