I'm a DIYer who needed to paint a rental property, including kitchen and bath cabinets, doors, door frames, walls, and ceilings. It was a lot of painting for a guy who does not like to paint, particularly doors and cabinets. My wife, knowing my love of power tools, told me I should consider buying a paint sprayer. I did a fair bit of research on paint sprayers and chatted with employees at my local Sherwin-Williams paint store. I ended up purchasing Graco’s True Coat 360 variable speed airless paint sprayer on Amazon. I’ve been using the sprayer for about 1 month and I absolute love it!
Things I Really Like:
1. The Graco educational/instructional videos. They made the setup and use easy and gave me some confidence that I could use it in a variety of applications.
2. Graco's attention to detail. Which includes the design and function of the sprayer and what is included in the order (lubricant, funnel-strainer system, spray tips, laminated instructions, paint bucket lip, carry bag).
3. The variable speed, which I'm glad I purchased. I used a different speed for room and closet doors, door frames, cabinet doors and frames, walls, and ceiling.
4. Works great on ceilings. At the time of purchase, I questioned whether the sprayer would work with the tip pointed up. Worked great and so much easier than rolling a popcorn ceiling!
5. Not much overspray. I learned to minimize over spray when spraying near the ceiling and floor. Need to cut in with brush – more than you would need to do with a roller. Also found that its best to keep the sprayer perpendicular to the wall when spraying near the ceiling and floor.
6. Coverage with one coat, in most cases. I needed to spray a second coat for door frames (without doors attached). Trying to paint them in one coat resulted in paint runs. Occasionally, I needed to spot spray walls and ceilings. This was because I moved the sprayer to quickly, or I was not holding the sprayer perpendicular. I was able to spray doors (~10), when detached from the frame, with one coat (turned out great-so much better than rolling). This includes louvered closet doors. I did paint a couple of doors attached to the frame using two coats. This was necessary because I struggled with developing the skill to paint door frames in one coat and because the faces of the door needed to be painted a different color.
7. The inclusion of both a narrow and a wide spray tip. The wide tip worked best for me on doors, walls, and ceilings. I used the narrow tip for door and cabinet frames.
8. Light weight. The sprayer itself is very light weight and when filled with paint was easy for me to manage with one hand. My daughter felt more comfortable operating the sprayer using 2 hands.
9. Reusable flex liners. I used 2 liners for the entire project. I discarded one after completing the project because of paint on the outside of the liner – even though the liner remained pliable.
Additional Comments
1. The storage procedures needs to be clearly described and included on the laminated instructions. Should armor solution be used between daily, weekly, or long term use? I found that a residual amount of the armor solution remains in the sprayer in the cup portion beyond the screen filter, which then mixes with the paint when priming the sprayer. Some of it can be sprayed out as waste but some of the armor pools on the paint in the container. I’m not sure if this is expected or I’m not following proper procedures. Part on my confusion stems from the fact that the procedures described in the following videos are different:
TrueCoat 360 Quick Start Series - Cleanup & Storage
TrueCoat 360 - How To Store Your Sprayer
2. There is a fair bit of paint that remains in the sprayer container after the sprayer stops spraying paint. The volume remaining is too small to pour back into paint bucket. This is not a criticism of the design, as paint waste is inherent in any painting project. I learned that I could use the residual paint to do touch ups and cut ins. Ordering a second container (Graco 17R821) is helpful in this regard as it comes with a knob that seals the container with paint. I would use the knob on the container with residual paint and use it the paint the next day for cut-in work.
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