Best approach to applying interior latex - whole house repaint

[fixtureman]

Back in the 70's I painted houses for the builder I worked for. I sprayed antique white on every house walls and ceilings and garage. He told the owners that they should live in the house at least 6 months before they changed color as most houses that we painted the rooms different colors the owners changed them after 6 months any way and he gave them a big discount by going the antique white. I think 90% of the owners never changed color in the first 2 years.

[Herb G]

Yep, antique white was the go to color of choice back when I was doing it too. My boss used to get it by the pallet of 5 gal buckets. He had a small warehouse that was nothing but 5 gal buckets of white paint. Everywhere.
My painter's pants never got dirty because the paint mixed right in with the color of them too.

[Estrogen Hostage]

Andairless sprayer is not the correct tool for somebody who has no experience to be practicing indoors. I would still do it by hand, but if you are insistent on the airless route please look at a power roller.

[WoodworkerTom]

One time saver to cutting is is to buy the mini Purdy roller. The outside end has a slight taper and no plastic cap like a big roller. If you tape off your door casing and base board the Purdy roller will get all the way to the edge. No more cutting in with a brush.

[geek2me]

John Mihich said:

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The biggest problem with the airless is making sure you cover EVERYTHING.

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Or remove everything you don't want painted.

My steps:
1. remove trim and number on the back.
2. remove doors
3. cover floor with brown paper(assume room is already emptied, drapes removed, etc.)
4. spackle spots, hit all the walls and ceiling with sandpaper on a pole sander
5. spray walls and ceiling the same color, using either an airless or an hvlp (i prefer the hvlp)
6. apply second paint coat
7. take molding outside, lightly sand and clean, spray with airless or hvlp
8. When paint tacks but within a day or less (e.g. while the latex paint is still soft), use a 6" putty knife as a guide and a razor blade scraper to remove overspray from the window glass
9. Reinstall moldings, touch up pin nailer holes
10. Remove paper on floor, reinstall doors and drapes.

[John Mihich]

LIL

I did a room above a 3 car garage - it had 9 foot ceilings and no obstructions. What was great about the spraying was I placed the pump in the middle of the room and went at it. I added an extension and didn't have to touch a ladder. I was able to spray a primer and 2 coats all in one day. My friend did all the masking and there was no flooring.

Also - when done I wasn't exhausted.

Oh - wear a painters hood and mask.

[Splinter Puller]

I do exactly the same as you have previously. The one tip I found is I found a strong stout wooden extension pole when I moved into my recent home. This works so much better then the previous lite metal tube I used to use as I can apply more pressure where needed. It does not flex as much either. Add a quality roller and your set. turn on the tunes or audiobook, zone out and get er done while saving $$$$ and mess.

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

I was a painting contractor on the side of being a fireman for many years. I have done plenty of new construction, commercial and of course interior and exterior repaints with my own business and working for other contractors when I was younger.

Your right on ceilings, trim then walls. If you add hardwood floors, i would do them first. I know some will disagree but you'll most likely have to raise your baseboards, add base shoe, or you may decide to replace your baseboards all together. No sense in painting them first, beat them up with the install and then possibly have to paint them again. If you're sanding the floors, there will be some dust. I'd rather the dust be on my old paint then my new. Just my thoughts on that and I've done the EXACT same thing you're about to do over the past 1.5 years but I also refinished my kitchen cabinets and redid a lot of tile. I've posted pictures over the past 1.5 years of some of these projects. My house is also 3500 sq/ft. with a ton of painted trim and tall ceilings. We also lived in the house while we did all of this.

I would possibly consider using an airless on the ceilings if I were you. I didn't do my ceilings as they didn't need new paint after 10 years. If you have a popcorn texture ceiling I would really consider spraying. You will need to plastic off your furniture but it's not too bad. A latex paint from the ceiling to the floor will "dry fall" to a dust by the time it drops 8 foot or more. It will be a white powder and it will vacuum up. If you wipe it with a wet rag it will turn back to wet paint. Plastic will catch and hold most of it. The static electricity "charge" will also help hold it. Spraying a ceiling will save you ALOT of time. I'd use a medium grade flat wall paint because it will have acrylic and better build. I believe it will also seal your texture and prevent the heat from drying it out over the years. Rolling a popcorn ceiling is a PITA. The texture will come of the ceiling with the roller pressure. You need a really thick nap to help prevent this or you just crush the texture. A knockdown ceiling rolls easy. Many paints marketed as "ceiling paints" are clay based and more or less lightly colored water.

I would use Benjamin Moore Advance paint in the satin sheen for your trim. You didn't say if it's already painted or not. Either way, fill your dents, sand it smooth, fix your cracked caulk. Pull baseboards tight again with a nail and caulk whatever else is left. Try to use a small ROS with dust collection if possible. I bought a used Festool 125 EQ for this (and other WW projects) and it's been great. The DC is excellent. The trim will be a huge part of this job if you have a lot of trim. I spent a full day painting two sets of tall windows in my main room with the prep included.

I don't get too bent out of shape when it comes to wall paint. I'm using Ben Moore Ultra Spec 500. For $120, with tax, for a 5 gallon bucket in flat, it's a very good paint. Not to start the flat paint vs. eggshell argument but flat was a good choice for us but I use to always use eggshell. You said you throw away your rollers. One thing people don't realize is that you want to buy a good nap and use it for a long time. A new nap--especially a cheaper one--will shed fibers in your wet paint. Buy a good quality lambswool roller is a 1/2" size and wash it out. Buy a brush spinner if you don't have one and spin the water out of your brushes and naps when finished. Roll out of a 5 gallon bucket with a screen. Buy some good extension poles and forget the screw on broom sticks. Wooster makes excellent extension poles.

I tape off all my baseboards and freehand the casings when cutting in around the trim. I like 3M green lacquer tape. It's high adhesion but less prone to leak paint. Press your tape down with a flexible putty knife after applying it. Stretch your tape when applying it. It should stick straight out or even flair upwards a bit when applying it. If it sags down you didn't stretch it very well and it's more prone to leak. Remove at a 45 degree angle.

Corona brushes are the best brushes, IMO. Buy at least one new brush and keep it in good shape.

As far as airless sprayers go. Aside from the ceiling, I'd forget the spraying the trim. It's risky overall. Nothing worse then dealing with overspray when you find it later on. I haven't sprayed the Ben Moore Advance on trim but I didn't even think about spraying oil based enamels in a house that was furnished with flooring. It floats and sticks to everything. An airless sprayer really kicks up a paint fog and an HVLP will need some thinning. I would remove the doors and spray them in the garage. I've yet to do my doors. About the finish the main level. I've more or less went from one room to the next while we lived in the house. I'm so ready to be finished painting it's not even funny....and when I'm done there won't be a payday waiting....Good luck.

[Woodjets]

Depends on how fast and neat you are with a roller.
In general The fastest is to mask and cover everything then spray. The entire place could be sprayed in under a day.
You're gonna have to mask and cover some even if you roll and brush.
The spraying only makes sense if you're gonna do at least 1/2 the house at a time and aren't that good with a roller.