Its time to paint our old house inside and out so we can put it on the market for sale. (We've only procrastinated 1 year now!)

I bought a $200 Wagner ProCoat airless sprayer from QVC, thinking it would really save time.

Today at work I chanced upon a man who has painted professionally. He said that the professional paint sprayers cost upwards of $2000 and that I would be better off to rent one because they do a much better job with less frustration.

THEN I talked to my boss (the Judge), who has done a lot of painting. He swears he will NEVER use a sprayer again! Not even a professional model! Besides being messy, unhealthy and using more paint, he didn't like the finished product.

SO...

Should I send back the Wagner and rent one, or just do it the old-fashioned way with brushes and rollers? Keep in mind we've got to stand on scaffolding in order to get up under the eaves.

UGH!!!

I'm screaming out my window now.."TWINK is still able to paint her own house"

Send back the wagner and hire some college kids who want to make some money this summer for the same price?

I dunno. I remember DH2B and I painting the entire inside of the house we rented a few months before the MS struck, and it whipped my butt. I couldn't imagine trying to do it today.

Paint half of one wall...nap... get up, eat, paint other half of one wall...nap...

Man, this is gonna take forever!

What kind of siding is it?

fairly smooth ?
rough /textured ?

If rough I'd spray - but if smooth brushes & rollers

And a decent paint of brand.

spraying takes much more prep - protection from over spray etc

my brother sprayed my parents house and got in a rush cause a rain storm was coming.. and the wind was picking up...
lots of over spray on the roof line & plants , sidewalk, entry way
They do have shingle /shake siding though so it would be a real pain to brush/roll it , but bro just rushed the job.

Sal, I should tell you that I have a way of beginning things, then letting DH finish them up!!! I totally plan on doing that with this project, lol!!!

College kids is a good idea.

We're not painting siding. The house is brick, but it is old and has wood eaves. Of course the inside is painted sheetrock/wallboard and wood trim.

Hmmm, I wonder who's coming home from college this summer?

Hire a painter! It took us two weeks and there were three of us doing the work last spring!

Hiring a painter is very tempting.

But I AM my parents' daughter: they were diehard Do-it-Yourselfers.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to get some bids...

Twink, now is the time to use your "I've got MS" card.

If I have to have this hideous disease.....then I'm gonna use it to my advantage whenever I can. I'm serious. There's no shame in it.....it's the truth.

If the house was built before 1978 there are some new rules that go into affect April 22nd regarding lead paint. Building and painting contractors have to be certified in lead safe practices to be able to work on those pre 78 homes. Fines can be as much as $37,500............per day!

Home owners who don't want to pay the extra cost (maybe 10 - 15%) of using lead safe practices can sign a waiver that absolves the contractor of responsibility.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/04162...3044_32564.php

I took the course and got certified about 6 weeks ago. It's going to be a paperwork nightmare.

I've painted my house three or four times. It's the prep that gets you! All the loose paint has to be scraped off. Tarps have to be in place to catch the chips. Holes have to be filled and smoothed. There's always some sort of repair to trim or wood that needs to be made.

I gave up and did maintenance free vinyl siding. They lie. You still have to wash it, and fix the pieces that always seem to get broken somehow! ( like when the man shovels snow and jams the shovel through the siding or hits it with a rake accidentally or one of the kids lets go of a bat and it goes through the siding or...) It's still better than having to paint!!