Well this started off to be a dream project for my husband and I. We bumped into the Wagner Paint Crew Paint Sprayer on the shelf while looking for something that could easily paint the interior of a whole house. So after reading the box and my husband researching the machine we decided to make the purchase it for $239 at Lowes.

Another contributer to buying this machine was that they had a step by step video on their website, http://www.wagnerspraytech.com. If you're a visual person such as my husband and I then this is a awesome feature for you. I myself hate reading manuels and rather see it done myself.

This did sound like a dream come true being able spray paint instead of using a traditional roller or brush. Who wouldn't want something easier to use and let's face it painting nine rooms just sucks with a roller by hand.

As instructed in the instructions and on the video we practiced on cardboard like it showed and it came out perfect. So far so good for us!!! We were sold until we started painting our garage. We figured starting in the garage woould be the best bet since it was our first time using the machine. I still cringe at the experience. That is where the nightmare happened. We did the whole 10-12 inches from the wall as both the manuel and the website video instructed and the spray left lines on our wall and you could tell where you stopped and finished. I do not know how many time we re-watched the video but it was definitely a lot and frustration was very much setting in. For some reason the paint would not blend on the wall. We talked to someone at our local paint store that had used one and he said to let it dry overnight and see if maybe after it had dried it'd look better. So the next morning we re-checked our not so masterpiece and well it looked like a zebra. Fortunately for us we only did the one wall. Needless to say we after that horrible experience, we decided to at the least try the roller brush that came with the machine instead of the spray gun.

We did like the roller somewhat. The only reason I say somewhat is b/c every once in a while the brush attachment would pop loose and leak paint all over the sheets we laid down and luckily we had them down or we'd be replacing carpet (my word of advice to anyone using this is make sure you have a plastic sheet or something on the floor to catch falling paint). Luckily we did. We think the reason the roller kept popping off was because the locking mechanism kept hitting the wall causing the roller to come loose from the bracket.

The machine is also VERY noisy. I was joking with my husband that we should of bought ear plugs with this unit b/c it gives off a loud high pitched sound. Definitely do not use while your kids are napping or for that matter anyone else. Unless they can sleep through a freight train driving by than they will be awake rather quickly.

The only thing we did like about the machine was that cleaning it is fairly easy. The only downfall is that it takes forever to cycle water through the 25 foot hose to get it fully cleaned out. I believe we filled the 2.5 gallon hopper 5-6 times or more just to get clear water coming out as instructed.

So what sold us on buying the machine?! Below is the features as stated by Wagner.

The machine has a 2800 psi piston pump. (The pressure seemed awesome at first and then seemed to dwindle with use. We strained the paint before use to remove chunks or anything mized in the paint that would clog the machine.)

Pressure can be controlled from 1000 to 2800 psi (This is so that depending on what paint you're using you can control how hard it comes out. The cardboard test and the website can help you figure out the setting needed).

2.5 gallon (9.5 L) paint hopper (Had no issues with the hopper. It easily attaches and detaches for filling of water while cleaning.)

Rugged wheels (Gets around rather easily for lugging the machine around.)

Telescopic handle (Comes in handy for reaching higher places)


Professional grade metal spray gun (Sounded like a dream come true but it did not perform as led to believe)

25 foot hose (This thing was stiffer than stiff and it seemed like I was fighting the hose more than I was using the gun. Make sure you let it uncurl in it's natural way or you'll be fighting it more than anything else. The length however was awesome except that with it being so stiff it was hard keeping the hose straight and so you had to use muscle on top of holding the gun 10-12 inches from the wall).

415 Reversible Spray tip (Suppose to set how fine the spray is. It's also suppose to be comparable to a lot of higher priced sprayer models.)

Currently the machine is sitting in our garage collecting dust. We are going to give it a 2nd chance and see if we can get it to work like it is suppose to in our new house. We believe in 2nd chances and don'tr want to see our money go down the drain!!!

Recommended: No