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 purchased the Power Tex to actually save money. I borrowed a regular texture hopper/sprayer from a friend, but it turned out my small compressor didn't produce enough CFM to keep up with it. Really big mess there, so make sure you know what your sprayer requires before starting. Fortunately, that was during a test spray outside on scrap material. So my choice was to spend $350 and up on a compressor capable of the airflow required, or take a chance on the Power Tex. I opted for the latter.I read tons of reviews because, frankly, I haven't liked Wagner gear in the past. But the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. I am working on a small room, on new sheetrock, with intentions of continuing through the house as time and money allow. Amazon had a better price than anything local, so I ordered and had the unit in under a week. Good service, as usual.From reading the reviews, I got the idea hammered into my head: mix it thin. Over and over. Well, I don't know what people think pancake batter consistency is, but mixing it thinner made a mess. I was completely unhappy with the pattern and look. Then, I mixed it like I would for any other sprayer. You know... pancake batter. Went back, and... perfect! Sprayed like a champ, looked great. So, here is the lesson; mix it right. Test it. Don't mix it like concrete, and don't mix it like a milkshake. Go to IHOP if you need a demo. Pancake batter consistency works great, just like the manual says.The "no compressor" turbine, extension cord only was fantastic. The hopper capacity was the only negative, at about 2/3 of a regular hopper. Mix plenty, have it available for as many refills as your wall requires. By the way, speaking of the hopper, the ceiling/wall rotation of the hopper also works without a hitch. The unit is designed for small areas and rooms, so I couldn't mark off for the hopper capacity. As noted earlier, it does what it was designed to do.Last up is cleaning. In a word, easy. The easiest cleanup I have ever experienced. Take it apart into the several pieces it comes in (no tools required), move the turbine out of the line of fire, and take a garden hose to it. That's it. Dry off, a touch of lube (Vaseline) where indicated, and back in the box looking like new.So, all in all, it's a fantastic little tool used for what they suggest, used the way they suggest, cleaned like they suggest. I tend to think those unhappy with it are varying somewhere in there, or possibly got a defective unit. There's not much to screw up if you follow instructions. Great result, very happy with the purchase. Wife also loved the finish, which (as all men know) is the ultimate gauge of how much you'll enjoy your work. If there was any "negative" at the end of the day, it was that the wife is now ready to use it all over the house!