WagnerSpraytech 0520000 Power Tex Electric Corded Texture Sprayer, Sprays 3 Textured Patterns - Popcorn, Knockdown, and Orange Peel, 1 Gallon Hopper

As a non-construction-background woman whose only experience is with buying a fixer-upper (for the 3rd and final time!), I wanted to review this item from a woman's perspective. I wanted an electric texture gun as opposed to the pneumatic as I find an electric cord much less cumbersome than an air hose. Plus, it's hard sometimes to get "dibs" on our air compressor as my husband uses it for many, many things. So this was the only home-use unit of that nature that Amazon sells. The price is well worth it, however I have never used another one so cannot really compare, only say that I am very pleased despite the cost.I agree with everyone else that "pancake batter" is the right thickness, although I found that it was better to make it slightly runnier. ONLY slightly, any more and the stuff will drip on the walls, so it has to be at least a little bit thick. I practiced on my actual wall, but behind a door that is always open. It only takes a couple of squirts to get the idea of how it will work and if your stuff is thick enough or thin enough. We did all medium orange peel. So far we have done one whole bedroom plus the ceiling and two hallways not including the ceiling.Save yourself some trouble and DO NOT buy the Homex texture powder they also sell on Amazon unless you want a popcorn texture. That stuff really sucks. We used it in the office and used up two whole boxes and it was like a mixture of popcorn and orange peel. Luckily, the next day when it was dry I just went over it with a drywall trowel at an angle and knocked off the weird bits and it looks great now, no need for a do-over.I highly recommend that you just use pre-mixed/wet drywall mud and then thin it down with water. Also, spend the little extra to get a paint-mixer drill attachment. I got one at the hardware store for six bucks. Well worth it and it really saves your arm from hand mixing.I did pre-paint the walls with an inexpensive paint to prime the walls as per the directions, but I'm not 100 percent sure this is necessary. I do think it is necessary to paint the texture with a primer or regular paint before you use whatever expensive paint on top. It is drywall mud, so soaks up the paint very quickly. On raw drywall I would say it used almost twice the paint that you would expect from start to finish and on previously painted walls about half again as much. Paint is expensive so I went with some walmart paint to save money on the real paint that I finished with.This unit works as the directions state so I won't go over that again. I will recommend, especially if you are a low-upper-body-endurance person like me, that you only fill the hopper halfway to do the ceilings and 3/4 of the way to do the walls. It is very heavy with the mud in the hopper!Prep is the biggest issue. Make sure you cover everything you don't want sprayed. Don't think you can use drop cloths on the floor, you really need to use plastic and tape. The unit has a pretty powerful exhaust and when you are spraying near the bottom of the wall, it will blow away your drop cloth and you will spray the floor. Thankfully the mud comes off with water, but I wish I had taped down plastic and then put a drop cloth on top of that to stand on (it gets slippery on just the plastic). After you spray, wait until the next day to remove the plastic. All the bits will be dry then and fly off, but it is less mess this way than trying to do it when everything is wet and risking marring the new texture you just put on.Also, wear knee pads. You will be getting low to do the bottoms of the walls and it is much easier on the body to kneel than to bend over.Clean up of this model is slightly a pain, but easy enough with the flexible brush they give you. Pay close attention to the fact that where the hopper screws in and where the stuff comes out are not directly connected and need to be cleaned out separately. Where the hopper screws in there is a gap under the rubber where the mud will collect but this must be cleaned out! It is easy but time consuming. The interior is all black, so if you see any white, it ain't clean.I've done a ton of home remodel for my own homes and I wish I'd gotten something like this years ago. It is much cheaper in the long run and leaves a much nicer texture than the cans. We paid some guy to do this in one room at our old house and not only did he make a huge mess, but he charged us like three hundred bucks for just one room. So this pays for itself very quickly.So: your shopping list should include a paint mixer drill attachment, lots and lots of plastic and tape (2 mil or better), some pre-mixed/wet drywall mud, a large bucket with a lid, extra paint, drop cloths, knee pads, and eye protection (because it goes everywhere!). This is totally possible to use with only one person, but we ended up doing it with two and one held the cord so it didn't scrape the walls and the other did the spraying. It is actually a pretty fun and satisfying process despite the extensive prep work. I'm very pleased with this and would recommend it to anyone.

I took out a wall between the dining room and living room and had to apply popcorn texture to that part of the ceiling. I tried with the aerosol cans with mixed results. I read the review on this product and decided to give it a try. I am not an expert or even particularly handy. Read the instructions! Mix the mud as per directions. PRACTICE on a piece of wood or cardboard. Be patient and do not try to do the entire job in one pass. The hardest part is learning to control the trigger...it controls the flow rate of the mud. My first attempt was pretty much perfect. I know where my 9 foot by 1 foot patch is, but I cannot see it. Everything blended really well and the patch looks like the original. This is an amazingly good product!

I'm absolutely shocked how easy and fast it was to texture a small bedroom.I watched a few videos online about it to prep myself and practiced on some cardboard boxes. My first go was in a closet in case things went wrong, and they did. It was easy enough to smooth over and let it dry to come back around and try again. Things went well and I figured out the timing and distance to spray from.I achieved a decent knockdown using the black tip, with a little thicker "pancake batter" diluted mud (roughly one handful of compound to a shot glass of water). I pulled the trigger fully and sprayed about a foot or two away from the surface. I timed it to about 18-22 minutes for set time. I used a 18" knockdown tool I found on here to knock it down.Overall, this was much easier than I expected, I prolonged this process and was pretty nervous about it but I achieved pretty good results. It may not be professional quality but with a good paint job it'll be just fine.The cleanup is also ridiculously easy. Everything hosed off quick and simple.Cons:About 3/4 through, my hand was cramping up from how stiff the trigger is. I really wish it was lockable or even just like a regular paint sprayer.The spray pattern can be a little inconsistent, near the end of the 11x10 room I noticed I got more long stringy types of spatter compared to the rounded type. Possibly my mix changed or my hand wasn't giving it the full beans. I also had to kind of pump the trigger on and off to get the thicker drops to spray out, which could be from buildup or a sign the turbine is failing already.I used way more mud than I anticipated, about half of a 4.5gal on a 11x10 room including the ceiling.I'm doing a full remodel so it will be used plenty, I'll update if things go bad.Update: Just completed my second room a couple months after the first review. My results came out even better this time, possibly better mud mix or a little experience goes a long way. Either which, I'm becoming a big fan of this sprayer.My hand still cramps up pretty good near the end but I noticed I can use the brush that's provided when it starts getting stringy and it clears up to help not require the trigger pumping technique which in turn helps the cramping. And no I'm not alone with that, the friend helping me said it's a ridiculously firm trigger.

I had 2 bathrooms that needed to be retextured. None of the contractors around here would bother to even return my calls, too busy I guess.The old texture only stuck where there was a drywall joint so I had to match it up. After a couple of practice goes on scrap drywall pieces I made my repairs. First bathroom looks a little off but that was on me, not the Wagner. The second one looks almost perfect. If I had a third one or a bare ceiling, it would be perfect (enough).The one problem I had was touching the ceiling with the mud hopper. Again, that was my bad, not the machine.Easy clean up of the machine. One of the few things you buy that actually does what it claims to do.

Pros: this unit gives awesome, professional-looking results. Indistinguishable from the job my contractor did. Beautiful!Cheap. No compressor necessary. Uses ordinary joint compound. Simple to set up. I started on wall with no testing. It was fine.Cons: cleanup. This is a bear to clean. Takes forever. They need to redesign unit so the spray, business end comes apart. I can get it clean, but takes a lot of time. I imagine if the mud drys in there, you will have to unscrew unit.I used regular joint compound, worked great. Just mix it to pancake batter consistency. You'll have to use a fairly thin mix to get top of walls and ceiling.It makes a mess. Cover everything (course joint compound dissolves in water, but...Heavy. Wet joint compound is heavy. I could do only one wall before taking a break. Luckily, unit sits upright when you set it on the ground.Overall, this is a good tool. A pro is not going to use it, and for smsll areas, hand applying joint compound then knocking down is best solution. This is ideal if you are doing a room or two. You could do whole house I suppose, but it will be a messy ordeal. Wear work clothes! And mask and safety glasses.