[J-L-H]

How’s it going ? Alright so I’ve been painting for a while now and as crazy as this is going to sound I’ve never once had to do an entire house repaint . Been blessed enough to stay busy doing small remodels. I more or less know the process . But this job is big . Well for me (1 guy ) . High ceilings , 4,000 sqft home , repainting all the doors , crown , base, walls , ceilings , and a few accent walls . I will say the trim is in the best shape I’ve ever seen wood work in . It really don’t even need painting it’s so nice still . My question is how would ( you ) a solo painter . No helpers , attack the job .ALSO Customer wants walls and ceilings the same color white , so would you just use the same sheen on walls and ceilings or would you still do flat on the ceilings and eggshell / satin walls ….. all advice would be greatly Appreciated. Yes I have an airless as well and very good with it .

 

[cocomonkeynuts]

Will it be occupied while you are working?

 

[fromthenorthwest]

I'd probably go same sheen walls and ceilings, something like an eggshell where you can split the difference between a flat and a satin.

If the home is unoccupied, I would remove all the doors and set up in the garage to spray. Spray all your trim, then mask off your trim and spray and back roll walls and ceilings.

If the home is occupied, you really just need to work in one or two rooms at a time, so the homeowners can move their stuff around ahead of you. And in an occupied home you usually want to stick with brushing and rolling except for certain circumstances (popcorn ceiling, etc).

 

[jennifertemple]

You need a partner or a good quality helper if you want to do jobs of that size on a regular basis. It really is not a one man job. I hope you have patient clients. I've done a lot of huge places solo BUT the client was made to clearly under stand that a one man show is slower than a crew of experienced painters. Also many were repeaters and knew what to expect. I'd use ceiling paints on ceilings being the easiest to make ceilings look good! For walls I'd use a velvet or matte or the very least of my choices, eggshell. Bathroom paint for baths and at least eggshell for kitchens.
Get the kitchens and bathrooms out of the way first. Then go room by room, ideally ending with the room closest to the exit to your truck Always work from the top down leaving a trail of clean behind.

 

[Woodco]

If possible... Spray the lids, then spray the trim and doors, then cut and roll the walls.

 

[finishesbykevyn]

If it's an occupied house, just do a couple rooms at a time. That way you don't have the whole house tore up and annoy everyone. Flat on ceilings, Matt/eggshell on walls, satin on trims.

 

[J-L-H]

Will it be occupied while you are working?

Yessir the homeowners will be present ……

 

[J-L-H]

If possible... Spray the lids, then spray the trim and doors, then cut and roll the walls.

Yea I wanted to spray the ceilings , but kept debating on spraying the ceiling then having to mask the border with paper to spray the crown . I felt it would be easier to spray the crown and trim first then run paper around the crown .

 

[J-L-H]

I'd probably go same sheen walls and ceilings, something like an eggshell where you can split the difference between a flat and a satin.

If the home is unoccupied, I would remove all the doors and set up in the garage to spray. Spray all your trim, then mask off your trim and spray and back roll walls and ceilings.

If the home is occupied, you really just need to work in one or two rooms at a time, so the homeowners can move their stuff around ahead of you. And in an occupied home you usually want to stick with brushing and rolling except for certain circumstances (popcorn ceiling, etc).

Definitely in line with you on this process. I tend to overthink a lot instead of just doing it . One worry I have when spraying the trim first is the trim paint flashing where the overspray hit the wall . So you feel it will be an issue using a satin waterborne?

 

[J-L-H]

You need a partner or a good quality helper if you want to jobs of that size on a regular basis. It really is not a one man job. I hope you have patient clients. I've done a lot of huge places solo BUT the client was made to clearly under stand that a one man show is slower than a crew of experienced painter. Also many were repeaters and knew what to expect. I'd use ceiling paints on ceilings being the easiest to make ceilings look good! For walls I'd use a velvet or matte or the very least of my choices, eggshell. Bathroom paint for baths and at least eggshell for kitchens.
Get the kitchens and bathrooms out of the way first. Then go room by room, ideally ending with the room closest to the exit to your truck Always work from the top down leaving a trail of clean behind.

Love the advice here . Never really thought about knocking out them rooms first but makes a lot of sense. Thank you def going to do that and love the process ……. Also yes I made it very clear to the homeowner that I work alone so if timing is an issue I would probably not be the best for the job since I work alone . She was easy going and said it’s not an issue at all she just wanted me to do it as I’ve done work for a few people in her circle …‘I did tell her I’d work it in sections so I don’t take over the whole house for that long of a period but didn’t really consider what rooms to do first. Thank you for that advice . That’s a huge help . Very simple and probably what every painter does who does repaints . But it’s never landed on my plate so Ibe never put much thought into It
… thank you

 

[J-L-H]

I'd probably go same sheen walls and ceilings, something like an eggshell where you can split the difference between a flat and a satin.

If the home is unoccupied, I would remove all the doors and set up in the garage to spray. Spray all your trim, then mask off your trim and spray and back roll walls and ceilings.

If the home is occupied, you really just need to work in one or two rooms at a time, so the homeowners can move their stuff around ahead of you. And in an occupied home you usually want to stick with brushing and rolling except for certain circumstances (popcorn ceiling, etc).

Awesome def going to go with the eggshell for walls and ceilings just wanted to hear someone confirm my decision . Although I was up in the air a little as I’ve been feeling lately that eggshell has been coming out almost like a dang semi gloss and satin has looked more like the old eggshell with less shine

 

[Woodco]

Yea I wanted to spray the ceilings , but kept debating on spraying the ceiling then having to mask the border with paper to spray the crown . I felt it would be easier to spray the crown and trim first then run paper around the crown .

crown puts an added step... I would either srpay the crown first, then mask it to spray the lid, or if they are the same color different sheens, spray the crown after the ceiling, then thin the ceiling paint down, and go ever overspray with a big brush. Thats how I did tract homes. Srpay the trim, then thin the wall paint (which was same color, but flat) in half with water, and quickly run a block brush down the sides of the jambs to turn it back flat. it only took a half hour to cut a whole house of trim back flat this way. way quicker than masking.

 

[fromthenorthwest]

Definitely in line with you on this process. I tend to overthink a lot instead of just doing it . One worry I have when spraying the trim first is the trim paint flashing where the overspray hit the wall . So you feel it will be an issue using a satin waterborne?

I would bet if you're going satin on the trim it probably won't flash through, but you could always run some some 6-in paper around the trim to stop the direct overspray from hitting the wall. You don't have to be exact with it so you can throw it up pretty quick. Whether you have to do it or not really just depends as each job is a little different.

As for the overthinking, I'm right there with you. In fact I would bet most self-employed do. Hard not to when you run the show.

 

[finishesbykevyn]

Definitely in line with you on this process. I tend to overthink a lot instead of just doing it . One worry I have when spraying the trim first is the trim paint flashing where the overspray hit the wall . So you feel it will be an issue using a satin waterborne?

Your paint is NOT going to flash if you overspray onto walls. Personally though, if you're working in an occupied house with simple trim, I would just be hand painting everything. Spraying in an occupied house is both messy and stressful. It also doesn't save that much time if you have to mask everything and only doing 1 room at a time. Spraying is more productive when doing either empty houses or bulk work.

 

[RH]

Your paint is NOT going to flash if you overspray onto walls. Personally though, if you're working in an occupied house with simple trim, I would just be hand painting everything. Spraying in an occupied house is both messy and stressful. It also doesn't save that much time if you have to mask everything and only doing 1 room at a time. Spraying is more productive when doing either empty houses or bulk work.

I would second this. Spraying has it’s place but I always found that interior work lent itself to brush and rolling. There were a few exceptions; doing lots of popcorn ceilings, cabinets, empty houses (especially rentals) where everything needed to be done and the owners were fine with a single color on walls and lids. And of course new construction - but that was something I never got into. I did quite a few jobs involving extensive remodeling work, but never a totally new house.