what width paint roller

[aidank]

I have a 70m driveway wall to paint, as well as the exterior of a house.

70m driveway wall is a regular plastered wall, 1m high. House is also a regular plastered wall. I have the cutting in done with a 2" brush, 3l of paint used.

Would an 18" roller speed up my painting job ? Painting the walls with regular dulux weathershield, its a recoat job, the Atlantic Ocean wind gives it a lifespan of 4years or thereabouts.

 

[Shedendman]

Hire a sprayer,no?
If not an 18'' will be fine

 

[Turbo]

An 18" roller would be unwieldy and awkward to use. Hard work on your arms too. I have yet to see a pro painter using one.
I would suggest a 12" at most or even a 9".
Bear in mind that if you go for anything over 9" you are into expensive pro rollers and paint buckets.
I have painted a few houses using a good quality purdy 9" roller and a deep pile roller sleeve. You can get a lot done in a day with that setup and it is easy to use.

 

[Dapph2]

My 18 inch brush with a furry sheepskin roller on two handed extension stick where the brush holder is like cow horns withe roller suspended between the tips .was a doddle to use . One of my paint trays was once the cab roof off a Motability scooter , a metre long by 650mm wide by 70mm deep

Though a plaster mixing tub or baby bath for £8 or even a large heavy duty plastic seed tray is equally good .

My most recent paint try is a black plastic gardeners potting tray , which always gets washed out with fairly warm water,' washing powder and a blast or three of the power washer.

My biggest prob was cutting in below my waist with a four inch wide internal use , brush securely taped to the handle as I'm well disabled .
Being able to roller or cut in standing up is all I can manage due to spinal injuries ..


The sheepskin roller handle , metal tin tray and two rollers was about £28 many years ago , after having done up several homes , they are still quite useable .

I also have a special rigid plastic condom ( not cheap ) IMO well worth having one that you push the dirty roller into and connect the bottom to a Hozelock connector hose pipe then turn on the water to flush the paint out and clean the roller .

I also wrap the roller & paint tray in clingfilm every dinner time and at cease work each day if it is to be used the next day ...... to stop it drying out & not waste time and paint having to reload a clean dry roller every time .

 

[aidank]

As I mentioned I will be painting Dulux Weathershield, would I need to wash the tray every evening if going at it again next morning. I guess I have the same question about the roller.

 

[Turbo]

As I mentioned I will be painting Dulux Weathershield, would I need to wash the tray every evening if going at it again next morning. I guess I have the same question about the roller.

I put the roller in a large food bag and tie the top.
Plastic shopping bags could work but nowadays have holes in them.

 

[Cobbler]

I put the roller in a large food bag and tie the top.
Plastic shopping bags could work but nowadays have holes in them.

Wrap in cling film works as well

 

[Mark 5]

As I mentioned I will be painting Dulux Weathershield, would I need to wash the tray every evening if going at it again next morning. I guess I have the same question about the roller.

I have used 18", they are unwieldy altho cover a lot of area, harder to load too, nowadays I prefer to use 9" or 12" rollers, ok more time taken but not much less and arms and wrists don't cane.

Yes you could wrap your rollers/trays for next day use but imo don't.

With a tray, next day if the paint had tried a bit, a scouring pad and soapy water you can get 'em clean and no skin or flakes, a roller using emulsion/exterior wall paint, if it starts to dry overnight you can get hard-stiff areas on the roller, a dickens own to wash out to make the roller reusable if at all.

At the end of the work day make time, it's a pain but wash tray/s rollers and let them drain off overnight.

Oil based paints, you can cheat a little and wrap 'em overnight.

 

[Dapph2]

Here is the cow horn style roller holder .. this one is adjustable to roller width but the one I have is fixed width . unlike the 7 type roller brushes which are lobsided they load evenly and are well balanced so very little stress on your hands , wrists or arms .
Within reason the slower you roller with this type of roller on a stick the better the penetration spread /coverage , the less splashing and the quicker it gets done . The application pattern you roller with is also very important to get an even spread of paint .( cruciform , then x ways . two or three times to get a fine even spread , then a light top to bottom run down the wall . One thing you should never need to do is push the roller to the wall so hard your muscles ache for days after finishing .