# Graco 390 for interior repaints?



## RGpaintz (Mar 2, 2015)

So I work at a 440 unit apartment complex doing all the painting...The apartments that are in rough shape when the tenants move out have the floors and carpets replaced.. These are the apartments I will be spraying out.. there are 2 bedroom 2 bath at 900 sg ft and 2 bedroom 1 bath at about 850 sq ft.. I will probably have one or two a week to spray out on average.. the rest of the apartments I just roll a room or wall here and there and mostly do touch up work to get them ready to rent out... SO my question is will a 390 be enough to spray these out? A contractor friend of mine has lent me his 695 but my god its heavy... and for some damn reason most of the move outs in the complex are from upstairs apartments... so I will have to tote that 695 up and down stairs if I decide to buy the 695 from my friend.. although it seems to leak a bit from under the rig near the big filter...and supposedly he recently had it repaired.. He told me that a 390 cant keep up painting walls.. but in my research it seems that may not be true... 
Ive been painting since I was 16.... Took a break for a while to work in a different field, but ended up back painting in 2013...so ive used a lot of different rigs... but never a 390... Im just too old for humping around a 120 pound spray rig designed to run two guns when I will never need to do that, at least not for the foreseeable future. Any input is appreciated.
Thanks    :thumbsup:


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## PRC (Aug 28, 2014)

It will do the job. It's just a matter of how fast do you want to do it.


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## RGpaintz (Mar 2, 2015)

PRC said:


> It will do the job. It's just a matter of how fast do you want to do it.


I dont think it would take me more than 2-3 hours to spray out a 900 sq ft apartment... even with a smaller airless... but Ill have several doors and jambs to do as well... I dont need to stand back 3 feet and pummel the poor walls... although it is pretty fun sometimes... unless Im the one buying the paint:blink: Im guessing the 390
would be working harder / louder than this 695 I have sitting here...... but I drug this thing up a flight of stairs once already and its even heavier and more cumbersome than my old hero top feed was.


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## Jmayspaint (Mar 26, 2013)

PRC said:


> It will do the job. It's just a matter of how fast do you want to do it.




Yeah, that's the crux of it. 
I've sprayed out plenty of houses with a 390 and no, it won't keep up with how fast I want to go. But, if you don't mind pausing for the pump to catch up every so often it will work. 

Personally, I would rather use the 695 with a couple hundred feet of line. Leave it down stairs and spray all you want. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The Cutting Edge (May 25, 2014)

I think the 390 with a 50ft hose would be the perfect size for you. Its big enough to spray standard wall and ceiling paint but is also light and easy to move. I don't think he's going to be spraying elastomerics here or needs to run a 12.25 tip or something. Having a hose laying in a hall of an apartment complex with people walking back and forth well I just don't think I would do it. If the floor isn't occupied maybe.


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## [email protected] (Mar 1, 2008)

A couple things to think about. The Potential mess from ether rig. Where are our setting up. For me a 100 foot of hose. Or longer if needed. For apmt to painting I have put the pump on a 4 wheel cart about 30" wide by 48 long. Help keep the mess down. Or a hard tarp. I have a pickup truck bed liner that is just a sheet of plastic. With clean up in the maintains room. Just as long as the 695 pump is in good shape I would do it. Forget carrying up the stairs. Work it out of the hallways.


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## bobross (Jun 27, 2016)

I would say a 495 high boy should be right where you need to be.


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

If you are doing quick, mass turnover...i.e. student rentals, you will want the larger unit with a lot of hose. If they are one off, you're gonna want the smaller unit with the shortest hose you can get away with.

If they are one off, might just as well brush and roll.

Against my better judgement, I submitted a bid on a large complex that needed 150 units a week done. The way I had it worked out, I was going to run a large Speedflo from the parking lot and reach everything with hose length. This is do-able, with the right mindset and crew.

Fortuitously, it turned out that I came in 2 to 3 times what others were willing to do it for. We do turns for another company that has townhomes...usually 2 or 3 a month or so. They aren't terribly lucrative, but it's nice to have some rain day work, because they are pretty flexible on timelines. 

Sometimes it's nice to have some mindless work to do. If they all have the same floorplan, you can really develop a good system and get in and out pretty quick.

In essence, the 390 will do what you need.

If I was doing one at a time and had it on a cart, I'd use a 25' hose. 900 sq/ft apartment=maybe having to kick the cart 10' once.


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## RGpaintz (Mar 2, 2015)

These are 47-48 8 unit apartment buildings with 2 flights of stairs and 4 units to each entrance 2 up and 2 downs stairs..per stair case No hallways really... and yes I would only be doing 1-2 a week..maybe 3.. The management here pays by the hour unless you spray a unit out.. Ive been rolling them for almost two years by the hour and im sick of it...I will make double the money in half the time spraying them out when a unit comes up that is having the floors and carpet replaced.. I guess some of their previous painters got paint all over the carpet in the past so they dont want anyone spraying apartments that have floors and carpet that arent being replace. Ive done it a lot myself, but they are traumatized apparently...Dont ask me, ive never worked for people that run things this way,. its all very odd... Its a long story... ive been making chicken feed painting these apartments... @ 14 dollars an hour... ill make more like 28 spraying them whenever I can...


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## RGpaintz (Mar 2, 2015)

I just lost an auction for a 390pc on ebay by 11 dollars... damnit.


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

IMO a 695 is a perfect machine. It can spray almost anything and doesn't work too hard to do it. A 390 will be running non stop, at full speed once you start painting. You can spin the machine backwards and roll it up the stairs. Still not the easiest way but isn't too bad. I would rather have a machine with wheels and fight with it on the stair then have a lighter machine with no wheels and have to carry it everywhere i go. Have you ever had to move a 390 that is in a fiver of paint before?


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

That is true, but he's saying he's doing 2 or 3 a week...not a day. If that is it, what's the point of overkill? Installing trim with a sledge is noteworthy, but what's the point?


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## oldccm (Jan 23, 2013)

We've gotten away from all our 390's. We have 5 small machines at all times and we always go 490's for latex. 4 low profile (or whatever they call it) and 1 hi-boy. 
395 hi-boy for lacquer 
695 for commercial/light industrial
And a 1095 for when we need lots of hose or heavy materials.


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

I think to expound on this a bit, I'd buy a 440 or a 390 (395? I don't have any Graco equipment) and never clean it. 2-3 units a week, leave it in the paint and stash it in a utility room. The damn thing will surely run for a couple of years and you can eliminate daily cleanup. Should pay for itself right smartly, if you get your system down.

I have a wounded airlessco that has probably grossed close to $100k in it's lifetime. I will attempt to repair her, just because she's been a solid performer. If not, I'll get another one. 

Dollars and cents


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

ParamountPaint said:


> That is true, but he's saying he's doing 2 or 3 a week...not a day. If that is it, what's the point of overkill? Installing trim with a sledge is noteworthy, but what's the point?


Maybe your right, if your only doing 1-3 apartments a week maybe you should looking into a Graco Magnum. The machines are only $299 brand new. Would only take 22 hours to pay it off then its all profit after that. Even if it only last you 100 hours, you would of made $1,092.00 off the machine. Pretty good return on $299.00


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## oldccm (Jan 23, 2013)

Please don't buy a magnum. Those are for DIY homeowners. I get calls and texts every time a guy I know tries to use his


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

oldccm said:


> Please don't buy a magnum. Those are for DIY homeowners. I get calls and texts every time a guy I know tries to use his


Are they really that bad? Spraying out a 2 bedroom apartment should only take 2-3 hour. If he has 2 a week that machine will only run for 4-6 hours a week. Pretty close to DIY homeowner usage. It has a 1/2 hp motor compared to the 390's 5/8hp. Think that 1/8 hp adds $700 of value?


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## oldccm (Jan 23, 2013)

It's akin to a Chinese knock off. Cheap gun, crap hose. The intake hose looks like it's from garden hose material. I think it actually came with Rac 5 housing and tip too. The 390 is the absolute smallest I'd go. The 490 is a little bigger and.l better but is roughly the same size as a 390 which is why I recommend it.


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

oldccm said:


> It's akin to a Chinese knock off. Cheap gun, crap hose. The intake hose looks like it's from garden hose material. I think it actually came with Rac 5 housing and tip too. The 390 is the absolute smallest I'd go. The 490 is a little bigger and.l better but is roughly the same size as a 390 which is why I recommend it.


I agree they look like total junk and I would never buy one, but when I use a sprayer it is usually running for 6-7 hours per day. The OP is going to use it for 2-3 hours per week and is only making a extra $14 per hour to use it. Would take the OP roughly 25 weeks to pay it off without any repairs. Unless he plans on painting more units per week I don't really think its feasible to spray any units.


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## RGpaintz (Mar 2, 2015)

Gracobucks said:


> I agree they look like total junk and I would never buy one, but when I use a sprayer it is usually running for 6-7 hours per day. The OP is going to use it for 2-3 hours per week and is only making a extra $14 per hour to use it. Would take the OP roughly 25 weeks to pay it off without any repairs. Unless he plans on painting more units per week I don't really think its feasible to spray any units.



Yeah well Ill only make 15 an hour rolling them out... They think that spraying the apartment magically makes the work worth more here... Ive been rolling them out for 14 an hour for almost two years.. I think ill take the extra money and spray them if thats what they want.


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## oldccm (Jan 23, 2013)

Gracobucks said:


> I agree they look like total junk and I would never buy one, but when I use a sprayer it is usually running for 6-7 hours per day. The OP is going to use it for 2-3 hours per week and is only making a extra $14 per hour to use it. Would take the OP roughly 25 weeks to pay it off without any repairs. Unless he plans on painting more units per week I don't really think its feasible to spray any units.




I buy tools that last, personally don't think the magnums are for guys who paint professionally. We kick the **** out of our 490's and they last a few years. A guy spraying periodically and only latex can get easy 10+ years out of a 490.


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## AngieM (Apr 13, 2016)

I highly recommend opting for the hi boy sprayer. Like someone said, have you ever tried moving around a skid in five? Forget it or expect a mess. 

If you expect to take this thing up stairs, you'll thank yourself for getting a hi boy. Not only does the 390 weigh 60 pounds, but it's an awkward 60 pounds. Stuff hanging off it, dripping, banging against every corner... Ugh. That's why I sold my 440 and got a Graco 490 hi boy. My quality of life improved immensely 😀


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## RGpaintz (Mar 2, 2015)

AngieM said:


> I highly recommend opting for the hi boy sprayer. Like someone said, have you ever tried moving around a skid in five? Forget it or expect a mess.
> 
> If you expect to take this thing up stairs, you'll thank yourself for getting a hi boy. Not only does the 390 weigh 60 pounds, but it's an awkward 60 pounds. Stuff hanging off it, dripping, banging against every corner... Ugh. That's why I sold my 440 and got a Graco 490 hi boy. My quality of life improved immensely 😀


Hmm the 390 is listed at 30/31 lbs... is that inaccurate?

390 Electric Airless Sprayer
Power Requirements100V/120V AC, 50/60 Hz, 11A, 1 phase 100V/120V AC, 50/60 Hz, 11A, 1 phaseFluid Outlet Size1/4 in. 1/4 in.Weight30 lbs 13.6 kgWeight (with gauge)31 lbs 14 kg
At 60 lbs that would be a factor I agree... Ill have to ask someone at SW about the weight... I am currently using a 695 and that thing is a pain to pull up stairs alone... but not impossible.


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## oldccm (Jan 23, 2013)

30lbs is right. 490 is slightly more. Maybe a pound or 2. The hi-boys are very easy to lug around.


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

RGpaintz said:


> Hmm the 390 is listed at 30/31 lbs... is that inaccurate?
> 
> 390 Electric Airless Sprayer
> Power Requirements100V/120V AC, 50/60 Hz, 11A, 1 phase 100V/120V AC, 50/60 Hz, 11A, 1 phaseFluid Outlet Size1/4 in. 1/4 in.Weight30 lbs 13.6 kgWeight (with gauge)31 lbs 14 kg
> At 60 lbs that would be a factor I agree... Ill have to ask someone at SW about the weight... I am currently using a 695 and that thing is a pain to pull up stairs alone... but not impossible.


Its not so much the weight of the machine itself. More of the weight of the machine and the pail of paint attached to it. It becomes awkward to carry the 2 together. I personally find it easier to wheel the machine around then carry it. If you buy the 390 hi-boy it shouldn't way much more then the standard 390, making easy to pull up stairs.


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## Vylum (May 12, 2016)

AngieM said:


> I highly recommend opting for the hi boy sprayer. Like someone said, have you ever tried moving around a skid in five? Forget it or expect a mess.
> 
> If you expect to take this thing up stairs, you'll thank yourself for getting a hi boy. Not only does the 390 weigh 60 pounds, but it's an awkward 60 pounds. Stuff hanging off it, dripping, banging against every corner... Ugh. That's why I sold my 440 and got a Graco 490 hi boy. My quality of life improved immensely 😀


who lifts the 490 off the truck for you?


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## PRC (Aug 28, 2014)

Vylum said:


> who lifts the 490 off the truck for you?


Wtf does that mean! I'm sure she does! Take your sexist comment and shove it.


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## AngieM (Apr 13, 2016)

Vylum said:


> who lifts the 490 off the truck for you?


I go find an undereducated meat head to do all my heavy lifting. They're usually at the job site, "shredding walls" out of a paint pan without a drop cloth or smokin cigs and flicking them in the customer's yard.


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## AngieM (Apr 13, 2016)

I checked the weight specs for the titan 440,and I stand corrected. It's 35 lbs. But to reiterate my point, it's much easier to maneuver a sprayer, especially in paint, on wheels. 

And for the record, I use a makeshift ramp to get my sprayer and pressure washers in and out of my van.


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