Yes backrolling is necessary. If you don't backroll, not only will the paint look uneven, but all the seams and patching will be rough and noticeable. What I do for new construction homes is spray and backroll all ceilings and finish coat them and then I shoot the walls without backrolling. After the trim and staircases are complete, I pole sand the walls and finish coat them.

No, backrolling is NOT necessary. The paint will only look uneven if you use the sprayer unevenly (e.g., slow down, speed up, don't overlap, etc.). Seams only protrude on paint jobs when you have bad seams.

LEARN how to spray, and no backrolling is needed.

Professional painters backroll new drywall. That's just how it is. You can do it when you spray or you can do it later, but at some point the walls need to be rolled. Sure plenty of painters do not backroll, but the end result is not professional. It's flashy and spotty and rough and something that the next painter has to sand smooth before rolling.

20+ years ago I never backrolled the rental apartments I sprayed....but they were rentals :) Most of the commercial jobs that I have sprayed it was required to backroll so I didn't even have a choice. Personally I can always see the the spray pattern of an airless sprayer when I look down a wall & prefer it to be backrolled. I guess its just an opinion of what you will tolerate or what looks good enough for you.

Professional painters do NOT need to backroll; that's the whole definition right there. If you need to backroll, you are NOT a professional.

Sorry, Paintguy, but none of my sprayed work is flashy or spotty or rough. I KNOW how to use a sprayer.

Maybe you should learn.

ok paintguy, turn in your license & tools or meet jasonmi7 at high noon with your graco on the third level of scaffold at the new Walmart being built in your neighborhood!

In the end its all a matter of opinion on the looks of the completed work. If anyone has tips for the stupid professional wannabes like me feel free to post them. At 23 I thought I knew it all as a painter. Now after all these years its nice to have people let me know that I still "think" I can paint. So I will leave the exterior work on these kinds of house painting jobs to jasonmi7....

Well spraying and backrolling something that is already painted is fine. It's already rolled. I'm talking about new drywall here. And you are exactly right. Something I think looks terrible the every day 'pro' painter will accept as a quality job. We see these guys every day and because most customers don't notice the top notch job and don't appreciate the craftsmanship of a truly professional job, these guys may even stay somewhat busy. If you are spraying tract homes every day you can probably get away with it. But, like I said the painter that comes in to do the custom paint job has to sand it. Not your problem...your policy of 'looks good from the truck' prohibits you from actually looking at the walls too closely.

I meant to say that spraying and NOT backrolling something that is already painted is fine.

Welp I will continue to screw over customer after customer with my stupidity but the paint version of Jesus has arrived to save me from my sins.

Steve, you pretty much lost me. What are you talking about?

Steve, we don't 'backroll' cars, and we don't backroll Level 5 finishes.

So, I am reading all these comments. You guys have left me with lots of questions. I'm having some serious problems with the paint quality in my new construction home. I just spoke with the builder and told him it's just unacceptable. I want to meet with the builder at the home to show him WHY it's unacceptable. Before I do that, I need to get some knowledge from you 'professional' painters. Here it goes...

Interior home: All the patching throughout the home is very rough and extremely noticeable (especially on the ceiling). Is it the painters responsibility to smooth out all the patching before he starts "spraying"? Also, I take it "back rolling" is a must do. May you please explain to me what "back rolling" is? It's only obvious the painter in my home was in some kind of a hurry. As far as second coating, when spraying... how does a painter "second coat" with a spray?

Is the house finish coated? Sometimes the walls may be rough after the first coat until the painters pole sand everything and roll on the second coat. If this is the finished product, then yes the walls probably were not backrolled. Backrolling is rolling with a roller after the paint is sprayed on. The sprayer is just a means to get the material on the walls faster. You can spray and backroll the first coat and then just spray the second coat on without backrolling. Hopefully you won't need to be all educated about the painting process in order to validate your complaint to your builder. Walls and ceilings are supposed to be smooth. You are not supposed to be able to see seams and patches. The builder will know this was a hack job. If he tries to explain that it's normal for walls and ceilings to look and feel like that, then he is trying to pull a fast one. The painters will have to pole sand the walls and repaint.

I just learned something new this morning. My husband is a professional GC but we are doing our own major renovation. The drywall guy just finished. My husband begged and pleaded to have this guy do our job. He is the best according to my husband who was willing to pay more to get the best. After finishing the drywall, he also spray painted a primer/SEALER. My husband commented that he seems to be the only GC who specifies a primer/sealer but he is fussy about what a wall looks like when it is done. According to my husband, if you use just a primer, it eventually soaks into the drywall differently than the taped seams and will eventually be noticeable. (But probably not by the average homeowner.) He thinks this is critical to a good paint job. Do you professional painters ever prefer a primer/sealer on new construction?

It depends on what the topcoat is. If you are priming and follow that up with 2 coats of a high quality washable paint then you are doing everything you can to make your walls look as good as they can. If you prime, and then paint with cheap construction grade flat, then your primer is really not doing much aside from sealing the walls. Yes of course we always want to prime and do 2 coats of washable paint but the builders rarely want to pay for that.

Okay, so I called a painter not affiliated with my builder for a second opinion on my interior paint job (new const. home). Here is what this painter told me....

In his own personal opinion, the walls "just can't be it's final coat". "It was not back rolled". He pointed out to me why he believes it was not back rolled nor was a second coat applied. The paint comes off way to easily. Also, as I mentioned, all seems are visible and my walls feel like sand paper. 2nd opinion painter also pointed out to us the DRYWALL job. It was just terrible. Sagging on the ceiling, crooked corners, sagging on the walls... you name it, the painter saw it! He just could not believe both paint and drywall job. He suggested we get the builder out to the home to see the "quality" of work done.... "And if he sees this, I'm sure he would agree".

When I spoke to the painter who did this job, he informed me that it was "FINAL" coated and "job is complete". YEA RIGHT! I had the builder come out to the home. Sure enough, the builder agreed that both paint and drywall job is "UNACCEPTABLE AND INCOMPLETE". So, apparently "It will be fixed". I'll just have to wait and see. Now for the exterior of the home.... more disagreements (ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR)!- Read my new post on the "paint" forum.

What I've learned from all this is.... Paint/painting, we just don't get along. I have to give it to all painters out there, it is far much difficult than what it is sound out to be. I will admit, the thought of paint & painting has given me far more headaches than my hubby, my in-laws and two children have ever given me. I just can't wait until this part of the construction is over!

I do not backroll cars either. The cabinets that I posted on HGTV on Rate My Space that made top rated ("Craig House") were also sprayed. I am becoming very used to people here telling me that my practices in painting are wrong & I could really care less. I know that any of my paint jobs are either just as good as the other contractors here & probably better. These forums are about helping with advice. People have different opinions all day long.

Hi everybody - I'm definitely learning a lot from this discussion and as a DIY homeowner, I have a question I hope you can help me with. I recently bought a Wagner Paint Crew airless sprayer from HD, which has the half horsepower (spiffed-up) version. We're finishing adding a room and so after a decent drywall and taping and sanding job, I sprayed BM Freshstart primer and then an eggshell finish. This was my first spraying experience and it looks beautiful. BUT, the walls *feel* like sandpaper. My question is, why is that? I even vacuumed all the walls and ceiling before I started spraying. No windows were open, and the "sandpaper" feeling is really bumpy, not like soft dust embedded in the paint. So, I sanded the whole thing and rolled another eggshell coat. But I'm wondering, what did I do wrong in spraying to end up with such a rough finish? Thanks, Katie

Katie, it could be overspray. If you spray the ceiling first, overspray from that could hit the walls and cause them to be rough. Also, with most primers, the paper facing of drywall when initially painted will come out rough....little fibers in the paper will raise similar to the way wood fibers raise when you initially prime wood. '

Steve, nobody has told you that your painting practices are wrong except this guy. And I suppose if we are talking about a level 5 drywall finish then that would change the whole discussion....I've only seen a level 5 finish zero times in my life as a painter, so when somebody mentions drywall I assume it's level 4...I think that most of us do.

pauly, good luck with getting that fixed. Sadly from what I have seen if somebody screws something up, they can't really fix it....if they could they would have done it properly the first time. Painting is not hard, especially that kind of painting. You paint, sand and paint again....really simple stuff. The weirdest thing about new construction is that many people accept what you are seeing as quality work.

PaintGuy - thanks so much for your response. Yes, I did paint the ceiling first and there was quite a bit of overspray, especially as I was experimenting with technique on this first try. I was using a 2' tip extender which I liked so much that I used it for the walls too, and a 513 tip. I definitely had a lot of white in the air from when I got too far from the wall. I did strain the paint out of new cans before putting it into the covered hopper, so I'm pretty sure my paint wasn't contaminated. So what you say about overspray being the culprit makes perfect sense, especially as the wall roughness has a definite sharp pointy bits feeling, really a lot like low grit sandpaper.

So my question is, what should I do next time to end up with a reasonably smooth finish? I'm such a newbie, I thought, just spray and I'm done but I can see that it's more complicated than that, at least for a non-pro like me. But even tho' I'm a non-pro, I really like to paint so I'd like to do better next time, and any help you or others can give would be very appreciated.
Thanks, Katie

P.S., here's a wierd but hopefully useful tip that I've learned while doing lots of painting and staining in our remodel. If you ever need to do a bit of fine detail work that you would normally use some paint on an artist's brush for, try using a lipstick brush (for ladies' makeup, of course!) instead. The bristles are short, cut well, and much firmer than any artist brushes I've found, perfect for oil based stains or latex acrylics. My fav is the Sephora's store brand generic brush, but I have another one that works quite well too.

Okay here is the trick then. Spray the walls first...I do this in every room I spray as a rule. That way your overspray from spraying the ceiling will land on the walls while the paint is still wet. If done quickly enough overspray hitting wet paint will become part of the wet paint film and then the walls shouldn't be rough. We do this also with spraying trim in houses....you try to always have your overspray hitting wet trim so that your trim doesn't come out rough. Sometimes it takes some planning.

It strikes me funny the "32,000 sq.ft, multi million dollar" homes syndrome.The bigger the project only means more work = more pay. I've seen major hack jobs on multi million dollar homes and quality work on racetrack spec homes, but that is generally the exception and not the rule.

Thanks PaintGuy, you've given me a terrific tip on airless spraying. I'm definitely going to go for the walls first next time.

Katie

At my rate, doing a 32,000 square foot house means I would only need to work at one job a year. :)

Michael

Paint Guy: What do you mean by "I suppose if we are talking about a level 5 drywall finish then that would change the whole discussion....I've only seen a level 5 finish zero times in my life as a painter, so when somebody mentions drywall I assume it's level 4"

What are the levels? Is that something that is specified in the contracts or do I need to educate my customers?
Thanks.

I don't think it is specified in contracts because industry standard is level 4, but it may appear in some. There are 6 levels though. Level 0 is just drywalled. Level 1 is drywalled and taped and mudded once with no sanding done (also called 'fire-taped' around here which is what you often see in garages). Level 2 is one coat of mud, level 3 is 2 coats of mud, level 4 is 3 coats of mud and level 5 is 3 coats of mud followed by a skim coat over the entire surface. This is basically a seamless drywall job. This I believe can also be accomplished by spraying with an airless certain products like Tuff Hide and Prep Coat Plus that are very thick, high solid coatings...you would spray those over the level 4 finish for the best results.