Spray or Roll? How to Choose the Best Way to Paint

Should you spray or roll? It's one of the questions we hear most at our spray department, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you're painting, how big it is, and how much you'd have to cover up first.

Spraying is much faster once you're set up, and it gives the smoothest finish on doors, trim and cabinets. Rolling needs far less prep, wastes less paint, and is usually the better choice for walls in a lived-in home. Most professional painters use both, plus a brush, often on the same job. This guide helps you decide which one fits your project.

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Spraying vs rolling at a glance

When rolling is the better choice

• Walls in a furnished home. By the time you've emptied and masked a lived-in room for spraying, you could have rolled it.
• One or two rooms. On small jobs, the setup and clean-up eat up the time spraying saves.
• Repaints in a similar colour. A good roller and quality paint will cover beautifully in two coats.
• When you want to keep paint use down. Rolling puts nearly all of your paint on the wall.
• Tight or occupied spaces where overspray and ventilation would be a problem.

Choose the right roller cover

The roller cover matters as much as the paint. The rougher the surface, the longer the nap (the thickness of the fibres) you need:

Starting from scratch? The MooreMAXX roller kit comes with a cover, tray and liner.

How to roll like a pro

• Cut in first with a brush around ceilings, corners and trim, a section at a time, so the rolled paint blends into wet edges.
• Load the roller fully, then roll off the excess on the tray. A dry roller leaves thin, patchy coverage.
• Work in sections about 1 metre wide, from top to bottom, and keep a wet edge so you don't get lap marks.
• Let the roller do the work. Pressing hard squeezes paint out the ends and leaves lines.
• Finish each section with light, straight passes in one direction.

When spraying is the better choice

• Empty spaces and new builds. In a home with no furniture or flooring yet, there's little to mask and spraying saves days.
• Exteriors. Siding, soffits, fences and large walls go much faster.
• Detailed surfaces. Raised-panel doors, louvred shutters, spindles, railings and wicker would take forever by brush.
• Cabinets, doors and trim. Spraying gives the smooth, factory-like finish brushes and rollers can't quite match. See our guide to painting kitchen cabinets.
• Ceilings in an empty room. Spraying is faster and saves your neck.
• Repeat work. If you paint for a living, a sprayer pays for itself.

The pro move: spray and back-roll

On walls, masonry and siding, many pros spray the paint on and then immediately roll over it (back-rolling). You get the speed of the sprayer, and the roller works the paint into the surface and evens out the texture. Some stains and finishes call for back-brushing after spraying too. Sico ProLuxe deck and siding finishes do, for example (see our Sico ProLuxe stain guide).

Which kind of sprayer?

"Paint sprayer" covers a few very different machines. Picking the right type matters more than picking the brand.

For cabinets and fine finishing specifically, our best paint sprayer for cabinets guide compares airless and HVLP in detail, and our QuickShot II review covers the sprayer we recommend most to cabinet painters.

Rent before you buy

If you're spraying one house, one fence or one kitchen, you may not need to buy a sprayer at all. Our Rockwood Village store in Mississauga is home to our full-service spray department, with sprayer sales, rentals and repairs. Renting is a great way to try spraying on a real project before you invest. And if you already own a sprayer that isn't working right, bring it in with its model and serial number.

Call Rockwood Village at (905) 277-9767, option 3, to ask about rentals.

Spraying tips for a better finish

• Mask more than you think. Overspray drifts. Cover floors, windows, fixtures, cars and anything nearby, and turn off fans and HVAC when spraying indoors.
• Use the right tip. The paint's data sheet lists the recommended tip size and pressure. Smaller tips are for thinner coatings and fine finishing, larger tips for thicker paints and primers. Fine-finish tips like the Graco RAC X FFLP give a smoother result at lower pressure.
• Thin only if the data sheet allows it. Many paints spray through an airless without thinning. HVLP is more sensitive to thickness, so follow the paint maker's limits.
• Strain your paint and keep the sprayer's filters clean to avoid tip clogs.
• Test on cardboard to set your pressure and pattern before you touch the real surface. Turn the pressure up only until the pattern has no heavy edges.
• Keep the gun square to the surface and a steady 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in) away, moving your whole arm rather than flicking your wrist.
• Overlap each pass by about half, and start moving before you pull the trigger and keep moving after you release it.
• Clean up right away. Dried paint in a sprayer is the most common reason for repairs. For water-based paints, Benjamin Moore suggests a final rinse with mineral spirits to keep the pump from rusting.

Safety first. Airless sprayers work at very high pressure. Never point the gun at yourself or anyone else, never put your hand in front of the tip, always use the trigger lock and tip guard, and relieve the pressure before you clean or change tips. Wear a respirator and eye protection, and keep the area well ventilated.

What about the brush?

Whichever you choose, you'll still want a good brush. It's the best tool for cutting in, corners, small areas and touch-ups, and for back-brushing stains into wood. A quality angled sash brush like the MooreMAXX Chinex/Nylon makes clean lines far easier.

FAQ

Always follow the paint manufacturer's data sheet and your sprayer's manual for tip size, pressure, thinning and safety.