# Unoccupied Interiors: Spray or Cut and Roll?



## BhamPainter (Mar 6, 2013)

Hey all,

If you have an interior that is free of furniture but has floors that are staying, do you usually spray or cut and roll? If floors are out, I almost always spray, but if they're in I usually go the old-fashioned route. I have 2,500 sqft interior I'm bidding, and I was just considering the alternatives.

I know my rates for each method, but I've never bid a job like this two different ways to see the difference. What's your personal approach?


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## kmp (Jan 30, 2011)

If the color through out is the same and I'm doing everything including closets then I will spray it. If the ceilings and walls are a different color then I will spray the lids and roll the walls.


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## PNW Painter (Sep 5, 2013)

If you know your rates for each method, then I'd choose the method that gets the job done the fastest. In many instances I've found that it's a wash to spray vs brush and roll. Of course there are a million variables that can influence this decision. 


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## BhamPainter (Mar 6, 2013)

Yeah, I guess I should say that I know my rates for both, but I don't know my aggregate rate for spraying with masking. I have a per-piece masking rate, and then I have a rate for spraying once it's all masked up. I've always figured it's more or less a wash. Definitely a fair bit faster to spray if floors are out, though.



PNW Painter said:


> If you know your rates for each method, then I'd choose the method that gets the job done the fastest. In many instances I've found that it's a wash to spray vs brush and roll. Of course there are a million variables that can influence this decision.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Eagle Cap Painter (Nov 14, 2016)

First consideration I'd think would be whether or not you're going for a sprayed finish on the trim and mouldings. If you're setting up to spray that, you might as well do more.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

StepUpBham said:


> Hey all,
> 
> If you have an interior that is free of furniture but has floors that are staying, do you usually spray or cut and roll? If floors are out, I almost always spray, but if they're in I usually go the old-fashioned route. I have 2,500 sqft interior I'm bidding, and I was just considering the alternatives.
> 
> I know my rates for each method, but I've never bid a job like this two different ways to see the difference. What's your personal approach?


Brushing and rolling is a lot more peaceful then spraying. Clean up is easy. Less masking and waste. I always get anxious when I'm around a job site where there's masking with overspray every where. You can just sense the haste and tension in the air. Especially when the deafened painter with paint spray all over his face is yelling something inaudible about a fuse tripping or something.

On the other hand, a bucket and roller with a little cut brush and pot sitting nice and orderly atop a newly laid out drop cloth, offers a feel of calm and control.


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

I think our new method in this instance is going to be for almost all interior repaints....*Graco Jet Roller*. 

We've been using it in a hotel recently and the thing is just awesome. It's definitely way more faster than a roller/bucket/tray, but not quite as fast as spraying. 

For the most part I'm converting all the guys over the jet rollers for all interior work now. Unless of course, it's a room or two, doesn't really justify breaking out the unit for that. But a whole house or a large section of a home/project...then yes. 

Masking is minimal, speed is very* good, and re-coat time is very good too. Overall....it's a win.


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## mattpaints82 (Mar 7, 2013)

woodcoyote said:


> I think our new method in this instance is going to be for almost all interior repaints....*Graco Jet Roller*.
> 
> We've been using it in a hotel recently and the thing is just awesome. It's definitely way more faster than a roller/bucket/tray, but not quite as fast as spraying.
> 
> ...


Couldn't agree more, the jetroller is super fast, and very little overspray. We have been using it primarily on NC and it works great. I'm going to try it out on a brick exterior we have coming up.


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## Jmayspaint (Mar 26, 2013)

Has anyone been able to compare the jet roller to a regular power roller? Is it better?


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## slinger58 (Feb 11, 2013)

CApainter said:


> Brushing and rolling is a lot more peaceful then spraying. Clean up is easy. Less masking and waste. I always get anxious when I'm around a job site where there's masking with overspray every where. You can just sense the haste and tension in the air. Especially when the deafened painter with paint spray all over his face is yelling something inaudible about a fuse tripping or something.
> 
> On the other hand, a bucket and roller with a little cut brush and pot sitting nice and orderly atop a newly laid out drop cloth, offers a feel of calm and control.




There's a lot to be said for that approach. 

And what is it about setting up and doing a spray operation that brings on such a sense of manic urgency? I've been doing this painting stuff for a while now and still that feeling of "hurry up" can set in when setting up a little spray booth in my garage to paint a set of cab doors. 


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## mattpaints82 (Mar 7, 2013)

Jmayspaint said:


> Has anyone been able to compare the jet roller to a regular power roller? Is it better?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


We have the 18" jetroller, so the bigger size is a definite advantage. I also feel like you don't have to work it as much as an internal feed power roller.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

slinger58 said:


> There's a lot to be said for that approach.
> 
> And what is it about setting up and doing a spray operation that brings on such a sense of manic urgency? I've been doing this painting stuff for a while now and still that feeling of "hurry up" can set in when setting up a little spray booth in my garage to paint a set of cab doors.
> 
> ...


I think you're expected to do the job faster when spraying. So naturally, all the logistics of masking and setting up before peeling out the gate with guns a blazin', takes on an overstated urgency to meet those expectations. Throw in the fact that you've given up a significant portion of application responsibility and control to a machine that has not always been so cooperative in the past, suddenly a simple paint job has become a journey with all of the exhaustion at the end of it.


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## AngieM (Apr 13, 2016)

I have the jet roller but have only used it once. There's definitely a learning curve to master the job sequence. It threw off my regular painting routine so I got frustrated with it. I had to remember to fill my cut pot with paint ran THROUGH the sprayer prime tube, or I noticed a sheen difference. 

I also kept inadvertently speckling the ceiling. It's anti gravity, reverse spatter 🤣

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up. I just can't bust that can of worms out on a rush job until I master it. 

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## Lazerline (Mar 26, 2012)

I spray if it's empty


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## Crackshot (Dec 29, 2015)

woodcoyote said:


> I think our new method in this instance is going to be for almost all interior repaints....*Graco Jet Roller*.
> 
> We've been using it in a hotel recently and the thing is just awesome. It's definitely way more faster than a roller/bucket/tray, but not quite as fast as spraying.
> 
> ...


good man, i have been umming and ahhing about getting one. 
how are they for "lived in repaints" ? lol... pushing it?



OP.

the floors are staying. so carpet is staying. 
so its a repaint. so no sealer? undercoat. if no undercoat. just ceiling flat, enamel and topcoats, old fashioned is faster if your fast. 
i would only spray if like mentioned before its all the same color / minus sheens.


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

Edit: Let me rephrase this.

If it's empty, you spray it and collect the check. Even more so when it's the same color, that's cake work lol. 

Even with masking, spraying is 2 to 3x faster if you got a crew that knows how to do things and what to do. If done right, touch-up is almost non-existent, and you can forget about having to 2 coat anything. 




If the place has some things in it etc, then jet rolling is the next best thing. I get rid of the bucket/pan and all the dipping involved. I can't put it on as thick as when I spray, no where near as thick, but my guys can bang out 2 coats almost as fast as it can dry. In a regular sized bedroom they are literally waiting for the paint to dry because they finished it so fast.


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

AngieM said:


> I had to remember to fill my cut pot
> 
> I also kept inadvertently speckling the ceiling. It's anti gravity, reverse spatter &#55358;&#56611;
> 
> ...


Hopefully you've had some time to play with it. The thing works pretty awesome. If you adjust it right you shouldn't have any overspray/splatter on the ceiling. Like zero. We just got done spraying gray paint on the walls with the ceilings being white and didn't get anything on the ceilings. 

Cut pot? In situations where there might not be caulking or real rough texture I'd resort to that. But I've been getting the hang of the cut wheel attachment. My guys are scared of it, but I love it. I can run circles around a brush guy, maybe even an entire brush crew, with the attachment. But it does take a bit of adjusting and fiddling to get the setup right, but as far as I can tell it works pretty good, corners are pretty much the only place a brush needs to be used and that's a little 2 minute jobs, takes longer to move the ladder around the place.










https://www.titantool.com/products/accessory-detail/spray-guide/

*Edit:*
The use of this tool isn't to eliminate the cutter, but to move the roll of the cutter into more of a touch-up guy. So I'm not bashing cutters or brushes because we they'll always be used and are good for smaller projects where such a devise is too time consuming to setup/use. 

But we are in business to make money and anything to speed production up while not loosing or jeopardizing results is a plus in my book. Kinda like paying for good quality paint at a cheaper price, what's wrong with that?


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## Vylum (May 12, 2016)

im in the cut and roll group but if youre covering a bunch of dark trim with a stark white ive been temped to blast the trim and cover the floor


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