Airless sprayer/solid stain

[Scott Knott 14]

Im thinking of trying my hand at staining a deck with an airless sprayer, I will be trying on a friends fence first , but i may try it on a deck I have to do next week. on the deck the owner wants a behr solid redwood stain, Now this may soud like a dumb questian but do I back brush a solid stain just as I would a semi transparent? I also have a wagner power sprayer that was given to me has anyone ever used one to apply stain?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Scott,

Yes. Backbrushing a solid can be just as important as it is on a semitransparent, since you are going for an even look. If this is your first shot at wood, I suggest working with a semi-transparent. They are more forgiving, less frustrating, and make less mess if you are not used to an airless.

Call us if you need any help or advice at all when you are working on this. We're here for you.

Beth & Rod :) :)

[Aplus 525]

I have applied solid latex stain to wood fences and lattice many times with my airless sprayer. Never once did I backbrush, and they all turned out nice.

It's an entirely different thing spraying latex stain on spindles and railing systems. You need to do a little brushing to smooth out any runs or drips. Latex does not flow well, like oil does.

It's best to have a helper work behind you with a brush, after you spray it. Latex stain can dry fast under certain conditions, and you don't want to leave brush marks in the stain, or have it start congealing before you can smooth it in.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Exactly. I think you are more likely to have a problem with a pickett fince than a stockade fence. In any event, good luck. The other thing I have seen is a need to spray again over some areas that don't cover as well and where the solid looks lighter.

Beth

[Scott Knott 14]

This will be my first try with a solid, I have done 3 decks this year with a semitransparent. and all have looked good,but with a roller and brush.

Beth I used the sample of hd-80 you sent it worked real well a lott better than the Flood striper I used. If ya have a smaller amount you can sell I would like to buy some,with the amount of decks I do I dont need to have a lott on hand. Im just getting started and every penny counts right now.

when I got into this last deck most all of the solid stain came off real well ,but there were some places that were adheared real well that just would not come off. Will the behr solid cover these places?

I plan on doing some lite sanding before I stain to make sure I have no loose flakes of the old stain still on the deck.

[CCHSNC 14]

My 2 cents... I havent used much solid stain on decks but have used some SW Wood Scapes (white) on fences. As fare as I've been told stay away from Behr. While we're on the subject, what do you use when the customer wants a solid stain? (question directed to all)

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

My off the cuff answer is ANYTHING but paint. But seriously, we like Cabot for that.

[Scott Knott 14]

Why stay away from behr that is what I plan on using?? Behr solid natural redwood.

At first I was going to stay away from decks but I did one deck for my lanlord that deck has got me 3 calls, now the wheels are turning.

[CCHSNC 14]

I just haven't heard many good things about it thats all.

[Scott Knott 14]

What about wolmans??

[RAJD 14]

I use a lot of WOLMANS F&P and have had very good results with it.

No complaints,

I apply it now with an airless.

Bob

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Behr has had issues in the past, and many decks have mildew problems with it. Lots of companies won't use it. We don't like to use it either. We have by request only...

Beth

[Paul B. 523]

Most Latex can be thinned with water (per mfg. direction) for easier application. The water will evaporate as it dries.

If using Behr, consider adding a packet of mildewcide per gallon.

[Aplus 525]

It's the Behr semitransparent that has had problems, not the solid stain.

A better solution for thinning a latex product is Floods' Floetrol, which works better than water.

I personally do not like to thin latex stain, because it can get too runny on vertical surfaces.

I've used many different solid stains over the years, and honestly, they have all performed similarly.

Lately I've been using Olympic and Sears WeatherBeater for my solid stain needs. They both have good standard colors as well as tintability to almost any color. One other thing is that with custom mixed stains, you can't return any that you don't use, so I would rather have to go get another gallon than have leftover $25 per gallon stain. Sears hardwares are always nearby and conveniant for me.

[Scott Knott 14]

Have any of you used Penatrol, in your stains? I pressure clean and paint all the propaine tanks for a gas Company here in town and use it in all my paint, but I never tryed it in stain.

[Paul B. 523]

Penetrol is for oil/alkyd based coatings (it is not for latex / water based coatings).

Most oil based deck stains are very fluid (fairly low viscosity), spray and brush on very easily (the better ones containing 60-85% solids others much less). The manufacturers do not allow for thinning on most oil based stains (there may be some exceptions I'm sure).

I have use Penetrol when spraying oil based paints (with air sprayer) that are highly viscous and decide to spit and sputter with good results, but prefer paint thinner as I always have some on hand.

I normally thin water based paints with water. When painting metal, I always use oil based primer with oil or water based top coat.

Is Floetrol only for Flood products or is it compatible with other brands? I will have to try Floetrol as I painted a couple of steel doors this weekend and I must admit I struggled on the first one with thinning even in mild weather and low humidity.

[Aplus 525]

Paul,

Check it out.....http://www.floodco.com/Products/floetrol.cfm

[Paul B. 523]

Thanks!

[Aplus 525]

I've used the Floetrol 2 times with excellent results!

The first time I used it was on a very hot, humid day, and the paint was getting funky, sputtering thru my Graco airless. I added a quart of Floetrol into a 5 gallon bucket that had about 4 gallons of exterior paint in it. I stirred thoroughly with a paint stick till well mixed.

The paint sprayed much better, it seemed to atomize a little finer, yet still retained good "cling" to the surface without sagging.

Thumbs Up!

[Paul B. 523]

What model Graco do you have and are you satisfied with it?

Latex reacts to humidity and makes working with it a pain (especially if you have to brush any areas). Paints are worse than stains (if I can distinguish a difference). In the summer, the humidity level is continuously in the 80's to 90's. in this area. Last week it was 98-100% for 2 or 3 days. Thinned with water per mfg recommendation but it only helped a bit - never flowing as well as it should have. It took 2 days for it to completely dry - NEVER had that happen before as it should have dried in a couple of hours.

Finished product look good in the end.

I have more doors to paint with latex. I am on my way this morning to pick up some Floetrol. Just recently hooked up with a door/window installer - painting doors. He brings in 5-10 doors at a time and picks them up a few days later. Charge between $60-90 per door (he charges $90-120), trying to reduce our charge to $45-60 after the first 100 doors. All doors are factory primed so it takes about 30-40 minutes per door to mask, hang, apply (2) coats of paint and clean up, less if all the door colors are the same (does not include dry time between coats). Trying to get the process down to reduce time, then document and hand off to someone. We'll be getting into staining and finishing wood doors after we finalize the metal door process.

I've always painted with compressed air until I decided to try a Wagner airless about 12 years ago (what a waste of $$$). I didn't even bother to return it. No matter what I put in it, it seemed to get clogged up in 5 minutes. I played with it for two weeks trying to get it to look like the results I got from the CA - never could get there and ended up throwing it in the trash after running over it a couple of times (anger management).

We're using a Titan 440 for decks and it's great for the type and amount of work we do with it at this time. We may get out of the deck business after this year - all this rain and high humidity has made scheduling a nightmare and is driving up the cost. I'm spending so much time on the phone with the customer that many are becoming friends (don't want that - they will want the friend discount).

I'm debating on a HVLP set-up for the doors instead of compressed air - but I need at least one more contract and target of 12-15 doors a week (paint no more than 2 days per week).

[Aplus 525]

I've got a Graco Magnum XR7, which is perfect for what I use it for. Was looking at the 190ES, but I decided that was more than necessary at the time. Here is the link for my sprayer....http://www.graco.com/Internet/T_PDB.nsf/SearchView/MagnumXR7

[Paul B. 523]

I hear the Graco 190ES is being phased out. They are on sale at our local Home Depot for $499. It's interesting that only the low frame is on sale, the cart mounted 190ES is still priced at $849. The Magnum RX7 is $497 and the RX9 is $597. I like the cart mounted personally, as can tipping is less likely and it gives you hose storage. Also, the handle folds down for compact storage. One down-side is that it weighs about 30# more.