How long will it take to paint a 2000 sq ft home inside and out? and should I buy a spray gun?

plus remove the popcorn ceilings in all rooms? I am debating if I should paint it myself or hire a family friend to do it. How long will it take to paint a 2000 sq ft home inside and out? and should I buy a spray gun?
For the inside, I'd allow half a day to do each room. To me, the hard part about painting is all the prep work - spackling nail holes, masking trim, moving furniture and rugs, cutting in edges on ceilings and corners. Once that's done, the open spaces are easy. The worst room to do is a small bathroom, as there's usually not a lot of open area, just lots of edges.





I wouldn't use a sprayer for interior work, as you'll get overspray on places you don't want it. For a popcorn ceiling, you can try to remove the stuff. But that will be a long, messy job. Try scraping some down in an inconspicuous place - how hard is it to remove it? What damage needs to be repaired? If it's not too bad, I'd think about leaving it there. We had a ceiling that had a stucco finish to it. It would have been an absolute bear to remove it. The contractor put furring strips up, and put a new layer of drywall over it. It lowered the ceiling by about 1-1/4 inches, but was faster and cheaper in the long run. If that's an option, think about it.





A sprayer for the outside might be a good idea. I've seen a pro do this, and he moved right along. It took a day or two to paint the entire house - a ranch with about 1200 SF. He used a big piece of cardboard to block overspray at eaves, windows, etc, and did a pretty good job that way. Of course, you'll need some practice to prevent runs and sags, so start in a place where these won't show well.





As to whether to hire a family friend - do they do good work? Can you spare the time to do it yourself? Can you afford them? Can they get it done in a reasonable amount of time? This is up to you - only you can know the answers to this one.