I Hate Painting Ceilings

I need to play catch-up.  Between work and work on the house, we've been a little distracted from sharing progress.  I'm about two weeks behind, so bare with me and get ready for a few days of updates.  Here is what our house looked like shortly after the floors were finished.  The newly refinished floors are hiding under that plastic for now.

Justin and I took advantage of the plastic covered windows and a house that was pretty stinky from all the fumes.  Why not add more fumes? We were still staying at my parents house during this time, so getting all the really messy and stinky projects out of the way became our priority.  

Painting ceilings was considered both messy and stinky.  We spent the entire day painting ceilings.  It shouldn't surprise you then that I was visiting my first chiropractor ever first thing that following Monday morning.  7 ceilings will do that to you.  (It turns out that I had a pinched nerve in my lower back that was there for quite some time - which would explain the stabbing pain I had been experiencing in my leg for a couple of weeks).  BTW...I don't go to the doctor unless I'm dying. Or in this case, unless I can't stand up with out wincing from pain.  Thanks to that chiropractor, one pinched nerve didn't slow us down.

We covered the floors, doorways and light fixtures with plastic to prep for the painting the ceiling.  Which seems a little overkill...

I. hate. painting. ceilings. And thus, our plan was to spray the ceilings.  Which is why we had to take a few hours to prep the house with plastic sheeting.  We just grabbed our Graco TrueCoat sprayer to get the job done. Just as we loaded up the sprayer, I heard an awful, loud, familiar ticking sound coming from the teeny motor inside the spray gun.  I knew that sound.  My Graco TrueCoat sprayer failed.  AGAIN.

The paint sprayer...We have a love hate relationship.  I love how it gives me a beautiful finish in a fraction of the time.  But I hate that the canister on the TrueCoat has to CONSTANTLY be refilled, that it spits paint on my beautiful finishes, that the motor makes an incredibly loud ticking noise after 2 months...and finally I hate that it has stopped working on me... TWICE.   

After some (very frustrating) negotiating with Lowe's, I convinced them to let me exchange the paint sprayer for store credit.  (We did contact the manufacturer first and they suggested the return to Lowe's).  I found out that the model I had purchased ended up failing quite often (which would explain why the manufacturer replaced it with a new model).  I'm just happy I didn't have to dish out more dough for yet another sprayer - so thank you to the crabbypants manager who made a deal with me.  

I wanted to replace my paint sprayer with a new one, but I didn't want to 1) risk having Lowe's refuse an imminent return in the future since the TrueCoat had already failed me twice (and since Lowe's isn't always is never excited to accept returns) and 2) refill a paint canister again in my life.  So I used my store credit, and spent an extra $20 (thanks to a 10% off coupon) to get the highly rated Graco LTS15 (which I had been eyeing since I purchased the TrueCoat).  Yes, it's overkill for MOST projects.

 

But this baby has...drumroll please... continuous spray!  I'm fairly sure that my love for tools sprung from watching too much Tim Allen in Home Improvement as a kid.

After a slight learning curve and a burst of paint sent flying across the room, we were able to get the LTS15 up and running shortly after the set up. Once the spraying started we didn't have one hiccup. The sprayer was super easy to operate and clean after you read (and reread) the manual.  The manual comes with a handy DVD, which didn't work well for us because we still didn't have a television hooked up.  Once we finally got around to spraying the paint (at 8:00pm), we were able to get it all done in 2 hours.


Justin and I traded off jobs - one of us sprayed, while the other monitored the paint levels in the bucket, moved the bucket and pump from room to room and kept an eye out for missed spots.  While we had the extended spraying rod to help reach the ceiling, looking up and maneuvering the spraying hose still gave a good neck ache after a while....and must've contributed to putting my pinched nerve over the edge.

Seven ceilings in two hours.  The prep work took us a little bit longer, but totally worth it not having to stand on a ladder and roll the ceilings. 

With regards to the paint sparyer... I am so glad we upgraded!  The LTS15 is a continuous spray model (that is a GODSEND when you're trying to cover a lot of surface area in a little time).  And based on how often I've already used my paint sprayers, I'll definitely get my money worth.  I've used it to paint doors, trim, ceilings (in the basement and in the new house), and lots of furniture.  And we plan to paint the cabinets in our kitchen and paint the ceiling joists of our basement (like we did in our last house), so I have no doubt that this little guy will come in handy.  It's a great investment for any DIY painter out there.  I'll let you know if I run into any issues with using it. 

Any other users of the Graco LTS15 out there?  Have you ever pinched a nerve...and not been able to stand up before? I hope I'm not the only 30 year old humbled by a pinched nerve.  

Mary