Paint sprayers are slowly becoming staples in the household of the average DIY-er. And it’s easy to see why considering you can easily use these tools to achieve a smooth paint finish on just about any surface in a matter of hours.
Compare that to the couple of days it will take to achieve the same finish using a standard roller or paint brush. But if you really want to have a professional-grade finish, it’s more recommended to use a paint gun or airless sprayer for the task.
And if it’s your first time using one of these tools, you’ve probably asked if you can use a paint gun for interior walls.
Can You Use A Paint Gun For Interior Walls?
Paint guns and airless paint sprayers can be used to paint interior walls. In fact, these tools can be used to achieve professional-grade finishes all from the comfort of one’s home, without needing to hire a professional team to do the job. That being said, to do this properly one will need to properly prepare the room for painting as well as know how to properly use a paint gun.
And in this article, we’ve created a quick and easy guide to using a paint gun painting interior walls to make the process much easier for you!
So if you’ve been looking to paint interior walls yourself using a paint gun, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn more.
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Why Use A Paint Gun For Interior Walls?
Normal consumer type paint sprayers do a great job for small and simple projects such as painting chairs, cabinets, or other furniture. However, if you’re looking to get a very clean and professional looking finish by yourself, it’s best to use an airless paint gun for the task.
This is because these machines utilize higher pressure, which will allow you to paint a larger area at a time and also allows you to get a finely atomized mist, which is key in getting clean finishes. And while they may be fairly expensive to buy, it’s a very worthwhile investment, especially if you do a lot of paint projects at home by yourself.
But if buying an airless paint gun isn’t an option for you, don’t worry. There are a couple of paint supply stores and construction rental shops that will allow you to rent one for a couple of days at a very affordable price. And if you do the job right, you’ll only need one for a couple of days at most anyway.
That being said, using one of these tools for the first time can be pretty intimidating, and if you don’t follow the right steps and techniques you might risk overspray, which can ruin the finish of the walls.
To help you with this, we’ve made a step-by-step guide in the next section that details how you can use an airless paint gun to paint interior walls.
How To Use An Airless Paint Gun Indoors
Step 1: Prep The Room
The most important step in this process is preparing the room. You can start by removing all the furniture from the room if possible, and if there are pieces of furniture that can’t be removed, you can move them to the center of the room to allow you to freely move around when painting.
What’s important is that you have enough space to go about the paint job without bumping into anything.
From there, you will have to cover up all the holes in the wall using a spackling material so that paint will not get inside. You will also need to cover up all the areas you don’t want painted with masking tape and protective paper. This includes the windows, electrical fixtures, and trim.
It might also help if you remove the plates that cover the electrical features before covering up to make the process simpler. On top of that, it’s important that the room is properly ventilated as you will be spraying tiny particles of paint that can be inhaled accidentally.
You can do this by opening up a window and putting an old box fan on it, with the fan facing the outside. This will remove the air from the room and blow it out, making for much better ventilation and a safer working area.
Step 2: Wear Protective Equipment
The next step is to wear protective equipment. This means wearing old clothes you don’t mind getting paint on, comfortable shoes, gloves, goggles, and a face mask that covers both your nose and your mouth to be extra safe.
And once you have all the protective equipment, you’ll be ready to start your paint project.
Step 3: Prep The Sprayer
To begin, you will first have to prep the sprayer. For most airless paint guns, that means priming the pump. Different models will have different instructions for this, so make sure to check out the user manual before proceeding.
Generally, to prime a pump with an airless paint gun, you will have to put the prime tube in a waste bucket and the suction tube in your paint bucket, set the sprayer to “prime” mode, then turn it on until paint flows out of the prime tube.
Most airless sprayers can easily handle unthinned paint, so you won’t have to thin your paint beforehand, unless you’re looking to get a cleaner and smoother finish. It’s also important to strain your paint first to avoid getting large clumps and particles in the material.
From there, simply attach the paint gun to the sprayer, and you’ll be ready to start painting.
Step 5: Start Painting!
Once you’ve achieved just the right spray pattern and pressure, you can begin painting the walls. Keep the tip of the paint gun at least 20cm-30cm away from the wall, and make a pass using a horizontal sweeping motion. To reduce overspray, make sure to always keep the gun moving.
Repeat this process, making sure to overlap around 30%-50% of the previous strip everytime you make a pass. Once completed, you might have to do another coat, but this time moving vertically instead of horizontally.
Simply keep doing this until you’ve covered the entire surface and you’ll be good to go!
Conclusion
While using an airless paint gun may seem intimidating for beginners, it’s actually fairly easy once you get the hang of it.
Just remember to always prime your pump first and to keep the gun moving when painting. Again, it might take some practice, but you will eventually get used to it and painting a wall will never be the same.
So if you make sure to follow these steps properly and be patient when it comes to learning how to use a paint gun, you’ll have your interior walls painted in no time!
Read more: Best cheap paint sprayer– Reviews in 2021