Hi all! I borrowed a paint sprayer from a neighbor in order to paint my workshop. Apparently he hadn't seen the condition it was in from the previous people who had borrowed it from him (they put it back in the sprayer's box this way) but they didn't really clean it up at all. Neither of us can tell what kind of paint the previous users used but I tried cleaning the nozzle and paint gun parts with plain water, water with soap, and mineral spirits and the best I could do was get a tiny bit of paint off the outside with the mineral spirits. Anyone have any suggestions of a solvent that could clean up this dried paint gunk? I thought of, but haven't tried yet, paint stripper, but I wasn't sure if it would have any damaging effects on the sprayer itself.

I’m currently doing a whole-house remodel in the Bay Area, and I’m trying to figure out whether my GC’s painting quote is reasonable and if I should pay extra for a second coat.

House details:

Approximately 1,310 sq ft, single-story house

Interior painting only: walls, ceilings, baseboards, window trim

Some areas have new drywall, while others are existing painted walls

I’m supplying all the primer and paint

GC’s quote:

$4,500 (LEVEL 3): Primer + one finish coat (labor)

$3,100: patch the drywall and apply texture to drywall

Additional $1,600 (change of order): Second finish coat (under same color, same sheen)

Total: $9,200 for drywall patch and texture + primer + two finish coats

I have a few questions:

Is $4,500 reasonable for this scope in the Bay Area, considering I’m supplying all paint and primer?

Is another $1,600 reasonable for applying a second coat, or does that seem excessive?

Is a second finish coat really necessary? My GC says one coat should be sufficient, but I’ve read that two coats are generally recommended for better coverage and a more uniform finish.

Would appreciate any advice from professional painters or homeowners who have done similar projects!

[post edited: separate quote of the paint and drywall patch&texture]

[post edited: I didn't know the original quote of $ 4,500 doesn't include a second coat (under the same color, same sheen) till the first round paint starts]

Read all the comments. Thanks to everyone sharing! !

I skimmed whole wall, primed. Spot skimmed and primed everything again. I also now have my first coat of real paint on. Why do some areas have more stipple than others? I noticed this before the first coat of real paint to be honest. I tried sanding down when primed but it didn’t really do anything?

I’m wanting to paint a wall, but in the process of tearing off wallpaper, some of the drywall wall has ripped. What do I need to do to repair it for painting over?

Here’s an image of the wall: https://imgur.com/a/kTZZ5g7

We have 97 year old brick fireplace, one of the prior homeowners painted it with this awful white acrylic or latex paint. We used Dumond Smart Strip Pro to remove the paint, and it did a good job removing those shiny layers of acrylic paint, however we were left with one thin layer of what i believe is oil based paint that wouldn’t go away. we reapplied Dumond Smart Strip Pro and left it for 36 hours this time but still it had zero impact on this last layer that wouldn’t go away and we are also noticing that the brick is wearing off. Can you pls advise what we need to do here and the safest approach since we have toddlers and a newborn. I included pictures of the before and after.

I am redecorating my home and was looking for low VOC paints with 3rd party testing/accreditation. I came across Farrow and Ball. I didn't pay too much attention to the price tag, thinking materials are a fraction of labour costs anyway, the house is small, and I want a good material.

I went to their store, got a few samples and followed their advice on using a primer, even though the local decorator store and my decorator said it's not needed. Selecting the colours was a good experience, first time in my life the fan swatch colours actually matched the colour on the wall.

A week after the decorator started, after having applied 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of paint I could still see the old colour, and some of the samples I had applied, peeking through. This was with Modern Emulsion on walls and ceilings. With timber, using Modern Eggshell, it was even worse. We agreed in a 3rd coat, at extra cost. He keeps saying this paint is terrible since they "changed the formula 10 years ago", and that it has no coverage, it is runny, it is garbage. I had to pay for extra materials and extra labour for the third coat, even on previously white or light surfaces, and now worry that it is not durable and will peel off. I don't know if I should believe him or if he's blaming poor workmanship on the paint, but I can see it's not covering like oil based colours used to (it's the first time I use water based and have past experience with acrylics). It's looking good with the 3rd coat, but I am mostly worried about doors and frames now.

He says I should have gone with Johnsons (don't know it) and that Little Green or Coat would have been better.

So, is F&B that terrible? And if so, does is have such amazing marketing then?

I already posted it in arthelp subreddit but thought y’all here could be helpful too since it’s about painting a wall.

I’ve been commissioned to make a sort of mural on an indoor wooden wall, and I agreed, but I need help finding paint that will work well on wood.

I have a few pieces of wood, exactly the same wood as what was used for walling the room I need to paint - took a bunch leftover planks for testing materials, if I need to sand it, prime it or what not.

The wood is not polished smooth, it has a little bit of texture to it.

I love working with chalk markers and this is how they turned out on this test plank. What I liked about it:

- They don’t bleed a lot

- They blend quite nice

- Opaque but I can thin them out with water to make a smooth transition from raw wood to color

- I’m able to layer them, work wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry

- Drying time 5-30 minutes (depending on how many layers of wet color I applied)

- I can reactivate it with water if I something got too dry and I want to blend it

So I’m looking for something with similar qualities, ideally if I could use the paint for bigger areas and markers for detailing or sketching out stuff.

Also the room I’m gonna paint is a changing room in a spa, so while I want my paint to be able to reactivate with water, my end goal is to make the finished wall art water-proof, humidity proof and just lasting in general, so I’d also need a top coat to work with that.

I tested the markers with no top-coat in some extreme conditions - I ran the wood under hot water for a few minutes (didn’t budge much under I started smudging it with my fingers - which is exactly what I need while working) and I’ve put it into a hot humid sauna for 4 hours (was fine), so I’m sure this is the type of medium I want to use.

There is no deadline btw and I don’t have strict time like „It has to be done within one day”, so it’s okay if I need a day of two for the paints to fully seep into the wood and another three days to apply and dry the varnish.

I don’t wanna paint with acrylics, hate acrylics because when they form a shell, it’s over, and even with a retardant… It’s not for me, I like going back and forth around my art pieces, so I’d like to avoid them altogether.

I’d also like to have a broader choice of colours, like dark bottle greens, warm browns - it’s hard to mix these with the set of markers I currently have available lol.

Acrylic gouache? Latex wall paint? What else is there?

We're painting our home Navajo White from Benjamin Moore, and Iron Ore from Sherwin Williams for the trim. We're not quite sure what to do with the wood panels that run across the body of the home. Should we do iron ore? Or should we paint match to the body of the home?

[House pictures](https://imgur.com/a/j3axeUP

I've used Bloxygen to keep a can of oil based paint from skinning when left over time. But that stuff's kinda pricey. I've heard canned "air" computer dusters can work. Anyone try that, or are there any other budget friendly Bloxygen alternatives? The worst part about Bloxygen is that it's so light, you don't know when the can's about to run out, and a little expensive to keep a spare laying around.

Going from dark green to white. This is one coat of primer. Is this enough primer or do I need a second coat?

I am remodeling my bathroom and doing the basic trim. Basebord and door casing. I decided to miter around the stubout for the toilet and now i want to fill the holes, and seams/cuts with something that i can sand and make them disappear.

I have used mh ready patch before and liked it but want other suggestions before i use it again.

Any tips on filling it and making these miters look great. And yes. It's behind the toilet and no one will ever see it.

Edit 10/18/26

Wow, some of the advice and directions that this that had lead has cracked me up. I am just in here looking for painting advice. I want those seams to disappear.
I am a gc/tile contractor who's ALWAYS trying to step up my game. No one is really giving me shit personally in this thread but the amount of "poor planning" comments and the "i have been doing it this way for....."comments. First, It's a huge red flag when I hear some one say that they have been doing it this way for x amount of years. You should go get a job at home depot with that sort of mind set.

As for my skill set. I can do it to a satisfactory level, even above satisfactory when it comes to finish work. That's why i do my finish carpentry. As the gc, i did everything in this small, 8x5 full bath. I have been out of the game for 2 years while in nursing school, a real nurse focker. So I picked up this remodel until I can get a nursing job but i will still go gc work. I wasn't going to call in subs for this small of a job and I could pocket the +/- $15k You guys would have a field day with my soldering/ pex video that I posted. My solder joints aren't pretty but i guarantee that the durability of the joints are as good as a "professional."

Now as bad planning, sure kind of. Maybe I should move all supplies up to 8-10" as just a general practice. I do run 12g wire, 2 gang metal boxes for everything as a general practice. So The homeowner had decided to go with 3.25 base during the planning. So no need to raise the water line. Grant it, the walls were open, the water was off, and the shower valve was being replaced. So raising it during then wouldn't have been a big deal, its a 2 story house and the pipe comes from above.

But then after the walls were made plumb, sheet rock hung, texted, painted(1st prime coat to protect the texture from the tile guys) etc. The homeowner changed their mind and wanted taller baseboard.

What was I sipposed to do or what do you guys do when this happens? It's cost difference of $2. But do you guys shut down, freeze up, throw your hands in air, shout that it can't be done, and walk off the job? Or do you do say okay, and explain that there might be something funky with the baseboard that's behind the friggin toilet, that no one will see, and that you will take care of it. Then do you let your ocd take over and you decide to make some fancy cuts and then look for painting advice so that it looks as good as possible.

It sure seems like it's an end of the world scenario for a lot of you armchair plumbers, and trim carpenters.
One guy even suggest cutting a 2 inch channel and raising the pipe. Are you really going to be able to sweat a new 90 in a wall full of insulation in a 2 inch channel cut into the sheet rock? Who's going to fix the rock? Are we going to see the patch? I know that I will see it. Even behind the toilet. Are we going to skim the whole wall, texture and paint it? Or how about this. We spend 20 mins making a few fancy cuts. Big picture guys.

Shit, i can't believe that no one has given me shit about using mdf in a bathroom.

Thanks

Im currently painting my windows and on some windows i get small areas where the paint is peeling off my wood. I have sanded everything with p180 and wiped the dust away.

What have I done wrong or is it just the old Paint and I have to sand it all the way down?

Hi all-

I feel a little silly because choosing the correct type of paint for each project feels way more complicated than I thought it would be and I feel like I’m finding different answers all over the place.

I’m wanting to paint a couple of different things. Gutters and downspouts (newly installed), fascia/soffits to match, and an exterior man door or two. For gutters, is sw emerald acrylic latex okay? Or something else? What type of primer do I need or no primer and just scuff it? Is emerald acrylic latex okay for the fascia/soffits and man door too? Primer or no primer? Thank you for any and all info and advice!

Sincerely,
Confused.

Not sure what this exterior cladding is, or what’s made of. House built around 30yrs ago. Wondering whether it could be painted. In subtropical Australia, so pretty intense sun (hence quite faded). Otherwise, wonder if it’d be cheaper to just replace it with new cladding. Any ideas welcomed.

The stucco and its paint coating are generally in excellent condition, but a color change was requested. There are a few stucco cracks which I can easily repair prior to painting. The house is in Los Angeles which gets an occasional earthquake.

Should I use elastomeric paint that's supposedly ideal for stucco rather than conventional paint to reduce future stucco cracks? Primer always seems to be recommended: Any objection to my using Kilz2? I've used Kilz2 successfully on just about every surface other than stucco.

Hi all! I’d appreciate any tips for painting our kid’s Halloween costume, a big LEGO brick.

We made it out of cardboard and duct tape, but struggling to figure out how to paint it all green. Doesn’t need to be perfect or smooth, but I don’t want things to absorb into the cardboard or chip off the duct tape parts. Any ideas??

I had originally planned to prime with Zinnser Oil-based Stain Blocker due to the damage to the wood. The exposed ends of the deck are in terrible shape (look shredded/ragged) but still firm to the touch—not structural and can’t afford to replace the boards this year). M

Sherwin Williams says don’t prime for decks and stairs when using their deck paint. Should I just lay two layers of paint?

Pictures in the comments if it will let me. Otherwise please imagine worn away or deteriorated paint on covered portion, ends as described above b

I have a room with Shipyard S500-6 eggshell. The original paint was applied almost ten years ago. The can was solid so I purchased a quart in the same color code and paint type.

It’s clear that the paint doesn’t match as the new stuff is darker.

I imagine the root cause is the darker paint faded over time due to multiple windows in this room. Is there an alternative way of matching the color (such as adding a few drops of white paint and stirring) versus painting the entire wall? Trying to cover up some chipped paint. Many thanks!

Got a dirty girl. Doing a TSP wash on wood sided bungalow. Would be nice to catch the chips that come off but not catch the water. Do you use a run of plastic insect screen or nothing or regular dropcloth and just let it dry out? Or...? thanks. Unleaded paint.

It will be 65 Fahrenheit during day, and 38 at night. Is this too cold for Emerald by Sherwin Williams for exterior? Or wait until Summer? 2/3 day project.

TLDR: First-time DIYer looking for sprayer to paint furniture. Affordable is desirable, but I’m willing to splurge up to $1500 for quality.

I’m a DIYer looking to purchase a paint sprayer. My first project is to paint some wood veneer nightstands my wife bought, but I’d like to have something versatile enough to use for future projects (painting walls, staining and painting furniture, staining/ painting fences, etc.) if such an option exists. I know absolutely nothing about painting, especially spraying. For what it’s worth, I’ve read that I should use BIN shellac primer on the veneer, which I originally planned to roller on (because the Wagner sprayer I bought advised against spraying the BIN).

I bought a Wagner earlex 5700, but I’m thinking about returning it as I read it’s not very good. Moreover, the guy at Sherwin Williams recommended and sold me Emerald Urethane, which I’ve now read is not a good option for the 5700.

My budget is $1500, but cheaper is better. Ideally, I want a machine that can give quality/ smooth finish on furniture and that could be used for other projects. Are there any good options out there? I’m not doing this for a living, so I don’t need anything overkill. I’d also prefer something that’s convenient to set up, use, and clean. I’ve seen conflicting reports of whether to get an HVLP or airless sprayer with a fine finish tip (since I’m not doing this for a living, I don’t need 100% perfection. 90% perfection is good enough).

I’ve read that the following could be good options:
- Fuji HVLP
- Graco Quickshot
- Graco X5

Thank you so much for the help! While my main question is about a good affordable diy sprayer, please feel free to give general advice if you have any tips.

Thank you!