[CFMCLLC]

Hey folks, I am new to this forum. our primary business is move out carpet cleaning and move out maid cleaning... but we just started doing move out painting as well... since the apartment owners in our area are not happy with the painters. We started about 1 month ago. It is going pretty well... Have read a bunch of the forum posts and it has been really helpful.

We have been rolling everything... But we are wanting to streamline a bit as we are growing this segment of our business quite a bit. Starting ASAP, we are going to start taping, spraying with back roll. These are 1-3 bedroom apartments. We plan to cut in the kitchens and bathrooms... so this is just for living, halls, bedrooms, etc.

My question... I am looking at sprayers... debating what type to purchase. On one hand we are going to be doing volume... on the other hand... we will only be spraying for about 20-30 minutes per unit, and each sprayer will only be working on 1-3 units per day. so maybe 60 minutes of spraying per day.

For this type of volume is there any reason to not just buy the 200-300 sprayer? Especially if i am buying one with the extended 3-5 year warranty. The large volume sprayers would cost about 700 it seems... and i can get the smaller ones for about 1/3 of that. And i am going to be buying about 10 sprayers. Can anyone give advice on this?

 

[Repaint Florida]

buying a cheap sprayer is like hiring a cheap painter ..... you get what you pay for :whistling2:

 

[cdaniels]

I would rather buy a good used sprayer than a new $300 airless.

 

[Masterpiece]

I watched a guy turn a small new Graco XR-7 (or whatever the tall boy midsize is) into smoke one day after spraying out walls twice a week in apartments over a couple of months. Waste of money!

Titan Advantage 400, 440i, Graco 390/395 would be the absolute smallest and cheapest (cost wise) that I would use on apartment repaints, with the Titan 400 being the cheapest and least powerful of the bunch.

That cheap apartment grade flat is pretty rough on packings,etc also...

 

[TJ Paint]

Maybe find somebody in the company that knows how to paint and ask them.

 

[epretot]

Titan 440i. Like Masterpiece said...the paint is the X Factor.

The lifespan of the sprayer is directly related to its care. Cleaning properly, storing properly, lubricating, etc.

A higher quality pump will garner a better return.

Do you really need 10? And why?

 

[SouthFloridaPainter]

Agree with the members above.

I would max out whatever your budget is on the sprayer.

If your really tight on money though, even the cheap ones, if taken care of will get you started just fine though, and will pay for themselves and make you the money you need for a better one.

Key thing, Keep it clean and keep it lubricated.

Good luck with it.

 

[CFMCLLC]

Thank you for the reply... "why 10?" We have a two larger accounts we are alread working with on carpet/cleaing, each have about 15 buildings that do about 15 turnovers each per month. So... we will need to be able to paint about 450 units per month (2*15*15) give or take. We are ramping up, so wouldn't buy all 10 tomorrow. So far we are just doing 2 buildings totaling 30 units per month. We have a decent system so the revenue is working out ok, especially since we are already going the cleaning and carpet cleaning.

A few of these companies that sell sprayers like lowes or Harbour Freight offer sprayers that are about 200 bucks and you pay another 20-30 and you get a 3 year warranty. Anything goes wrong, they return and i get my money back. So i was just thinking... buying quite a few, then each crew can have one... if it goes bad i just replace with the warranty. But maybe this is a bad idea... Just seems that painting for 20-30 minutes 1-3 times per day... if properly cleaned and oiled then any machine would be ok. is this a terrible idea?

 

[TJ Paint]

When the cheap ones break down youll be out a sprayer getting it serviced/ replaced for how many weeks?

That will get expensive.

 

[robladd]

Thank you for the reply... "why 10?" We have a two larger accounts we are alread working with on carpet/cleaing, each have about 15 buildings that do about 15 turnovers each per month. So... we will need to be able to paint about 450 units per month (2*15*15) give or take. We are ramping up, so wouldn't buy all 10 tomorrow. So far we are just doing 2 buildings totaling 30 units per month. We have a decent system so the revenue is working out ok, especially since we are already going the cleaning and carpet cleaning.

A few of these companies that sell sprayers like lowes or Harbour Freight offer sprayers that are about 200 bucks and you pay another 20-30 and you get a 3 year warranty. Anything goes wrong, they return and i get my money back. So i was just thinking... buying quite a few, then each crew can have one... if it goes bad i just replace with the warranty. But maybe this is a bad idea... Just seems that painting for 20-30 minutes 1-3 times per day... if properly cleaned and oiled then any machine would be ok. is this a terrible idea?

Those pumps are for DIY's. the only thing you will gain is regret. Go to HD in the rental room and by a used Airlessco 500 series.

You won't be sorry.

 

[mr.fixit]

the big box machines have a rating of around 50 to 60 gallons per set of packings at about$85.00 per set while the commercial machines have a rating of 600 to 800 gallons at $60.00 per set. The Titan Advantage 400 can be had for about $625.00

 

[Gymschu]

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with spraying apartments, but, if you have enough manpower, well, your time savings won't be as much as you think. You can brush and roll out 2 to 3 bedroom units in a day's time.

Also, watch your back. Rental companies are notorious for squeezing their painters for every penny. This week you might make $600 on a unit and next week they want you to do them for $400 per unit. They will not be very loyal either. Some "painter" down the street will try to cut your throat by telling the rental company he will do them for $300. Just be careful.

 

[CFMCLLC]

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with spraying apartments, but, if you have enough manpower, well, your time savings won't be as much as you think. You can brush and roll out 2 to 3 bedroom units in a day's time.

Also, watch your back. Rental companies are notorious for squeezing their painters for every penny. This week you might make $600 on a unit and next week they want you to do them for $400 per unit. They will not be very loyal either. Some "painter" down the street will try to cut your throat by telling the rental company he will do them for $300. Just be careful.

With rolling, we have just been finding that extra coats etc.... end up doubling/tripling the work... so when we plan for 1 unit in 1 day, we could end up two days because of the extra coat(s) which screws up our schedule, pricing, and apt manager expectations.. So we are going to try spraying, because there are definitely efficiencies if doing more than 1 coat. We shall see. So far, 1 coat taxes 2 hours to tape and 30 min to spray. Another coat is another 30 minutes (with a break inbetween) Rolling was 6 hours, another coat another 6 hours (plus the break inbetween).

As for paying, yeah... i noticed that is a big concern for other companies on this forum. I am hoping we wont have the exact same issue given the existing relationship. We are being paid ontime, being paid pretty well and so far these companies have all been very good to us. But painting is for sure a different animal. Cleaning/carpet-cleaning is very straight forward... Painting is tough. I appreciate the advice though! This is a tough business with lots of variables!

 

[RH]

No need to back roll just spray it on. Buy a graco 395 its worth it in the long run.

 

[straight_lines]

Those pumps are for DIY's. the only thing you will gain is regret. Go to HD in the rental room and by a used Airlessco 500 series.

You won't be sorry.

This, you can rent one if you want to see what you are buying. They sell these units for about 1/3 the cost of new after so many rentals so ask around the local Home Depots.

They will last a very long time if taken care of.

 

[driftweed]

No need to back roll just spray it on. Buy a graco 395 its worth it in the long run.

This attitude gets me ALOT of work. Because tiger striped walls are awesome...

Spend the money, get a good sprayer, & for the love of god backroll.

Your cleaning the carpets anyway, so drop you tipsize down from that damned monster 515 that comes with the machine to a 313 or 211 & shield away. There I just saved you an hour of prepwork masking.

Here's proof:

Spend the $800 & do a professional job plz. I hope you didn't buy the cheapest vacuum & shampoo machine did you?

 

[TJ Paint]

We are talking about quality apartment painting?

Thanks for the laugh.

 

[CFMCLLC]

Thanks for all the advice. I have decided to just go with the mid grade commercial gear... i.e. Graco 390 (ish) or titan 400 (ish) or maybe the HD rental if i can find a few. trying to source some good pricing now.

I really appreciate all of the input...

 

[pkrieg]

I've had a Graco XR-5 I got for $150 on craigslist. Used it every week for 4 yrs and it still runs like a champ. I've never replaced the packings. I've sprayed 100's of gallons of paint and made hundreds of thousands of dollars with that thing. Don't hesitate to buy one.

 

[Masterpiece]

I've had a Graco XR-5 I got for $150 on craigslist. Used it every week for 4 yrs and it still runs like a champ. I've never replaced the packings. I've sprayed 100's of gallons of paint and made hundreds of thousands of dollars with that thing. Don't hesitate to buy one.

Seriously? That's pretty amazing as I know guys that used that same $299 rig and burned it up ONLY shooting semi gloss onto doors. However he and the fellow that smoked the XR-7 do blow and go work...