It’s a subtle, barely noticeable thing, but it bothers me since I know it’s there. Of course, I didn’t think about the difference in texture between the two at the time. I decided to stop taping and instead spray only the bottom half of the walls and roll the top half. When I started to tape off the ceiling to spray the walls, the ceiling wasn’t cured enough, and pulled some paint off with it. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize there would be a difference in the texture of the paint after rolling vs spraying. I think it’s worth noting that at the end of the day, the smoother finish from spraying paint wouldn’t be the deciding factor in choosing a sprayer over a roller. I didn’t expect the walls to be as smooth as a baby’s bottom, but they are!īy contrast, rollers can leave a slight texture, though it’s never been noticeable enough to bother me. One thing I was pleasantly surprised about after using my paint sprayer was the finish. But since my walls turned out fine, I have to say a paint sprayer will typically give you better coverage. Winner: I’m not sure if my ceiling debacle is because of my inexperience with spraying paint, or if that’s a common problem. I guess what I’m saying is that I get the best of both worlds in this room because I get to go back and roll a second coat of paint on the ceiling! (Jealous?) Shortly thereafter, we installed flooring and moved furniture back into the room (like a couple of dummies). At that point, I had already cleaned up my sprayer and packed it in for the day. Once the paint dried the streaks were, although less noticeable, still visible.

When I sprayed the ceiling (with black paint, mind you), it looked a little streaky but I assumed that was where there was more paint applied and it would even out after it dried. HOWEVER, just because the coverage looks good, doesn’t mean you can always get away with one coat. I think the off-white paint was a close enough match to the white primer that any light areas aren’t noticeable. On the flip side, I was impressed with how well the coverage was when using my paint sprayer. I know, it’s annoying and time-consuming, but I guarantee you’ll miss little spots here and there and overall won’t see the true color of your paint with one coat. I’ve said it before, but no matter what the paint manufacturers tell you, when using a roller, you should ALWAYS apply at least two coats of paint. Winner: I have to give it to the tried and true roller and brush method. Unfortunately, most of that paint ends up being dispersed into the air and drying into fine dust before it hits anything. I saw a couple of resources mention they could use up to 33% more paint! Mo paint = mo money. But inevitably, they need to be tossed at the risk of sacrificing my finished product.Īnother aspect of cost to consider is that paint sprayers overall use quite a bit more paint. I reuse my brushes loads of times before I replace them, and I’ll get at least a few good runs out of a roller too. But the initial investment definitely felt like, well, an investment.īy comparison, a paintbrush and roller are significantly cheaper. Paint sprayers can be expensive! Of course, there are tons of different tiers of pricing depending on the bells and whistles each paint sprayer has. The main reason for our hesitation is simple: cost. At this point I’ve been painting interiors for years, but, as I mentioned above, it wasn’t until it was time to paint the loft that we decided to invest in a paint sprayer.

Pictures of paint brushes and rollers