Wood Stain through a spray gun

[stenz]

I am needing some advice from you guys. I want to re-stain my kids swing set in the backyard. I power washed all the old stain off and its ready for a new coat.

I went to Lowes and was talking to an employee in the paint department and he told me NOT to spray stain through a spray gun/compressor. He claims it destroys the stain. I really don't want to stain it by hand....

Anyone have any experience with this?

[rockhound]

it works just fine, however it make a hell of a mess, and you would nee to brush it out anyway for a decent finish

my preffered method it to used a small pump sprayer and a brush strain the stain before running it through the sprayer, there is a lot of junk in it that will clog the tip

[ronaldrwl]

I agree. It makes a huge mess and you will use twice as much stain spraying.

[Aloha_Shooter]

it works just fine, however it make a hell of a mess, and you would nee to brush it out anyway for a decent finish

my preffered method it to used a small pump sprayer and a brush strain the stain before running it through the sprayer, there is a lot of junk in it that will clog the tip

^ This. Done it both ways, pump sprayer is better than a power sprayer. Other option that works well is a roller on a 6-ft pole.

[Tim K]

The employee is full of it. Stain is nothing but thin paint. Turn the pressure down and adjust the fan down tight and have at it. Life is far too short to swing a brush.

[sniper7]

For a project that small I would use a roller brush. I got my entire fence done in under a day.

[buffalobo]

Time to teach the kids. Supervise from lawn chair.

Lobbed from my electronic ball and chain.

[Hummer]

The employee is full of it. Stain is nothing but thin paint. Turn the pressure down and adjust the fan down tight and have at it. Life is far too short to swing a brush.

Tim is right, of course. Spraying stain works just fine. It's best to also use a brush to work the stain into the wood pores and distribute it evenly with the grain.

[Wulf202]

Yes you can spray stain. On small jobs like that the prep work and clean up usually eat more time than just using some rollers and brushes.

[theGinsue]

Agree with all of the above comments. It's messy as hell and still requires brushing it into the wood grain/pores. You'll definitely waste more than you'll get ont othe wood if there is any breeze at all. Clean up of stains through power sprayers - particularly if the stain has any of the waterblock properties (like Thompsons, etc.) - is anything but a fun process. I found it MUCH easier to prep, use & clean up and less wasteful to use a pump "bug sprayer".

[stenz]

Thanks for all the feedback. It's a pretty good size swing set so I would rather not use a brush.

[jslo]

If you must spray use a HVLP. Rocker sells a small portable unit for about $100. Pretty decent and cleans easy.

[SideShow Bob]

I don't know about stain, but I use a backpack sprayer to Thompsons Water Seal my privacy fence every couple of years.
I just flush it with soapy water as soon as I get done, and i have been using the same one for about 10 years.

[Wulf202]

I just tried a tool called "the stain stick" from lowes.

Best $25 I ever spent. But I used it on a smooth redwood deck

[MrPrena]

valspar has spray stain, glaze and other products.