Brushing vs. Spraying Paint: Which is Best?

Brushing vs. Spraying Paint: Which is Best?

I get asked professional painters perth why we don’t spray our primer on window sashes. Just the opposite day one among my employees asked the question, hoping that they had thought of something which may make our jobs easier and therefore the work move faster.

While spraying on paint and primer is far faster, the gains in speed come at a price . During this post i would like to seem at a number of the pros and cons of both so you'll make an informed decision when the time to repaint comes of Industrial Painting perth.

Spraying Paint or roof spray painting

There really is not any faster thanks to apply paint than using an airless sprayer. You'll cover a whole wall up minutes rather than hours, but like everything, speed doesn’t always equate to quality. Here are a number of the key benefits of using an airless sprayer.

Benefits

Incredibly fast application

One coat coverage

Smooth finish freed from brush/roller marks

Can get into hard to succeed in areas

So, why wouldn’t everyone just spray everything all the time? Well, there's a downside to spraying too.

Negatives

Long prep and pack up time

Uneven coverage (sometimes too thick)

Uses 2-3 times the maximum amount paint as brushing

Poor adhesion

Can’t paint on windy days

Applying paint with an airless sprayer are often very challenging if you don’t have tons of practice using the sprayer. like all tool, airless sprayers take tons of practice before you'll apply a smooth even coat of paint. Beginners will get over-spray, drips and runs, they’ll often have an uneven coat with some spots of heavy paint build up and a few spots that are just too thin.

Paint spraying also uses 2-3 times the maximum amount paint as brushing or rolling. Most of it finishes up wasted within the hose line or as over-spray.

Even with these issues, there are some tight spots like around utilities that can’t be done cleanly without spraying and you actually can’t beat the speed.

Brushing Paint

It’s the old-fashioned way of doing things so I probably like it , right? To be honest, I even have a love/hate relationship with brushing on paint. It’s slow and tedious and sometimes leads to brush marks if I’m not careful, but nothing gives me control like applying paint with an honest brush. a bit like with spraying, let’s check out a number of the advantages and negatives of brushing.

Benefits

Excellent control

Very good adhesion

Even, uniform coverage

So far, it's like brushing solves the most problems we faced with spraying, so we should always always brush, right? Not so fast.

Negatives

Slow, laborious application

Can require 2 or more coats

Can leaves brush marks

Obstructions bring difficult application

Nothing compared to the control you get with a top quality brush. you'll cut in tight corners and paint nice straight lines that are impossible to achieve with a sprayer. For detail work, the sole acceptable way is to use a brush. Yes, it's slow, but you'll get a good , uniform coat of paint and far better adhesion than with spraying alone.

How to Get the simplest of Both Worlds

Now that I’ve got you all tangled up thinking neither one is best than the opposite , i would like to supply you an answer which will change the way you paint.

Often with old houses the simplest answer lies in using yesterday’s techniques combined with today’s technology. Painting is one among those times.

In my studies and day to day practices, I even have found the simplest thanks to apply paint is by applying with an airless sprayer and “back-brushing.”

Back-brushing is that the practice of brushing over paint that has been applied with either a roller or sprayer. to try to to it properly, you’ll need a helper.

“But this looks like more work. Why would you are doing this?”

Using this system , you're ready to get the paint onto the surface quickly and brush it in before it dries. Back-brushing forces the paint into all the nooks and crannies, evens out the coat and works the paint into the surface supplying you with better adhesion for an enduring paint job.

You see, what slows you down once you apply paint with a brush is that you simply can only load such a lot paint onto the comb at a time. By spraying and back-brushing, you'll cover large areas almost as quickly as by spraying alone. You get the advantages of both systems and eliminate most of the negatives.

Can you say win-win?

Have you tried this before? What does one think works better? I’d like to hear your thoughts within the comments below.