The great paint sprayer debate: HVLP vs airless for a fence job

My neighbor Bob swore I'd waste a weekend with a Graco airless on my 6-foot privacy fence around the backyard. Said it was overkill and I'd spend more time cleaning than spraying. I went ahead anyway with a rented airless from Home Depot on Summit Ave, and honestly it took me 3 hours total including cleanup. Bob's still using his little Wagner HVLP and it's taken him two weekends for half the fence. Is there really a use case for HVLP on exterior fence jobs, or is my friend just stubborn?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam_thomas19d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Mike borrowed a neighbor's airless for his fence last year and had the same experience, finished a whole run in an afternoon while his brother-in-law was still fussing with a little HVLP unit... I actually thought of that when I saw @scott.miles mention the cleaning horror stories, because Mike said he just flushed the gun with water and was done in maybe 20 minutes. Bob needs to accept that some tools are just right for the job even if they look like overkill at first.

scott.miles19d ago

Wait, THREE HOURS total including cleanup for a whole fence with an airless? That's insane. I literally spent an entire Saturday cleaning a Graco HVLP after doing a small shed door once, like two hours just taking it apart and soaking nozzles. I mean maybe it's just me with bad luck, but that speed alone makes me think Bob's got some kind of stubborn loyalty to his Wagner.