Lisa,

I am. But then our whole house reno is DIY- so it's all hand-painted.

What's the alternative?

The alternative is spray painting which is cheaper and much easier to do.

From walking through renovated old houses I've been impressed with the sprayed on oil paint (and the great prep jobs underlying)! So much better than my hand brushing (and my prep jobs!), but that's not saying much. I wonder why your KD thinks it's better -- more durable or better looking? (I hope s/he isn't getting paid on a percentage of your contract!)

From our contractor, spraying in the shop is preferred because of the smoothness of the coat. Hand painting is what's done because most of the time you have to paint on site.

Fern4 - she really thinks it is better looking and longer lasting. But what do I know? I just ask you fine folks and you give me the low down.

Thanks. Think I'll stay with spray paint.

Lisa

Since almost all homes these days, mass built and otherwise, are spray finished, there's a new appreciation for the subtle look of a handcrafted, and thus usually significantly more expensive, paint job--like handmade tile--well done but clearly not machine perfect. Some people want it for a snoot factor, some sell it at pumped up snoot-factor prices, some just really want that authentic traditional look, and some if they do a good job produce it themselves for personal DIY satisfaction and/or to save money. :)

I don't know if you are talking about finishing the trim onsite or before installation, but if the spraying is happening after installation, the work to mask the rest of the area is considerable, and if the trim is small, will contribute to a significant amount of wasted paint.

Dh bought a sprayer for our job, as we can see needing to paint the whole house eventually. Masking takes a long time. I estimate we spent close to 4-6 hours masking 3 rooms - then a coat of paint went on in 30 minutes.

I am handpainting all the trim. Much faster and easier (20 minutes to apply tape, 20 minutes each coat if I have a chair-moving assistant!), given the space we are doing.

Spray works well for large spaces, IMO, but the overspray and waste makes it impractical for trim work.

I'm a little confused. Even if the trim comes with a sprayed-in-the-shop finish, there will still be nail holes after installation. The holes will need to be filled and painted, no? Unless the carpenter does 100% accurate cuts at the corners, you have sanding and filling to do there, too. And unless your walls are perfectly flat, you'll be dealing with some caulking.

I can't imagine how you could avoid handpainting of trim work, unless it's just touch-up here and there.

To me, handpainting is not a big deal with a good Purdy angled brush to cut-in. No masking or taping needed, just a steady hand.

Dianne

I agree with rosie, it's about the look, not a functional advantage.
When I redid all the baseboards on our first floor I set up the garage as a spray booth and sprayed them before cutting and installing. Nail holes I filled and just barely covered with a touch of brushed paint - can't see them at all. I went with the sprayer for speed and because I prefer the smooth look.

- D

Seems we have two choices: Spray or Brush, oil or acrylic. I can whole-heartly tell you that oil looks MUCH better than arylic, and has a very hard finish so is more durable. BM Satin Impervo is the best. You can thin it a bit with penetrol (sp) to make it smooth out a little easier. I would never go back to acylic for trim. You can get them to put this paint in a spray can and spray it on at home - before you mount it. You'll have to get some in a regular can for the nail holes and touch ups. I think spray painting is easy to mess up - getting the paint on uneven - but if you think you have a grip on that, then I'd do oil in a spray can. You need to prime very well first. I recommend two coats of Zinser primer.

I learned from another poster to check the Paint Forum. There were some good hints there. Many posters there like the Cabinet Coat brand of Acrylic paint. It has a polyurethane component and is highly recommended for covering previously painted wood trim or cabinets.

jb

We handpainted our trim in our kitchen remodel - but really had no choice since we weren't removing windows, door trim and baseboards.

We used Cabinet Coat - a self leveling Acrylic paint and it turned out great. Even if we were putting in new trim, I would probably handpaint. Not that hard to do long strips in a garage spread between a couple horses and I prefer the look. Actually it is what the painters did when we built the house 17 years ago