Recommendations for spray painting metal steps

[Matt__H]

Hi all, I've been researching this for a long time but don't seem to get anywhere with it..

I'm trying to spec up a job to paint 3 floors of outside metal stairs (10 steps per landing, 3 floors total... That's 6 landings, around 60 stairs plus railings around the whole thing.

Its already been painted before, there are some areas which have rust which will need to be wire brushed and primed.. But my understanding is that the rest of the 'ok' paint will probably just need two coats.

Because its just me and time isn't on my side I was hoping I could use a paint sprayer instead of a brush as that will just take forever..

I was looking at one of these to use to do the spraying: http://www.screwfix.com/p/earlex-hv5500-hvlp-650w-professional-paint-sprayer-220-240v/50944

And was thinking about using either Dulux metalshield or Johnstone smooth metal paint.

The Johnstone although more expensive is a primer and top coat so to me makes sense to just use that,, its about £10-15 more per tub ( I'm not paying for the paint ) where as the dulux will need essentially 3 coats at least.

The thing I don't know is..

1) Can I use a paint sprayer to do this project??
2) Is that an OK sprayer to use? Will it work for the paint I'm looking to use
3) Is this the right type of paint to be using?
4) Can anyone give me any wisdom and advise lol??

Thanks in advance
Matt

Untitled

• Matt__H
• 27 Sep 2014
• 1

Untitled

• Matt__H
• 27 Sep 2014
• 1

Untitled

• Matt__H
• 27 Sep 2014
• 1

Untitled

• Matt__H
• 27 Sep 2014
• 1

Untitled

• Matt__H
• 27 Sep 2014
• 1

Untitled

• Matt__H
• 27 Sep 2014
• 1

Untitled

• Matt__H
• 27 Sep 2014
• 1

 

[dcdec]

You refer to it as a job, so i presume you are being paid to spec and complete the job to a professional standard? If you don't know how to do it why don't you just tell the client that its not your thing and politely decline the job?

 

[Matt__H]

Its for a family member, I'm not getting paid but I want to help them.. They've had a few quotes. The most expensive was £15000 to sand blast the whole thing and paint, the cheapest was £7000 which was to "make good and paint"

I normally do most of the diy for them and I'm always happy to learn new skills.

I appreciate your concern but that wasn't really the advice i was after lol.. I wanted to know specifically about the tool mentioned and spraying the paint.

Thanks
Matt

 

[dcdec]

Bit of a stretch doing such a large job for nothing and the point remains that you don't know how to do it. Leave it to someone that does, that's all i'm saying.

 

[Rob0482]

You can probably "make good and paint" using this stuff:

http://www.baileypaints.co.uk/indus...at/high-build-air-drying-ac-enamel-4950-line/

It's high build anti-corrosive paint, so it will stop the rust and also covers really well, and should go on fine without separate primer, even to bare metal (assuming you have got rid of all the loose crap and rust etc). It's also pretty harsh solvent paint though, so you will also need a respirator with an A1 or A2 filter in it, and decent gloves too (nitrile are best). The upside of that is that it will dry very fast (touch dry in under an hour). Colourwise, they can mix you up any RAL or BS colour in that paint, but they also do the black for about 2/3 the price per tin.

Regarding the sprayer, I use one of them for certain jobs. They are pretty good for what they are (a semi-pro quality device) - I've actually put that paint through it too, but it needs thinning with Xylene, and you'll have to consider whether overspray will be an issue as it could potentially involve lots of masking. It also takes a bit of time and use to get the feel of the thing, how much to thin any particular paint and also how to avoid drips etc... If you do use one, get a couple of cheap sieves from a supermarket and always always always thin and mix your paint in a different pot, then sieve into the sprayer cup. If you don't, it will get bits of crap in it which clog it, and it's a real pain to stop and clean out. Bear in mind you will also need to clean it out with solvent after use, and that dirty solvent has to be properly disposed of, NOT down a drain!!

You can also put this stuff on with a roller and brush which may be more controllable and straight-forward than spraying, and it won't need thinning either. If you do go down that route, I'd also consider recruiting a local painter and decorator to help you get the job done in half the time.

Give them a ring at Baileys and tell them what you're doing, and get them to give you some advice on that paint and what you want to do with it - maybe even get a 1L sample sent out and test it for coverage and durability, and see where you go from there.

Last tip - might be worth doing a rough set of sums to give you a square metre area you need to cover before you go any further, as this is going to help calculate how much paint to buy.