OT paint gun with latex paint

is it possible to paint latex exterior house paint with a regular air paint gun? How much water do you have to mix in per quart?

Also, if possible to use them, what is the best way to clean the gun out?

Thanks.

I use it to paint interior heat return grills the same color as the walls. I use denatured alcohol with the latex paint at about a 3 to 1 mix(3 parts paint). It depends on the thickness of the brand of latex being used. Alcohol vaporizes faster than water. I don't know if the manufacturers recommend this but it is a way that I tried and it seems to work. DO NOT use this around open flames.

If at all possible you"d be way ahead to use an airless gun. They"re made for it, goes much quicker and almost no overspray. If you do, get an extension wand so you don"t have to use the ladder so much. I put two 4" wands on mine. Sure was a lot easier than anything else. Home Depot rents them.

I use a regular spray gun when using latex. I paint my shutters after scubbing them with soap and water. Only add enough water so it sprays well. Hal
PS: May have to experiment, add a little at a time and stir it.

If you have a lot to do definatly invest or rent in an airless. If you have everything ready you can go through a 5 gallon bucket in under an hour. Little overspray and will spray a pretty straight line without masking much.

If your painting the entire house, the airless is great.It has a high pressure pump that really moves the paint,but if not masked off will also paint your picture windows,sidewalks,roof,or anything that gets in the way.From personal experience........................................

I'm in the process of renovating my house and wanted to spray the walls instead of rolling them so to save money and time I tried spraying latex paint with an air gun. Even thinned to the max it was too thick for the gun to pick it up and spray it properly, it usually came out in spurts. Needless to say I'll never make that mistake again.


I hate to paint as it is and didn't really want to spend money for an airless sprayer so I had planned to rent one. Unfortunately I know there will be more renovation coming my way in the near future so before I rented I went ahead and checked prices. Fortunately I caught a special deal at Home Depot and got one of the Wagner "Paint Crew" airless, pump type sprayers for under $100. It's got a two gallon capacity and comes with like 25 feet of hose and the gun. I painted a 25x14 and a 14x14 room using this sprayer quicker than I ever thought possible. As long as you keep the nozzle clean so it shoots a proper spray pattern you'll end up with a nice smooth, even paint job. I also retextured my ceilings so I had to strip and prime them before I could put on the new texture. With this machine all your holding is a light weight gun with the hose attached which makes it really comfortable to use. Since it's pressure operated it doesn't care if your spraying horizontal or overhead, it does the same job either way. Again I knocked the primer on the ceiling and then painting the new texture in no time flat.

Cleanup is also a breeze. Drain the excess paint and rinse the hopper out several times, put in clean water and run it through the machine til it comes out the hose clean and your done. I think cleanup usually took me about 10 to 15 minutes. Well worth the cleanup time for the painting time it saves.

You know reading back over that I ought to go into advertising. Seriously if you've got much painting to do it's well worth spending a little for a good sprayer as opposed to struggling through the job using an air gun on paint it wasn't designed to spray. Spend a little cash to get the right tool for the job and you'll not regrett it.

I spray latex with a spray gun, but I use the pressurized paint tank. You do have to thin it a little, but it works very well. Harbor Freight had these advertixed a few days ago.

Got the same rig awhile ago. End came off the hose. Big mess. Was using the roller at the time. Store gave me a new hose, but still. Roller is heavy. Never tried the sprayer, maybe I will get the courage worked up.

Small jobs are OK. After the second or third refill the paint in the suction tube and spray nozzle starts to dry up and requires cleaning.