Is This Airless Paint Sprayer From Harbor Freight Worth Buying?

Whether you need to paint interior walls, stain wooden decking, or coat a garden shed with preservative, airless spray technology can help you do it faster and achieve a better finish than with a brush or roller. Harbor Freight's Avanti Airless Paint, Primer, and Stain Sprayer claims to be capable of all these tasks and comes with a competitive $249.99 price tag. For comparison, the list price on the Graco Magnum X7, which reviewers rate as among the best paint sprayers on the market, is more than double that. So the big question is whether the Avanti is worth buying or not.

Tools like this are intended to spray straight from a standard 1- or 5-gallon paint can. In theory, you just remove the lid, pop in the hose, and go. One tip for getting a perfect finish when using a paint sprayer is to thin the product a little. However, Harbor Freight says their powerful ¾ horsepower pump and up to 3000 pounds per square inch pressure make this unnecessary. The adjustable spray pattern means it can cover an 8-by-10-foot wall in under three minutes. The included hose is 25 feet long, but the rack is capable of holding up to 150 feet for those who need extensions.

So if you have large areas to paint or stain, the Avanti airless paint sprayer sounds like a tool that could be well worth buying. However, it's important to consider feedback from customers who have used it.

Over 2000 buyers have given their thoughts on the Harbor Freight website. The Avanti gets an average rating of 4.4, and 89 percent of customers would recommend it. Comments like "great sprayer" and "did a great job" are common. Several focus on value, with one saying, "It worked perfectly and cost so much less than the Graco equivalent." Another, who had clearly put it through its paces, said, "I have painted/stained/primed thousands of feet of fencing with this, and it never fails."

Not everyone was happy, though. A few had experienced breakdowns, and one buyer said it failed within five minutes (though they did get their money back). There were also those who thought it used a lot of paint and could be difficult to control. There is a bit of a learning curve with these devices, and it's important to understand when to use a paint sprayer and when a simple roller will do.

If you only have small areas to paint, or it's something you only do occasionally, then there are much cheaper handheld spray guns that run off power tool batteries. However, it's unlikely they'll match the speed or finish quality of Harbor Freight's Avanti airless sprayer. If you're considering a tool of this kind, then the vast majority of owners will tell you that they think it's definitely worth buying.