There’s a little dirty secret about painting that no one ever tells you – it ALWAYS takes longer than you think it will. When I go to paint an entire room, I think it should take about three days for the ceiling, priming, cutting in and two coats of paint rolled on the walls. But, it generally extends into a forth day for touch ups and maybe a fifth day if I need to go back and caulk ceiling lines or add other finishing touches. It takes ALL weekend…and most of the next week.
When I have the opportunity, I love to spray a room. Yes, the prep work is worse, but the overall amount of time you’ll spend working in the room is much less. I can spray a coat of primer and two coats of paint in a single afternoon. We have a Graco Magnum X5
The big sprayer can be a bit of a pain to pull out for a smaller job, so Graco offered to send me a handheld model – the Graco TrueCoat Plus II
I didn’t have any rooms that I was working on that needed paint, so I tried it on one of my favorite chairs that’s been through several makeovers. In all honesty, this particular Graco paint sprayer is overkill for furniture, but it will definitely work. If you were only going to spray furniture and not walls, cabinets or fencing, you could get away with getting a less powerful model, but I like having something this versatile in my paint gun arsenal.
The chair had been through about three different paint jobs, so I went ahead and sanded it down with a 400-grit sandpaper. I was careful to remove any painting imperfections from past transformations.
We built a collapsable paint tent in the garage (tutorial coming next week!) and I easily sprayed the chair there without getting any overspray on anything outside of the tent. The color I chose was Taking the Plunge by Glidden, and I sprayed a high gloss sheen so that this chair could stand some abuse (it’s the one we use at our family computer). The instructions that came with the Graco paint sprayer were clearly written, so start up time was no more than a few minutes.
I sprayed two coats on the chair, and each one only took me about 2 minutes to complete. I did have more overspray than I wanted, but I know from experience with my bigger sprayer that it just takes some practice to get use to the right technique. I was able to pour the paint directly from my Glidden can into the sprayer’s reservoir – no need to thin the paint or use any additives. The finish is really smooth – there’s no way I could have achieved that with a brush.
Clean up was easy, too. There are more parts to wash than if I had just used a paint brush, but I was using latex paint so I only had to use soap and warm water. Again, the instructions were clearly written, so I didn’t have to dedicate more than 20 minutes to clean up. And considering the amount of time I saved by spraying the chair, I still came out ahead.
I’ve never had success with anything but a flat paint from a can of spray paint, but this paint sprayer delivered the high gloss sheen beautifully. I recovered the seat in this Michael Miller Retro Mod Pad
If you’re ready to spend less time painting and more time relaxing, Graco is ready to help by giving away one of the TrueCoat Plus II paint sprayers right here on the blog. ROARRR!! And the crowd goes wild! I am very happy with my new sprayer, and I know you will be, too. Let’s Save Our Weekends, y’all!
Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below and you’ll be entered to win – please don’t just leave a comment below, or your entry won’t be counted. This giveaway will be open through Wednesday, June 26th and is open to US residents, 18 and older.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Graco. I was given key messages to share, but all the words and thoughts are my own. I have been compensated for my time and for this post. There are affiliate links within this post.
Love it! I have a whole house that I need to paint the rooms in and also so adirondak chairs that I need to save.
I need something like this! I repaint lots of furniture to sell and the proceeds go to women in Kenya. I hate brush strokes but regular spray paint is a killer because I have to use so many cans!
Thanks, Lindsay! We are in the process of looking at spray painters. Perfect timing! I have a lot of painting to do!
I’ve been putting off projects but this would certainly get me going! I’m planning on painting an antique secretary desk of my mother’s in the same color you did the chair above.
Oooh. I am sure I could find something fun at a garage sale to try this on!
Love the fabric!
I need to setup a paint tent in my garage too! Anxiously awaiting your tutorial!!
Awesome paintgun – the best part is getting clear instructions WITH the tool.
You mean I would see my children again? LOL
That tool would simplify a lot of my jobs. 😉
I really wish I would have had one one these when I was painting my chairs this past weekend. I used six cans of spray paint (yea, I know that’s ridiculous) and I still need another can to finish. The paint started peeling and didn’t cover well. Some spots are even rough despite me sanding them down. 🙁 It’d be nice having one of these so I can redo them.
I tweeted and signed up. I really need this! We are painting the whole outside and inside (3 floors) of our old house we are remodeling. That’s a lot of painting. We were planning on renting the sprayer, but that is pretty pricey since we will have to rent it several different times. Please Mr. Rafflecoter pick me. Want it, Love it, Need it! Thank you for the giveaway and posting.
Thanks for pinning about a paint sprayer for walls. I have been planning to paint but have tennis elbows and can’t use a brush or roller. Now I can redecorate my office/craft room.
Love your paint tent set up!
Love the chair but then again I love everything you do! I think this magic machine would even allow me to paint fabulously…ok…let’s now stretch it…I would settle for “good”! : ) Hugs…
Oh I may have to try spray painting interior rooms! have never done that before!
I have been wanting desperately to try enamel paint on sooooo many things. Yea! Thanks for the opportunity to win.
Did I miss who won the paint sprayer? I’m guessing it wasn’t me and I’m going to have to break down and buy one;-)
You haven’t missed it yet! I need to select a winner. Heading to Rafflecopter to do it now!
Hi, is it heavy to use? Where can I buy one.
Thanks
Melissa
d2dbysenter.com
Hi Melissa,
I was worried that it would be heavy, but it’s really not too bad! My arm didn’t get fatigued. I think you can buy one at Lowe’s or Amazon.
Was wondering who the winner was and secretly wishing it was me – lol!
@Shelley me too 😛 I’m guessing it wasn’t if i haven’t received an email but i’m still hoping until i read otherwise 😛
nice post about paint sprayer, I definitely want to buy this sprayer
i AM AN OLD TIMER WITH SLIGHTLY SHAKY FINGER/HANDS. I MAKE LARGE MODELS (PLANES AND BOATS ) AND DO CAR BODY WORK. A SPRAYER LIKE THIS AND OF THIS QUALITY WOULD BE A GODSEND . wOULD ALSO USE IT FOR DOMESTIC DECORATING. PLEASE BE NICE TO AN OLD (72 ) MAN i BET YOU WON’T AS I AM IN U.K
Hey, I read your website. I saw which spray paint will use to protect health.
Your website is very beautiful. I really like this website
Retiring soon, and have lots of projects planned with more ideas all the time. I’m glad I found your site.