How much should I expect to pay "sprayer"

[mrgazer]

Hello all,

A few questions I want to ask for everyone's professional advice really. The following on my house will require painting:

Custom desk (MR-MDF)
Desk is about 2Metres long, should I just get the worktop and the face of the drawers sprayed? Or full on spray including inside the drawers? I wanted high gloss white Also, is a heat resistance paint advisable, as the desk goes over a radiator.

Custom pull out wardrobe (MR-MDF)
The outside panels is about 2.3 metres long, again, should I get the internal also sprayed white (matt white)? or just the outer panel?

Vanity unit in bathroom (MR-MDF)
This is around 900cm wide, again, should I get internal and external sprayed?


What is your opinion on this one?

Also what costs should I be looking at, for:
-External only
-Internal + External

Another question, being MDF i know there is a lot prep work to do, I know it needs sanding, filling and priming. is it a job the sprayer should carry out, or should I do these myself?

Thanks for all the help
Gaz

 

[opps]

I occasionally spray MDF but I don't have a sufficiently clean environment to spray high gloss. I tend to stick with 30-40% sheen.

A high level sheen is going to cost you a lot more. The higher the sheen, the more you will see the imperfections in the MDF (and believe me, there are lots) additionally other factors (dust, fibres from clothing) are likely to contaminate the pre-cured finish.

If you want to save money you could use clear varnish for the interiors before you hand it to the person spraying.

I tend to spray (using a HVLP turbine) with acid-cat (AKA 2K, 2 Pack). It uses a catalyst to harden really quickly but is is very toxic and not suited to use in an occupied house.

You might be better off trying to find someone that uses water based paints and an airless sprayer if the furniture is already in situ.

Without seeing images, I can't advise further, I would however say that when my bread and butter was painting MDF, I would have typically charged twice as much to spray rather than hand paint and often I refused to spray fitted furniture (largely because of the overspray and toxic fumes which will linger for weeks).

I appreciate that you have asked about spraying but a good cabinet painter should be able to provide a finish that looks like someone has applied a single hand painted finish over a sprayed finish. Unfortunately most decorators aren't able to achieve that level of finish.