The Economics of a Paint Sprayer

December 9th, 2019

1 min read

If you’re looking for the easiest way to paint your home, you need to look no further than a paint sprayer. Paint sprayers require a little bit of practice , but as you become more acquainted with using one, it will get easier. There are a few different kinds of paint sprayers that will be more appropriate for different applications. The two most common types of sprayers are high volume low pressure (HVLP) sprayers and airless sprayers.

The Gun Itself

The first expense will be the paint sprayer itself. You’ll need to buy or rent a paint sprayer if you don’t have one already. That will be a bigger expense than buying brushes or rollers. An HVLP paint sprayer will cost you from about $60 and up. An airless sprayer will likely be about $200 and up. So, that’s going to be significantly more expensive initially than paintbrushes and paint rollers. However, a paint sprayer will make the job much easier and faster. Also, paint sprayers are reusable. So, the cost can be stretched over time to become worthwhile.

Extra Paint

Another expense will be the amount of paint you’ll buy compared to the amount of paint you would buy if you were painting with rollers. Since paint sprayers are much less precise, you will end up painting windows, doors, and areas that you don’t want to be painted. Relatedly, you’ll need to invest in a lot of drop cloths and painter’s tape. As you become more proficient with the sprayer, you’ll likely waste much less paint.

Initially, you should account for about 20% overspray for an HVLP gun and as much as 40% for an airless sprayer. The airless sprayer has a much larger amount of overspray because it tends to spray at higher pressure. That means each missed stroke will waste more paint.

Drop Cloths

Lastly, you’ll need to pay a little bit more for drop cloths and painter’s tape than you would otherwise. For example, if you’re painting with brushes and rollers, it’s unlikely that you’ll accidentally get paint on the window panes themselves. Instead, you can just tape the windowsill and be done. With a paint sprayer, you’ll need to tape the sills and the windows.

Why Use a Paint Sprayer?

So, with all of those expenses, why would you ever choose a paint sprayer? A sprayer is a much faster and easier way to paint your house. It’s also the most effective way to paint high areas or to paint the ceiling. Those expenses will also be mitigated as you reuse the cloths and the sprayer over and over.

Andy Roe

As our founder and CEO, Andy has passed on a legacy of high-quality craftsmanship from his father before him, who was both a firefighter and painter. Since 2000, Andy has grown RoePaint.com to become an industry leader across Idaho and northern Nevada.

Topics:

Blog

The Economics of a Paint Sprayer

The Gun Itself

Extra Paint

Drop Cloths

Why Use a Paint Sprayer?

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