Spray painting or brush and roller?

We do both, and the answer depends on what is being painted. Here is how we decide.

Spray wins for

• Kitchen cabinets, where a brush mark would show on every door
• Internal doors, radiators, spindles and anything with detail that is slow by hand
• Fitted wardrobes and panelling
• Large new-build or empty-house ceilings and walls, where speed matters
• Exterior render, cladding and fences

Brush and roller wins for

• Occupied rooms with furniture and belongings in place, where masking everything is impractical
• Single walls or small touch-ups
• Textured walls where a roller works the paint into the surface
• Period woodwork where a slight hand-finished texture suits the house

Finish

Sprayed paint goes on in a fine, even layer with no brush marks or roller texture. On a kitchen door it looks factory-finished. Brushwork, done well, is smooth but never quite that flat.

Time and cost

Spraying is faster once the room is masked, but the masking takes time, so on a small job it is a wash. Respraying a kitchen is three to five days and a fraction of the cost of replacing it. A full-house respray of woodwork is often cheaper than brushing it because the hours are so much lower.

If you are not sure, send us a photo and we will tell you which we would use.