Wagner paint sprayers: Time saver or money waster?

I've got some upcoming projects that will require painting (refinishing some furniture, painting a mini barn). I don't really like the idea of brushing or rolling either of them, and I'm sure there could be future projects where it might come in handy too. 

Anybody have good or bad things to say about the Wagner style paint sprayers? It seems like they might give a better surface finish on the furniture than brushing or rolling would, and spraying the mini barn seems like it would be easier than brushing or rolling too. They now make models that can spray latex paints and even chalk paints for MrsSTMs crafty things so that's more appealing than having limited capabilities. Am I crazy for wanting one?

Any time you save with application is used up ×2 on prep and cleanup.  Self employed doing home improvement, remodeling and repair for 15 years

Rent an airless from a place like USrentals for the barn.  Small projects like furniture you can buy the baby food jar plus aerosol reasonably or use rattle cans depending on color

I have a Wagner sprayer.

Neighbour and I split a new fence a couple years ago.  I watched him take a whole three-day weekend to stain his side with a brush. I was done my side in an afternoon, including cleanup.

Your mileage may vary but I love mine for outdoor projects.

I did my 175' fence with a cheap on-sale Princess Auto (Harbor Freight equivalent) electric sprayer.  It made it to the end (two coats), and then I chucked it, not even cleaning it. Money well spent.

Justjim75 said:

Any time you save with application is used up ×2 on prep and cleanup.  Self employed doing home improvement, remodeling and repair for 15 years

It just seems like most of my prep would be the same whether I'm spraying or not. As far as the furniture goes, it will all probably be done outside on a tarp. Maybe on some saw horses too depending on the piece. The minibarn will be getting a new roof and all new trim after painting, so I'm not overly concerned with overspray there either. Neither situation is like I'd be masking off a bunch of trim, flooring or a ceiling as if I were painting a room indoors. Is there other prep required with the sprayer that I'm not considering? 

Years ago I spent a couple of summers painting houses.  It sucked but I learned how to get some serious production done and a few times I rented the big sprayer.

Then someone gave me a Wagner sprayer so I gave it a shot......for 5 minutes.  Then I threw it away and went back to rolling and brushing.  Then one day I found one of these big boys at Lowe’s on half off sale (a returned unit).  Bought it and never looked back, it really does the job for big areas.

For furniture i’d use a paint gun like the ones that come with air compressors.  Again, when I repainted my cabinets I went that way for the best results.  Use Flotrol when thinning your paint for optimal results.

I have had one for quite a while.  Very handy for outdoor work.  I have used it to do my 150' of fence 3 times.  The board on board style of the fence makes it impossible to do a good job without some kind of sprayer.  Using the Wagner was a lot easier than running an air hose and using a regular spray gun which I did the first time.  

I have also done my storage shed a couple times.  Using the sprayer took ~1/4 the time that brush and roller did originally.

SkinnyG said:

I did my 175' fence with a cheap on-sale Princess Auto (Harbor Freight equivalent) electric sprayer.  It made it to the end (two coats), and then I chucked it, not even cleaning it. Money well spent.

Genius

I have one, I used it to stain the cedar shingles on my garage and it worked well.  I still had brush out the stain, but the sprayer got a lot of product onto the walls quickly.  It was well worth the price.

I think the difference maybe skill level.  The 2 of us that have painted professionally wouldn't bother, but homeowner DIY guys like them.  No offense, you guys are probably better drivers than I, lol.

Skill level. Lol.

When I ran the tool repair shop, the only people who managed to bring in sprayers full of dried paint were "professionals".

Take that whatever way you choose.

I'm an amateur but I'm pretty good at painting...as mentioned in my earlier post, the Wagner does a good job of getting the product up on the wall.  In my case I was staining cedar shingles, and getting good coverage on them with a brush only is a lot of work.  I'd spray it on, brush it out and then move on.  It went quickly.

In reply to Trans_Maro :

Good help is often hard to find.

I use one at the theater for painting large things.  Justjim is correct that there is no time savings on smaller projects since it takes a while to set up.  The cleanup part doesn't take any longer than a brush or roller.  In fact, I might say that the sprayer is a faster cleanup.  Ever try to really get all the paint out of a 3/8" nap roller?  Takes forever.

I just used my Wagner at the theater last week.  I had to construct a 12' high wall that was 26' long, so I pulled out 6 of my 4x12' wall flats, set them up in the loading dock, and hosed them down with flat black latex.  Don't tell the set designer that the 26' wall he asked for is now only 24'.  He'll never know.

Finish quality is a toss-up.  To get a good finish on furniture takes a very good hand with either method.  Latex paint is thick so it tends to not drip, but it has next to no film strength.  When you spray something like lacquer or enamel, the solvent evaporates quickly and it develops a film quickly to prevent runs.  Latex's solvent is water, so it doesn't take much overkill to make runs.  Its like spraying pudding.  Looks great when you spray but an hour later it might show runs because it takes so much longer to dry.

For furniture (at least on my stage) I often use a fine-hair chip brush for detail and nooks and crannies, but I use a 4" foam roller on flat surfaces like arm rests and desktops.  It takes a wet roller and even pressure to prevent lines, but it turns out well from the audience.  Latex will nearly always have orange peel to it regardless of whether or not it is sprayed or rolled.

In reply to Curtis :

That's very helpful! I'm not committed to latex on the furniture, but having options is always a good thing.

I tried 2 wagoners in the distant past. Neither worked well unless the paint was so watery it took extra coats to cover. Replaced it with a used "professional" type one that straddles a pain can and never looked back. Ironically I bought the used pro one for the same price.

I have thought of getting one for painting my boats.  I am not bad with the Roll and Tip method, but I always get a couple of "holidays" whenever I do it.

LOUD!

Woody said:

LOUD!

WHAT???

Yeah, Woody's right. Those things make a lot of noise. I repainted my house in 2004 with a Wagner sprayer after "burning" off the layers of paint down to bare siding with a heat gun. Went through 3 heat guns, but only 1 sprayer.

Graco, a well known brand for professional airless equipment, now has a line of decent DIY grade machines.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=graco+magnum&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

These are great for oil and latex products, but have an interior diaphragm that can't be used with lacquer products or lacquer thinner for cleaning. Have to be cleaned with mineral spirits.

They use standard Graco spray tips which clean, and interchange easily, and there are many different sizes depending on viscosity of material and spray pattern needed.

Worth checking out.

I actually ended up with an airless sprayer from HF. It let me paint the interior walls of my 32 X 48 shop in about an hour per coat. Lots of prep and cleanup, but it's a pretty handy tool. I looked into renting one, and a few days of rental was close enough to the price of the HF unit for me to splurge a bit. For something that's not going to be used all that often, I couldn't justify the cost of anything higher end. Graco tips fit the HF sprayer just fine though. I might use it on the inside and outside of my minibarn at some point to freshen it up.

Not sure if canoe or not above, but I got one of these that came up on slickdeals and its been great. Painted the whole house way faster than with a brush. Same with the fence. Would buy again:

Just got done doing a major paint job with one of the bigger Graco models with the hose and remote gun listed above.  Did my whole basement.  Walls and ceiling, paint and primer.  Ended up shooting about 25 gallons of paint.  Really happy at how it turned out, would definitely do it agian.  For painting floor joists it was the cats ass.  Even doing the walls and ceilings it went so much faster and laid out so much better than brush or roller. 

You don't have to clean it after every day, just every few days if it sits.  I was able to paint light-to-dark, and by doing stuff like closets first and doing two coats, only cleaned the gun twice over 25 gallons.  

Best part is I spent $250 on it, used ones go for $200 or more.  So I basically got it for 50 bucks which is way cheaper than a rental.