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garage paint booth help please

107K views 43 replies 30 participants last post by  deadbodyman 
#1 ·
okay, first off TONS of great info on here. i could read through all these threads for days and not get bored. :thumbup:


you guys motivated me to build my own paint booth. it will be for only painting motorcycle plastics so luckily it doesn't have to be as big as the booths for cars. i would like it to be a long lasting fixture, so no need to be able to break it down. right now i am looking at making it 8'x11' and probably about 8ft high.

i am running into a couple problems. i plan on using the 8mm plastic sheeting from lowe's for the walls.

should i use wood or pvc for the frame?

if i use pvc how do i go about attaching the plastic to the frame and making it air tight?

what should i use where the plastic sheeting overlaps and i need to seal two sheets together?

how are you guys making doors on your homemade booths? keep in mind i would like it to be airtight.

thanks a ton guys.

Luke
 
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#2 ·
Hey Luke- saw no one answered you yet so I'll see if I can help- I have my own booth now, but when I first set up a small plastic sheet one I used wood 'stringers' for framing and stapled in to the top- sealed all the sheets with plastic sealing tape on one of those roller dispensers- made it simple to just stick and rip! For the 'door' I just overlapped two sheets, then put a brick on the bottom of the first sheet- that kept it in place as I slid between them to get out. I taped a squirrel cage fan on one end at a cutout hole and a couple filters on the other end and just ran the airhose under the sheet. Worked okay as long as you didn't go in and out a lot and always had a GOOD supply of air coming in. Be careful, as you want to follow all safety precautions- respirator, good airflow, light, etc... Good luck and hope I helped!!
 
#3 ·
Must have missed this post.

Here's a pic of the temporary booth I built when I painted my '41. Used a wood frame and plastic sheeting. The sheeting was stapled to the ceiling and to the frame and I used duct tape to seal the plastic sheets together. Also duct taped the plastic to the floor.



I used three box fans blowing air in through furnace filters and one box fan sucking air out through a filter. This kept the booth pressurized and the dust down. Worked pretty well if I do say so myself. The doors were made using a wood frame and were covered in plastic sheeting.

Make sure you have a good fresh air supply for breathing too. You don't want to breath the iso's in modern paints because they can kill you.

Good luck.

Centerline
 
#5 ·
I just built a similar booth to Centerlines. I used 2x4's for the frame. It's 20' x 12'. I used heavy weight plastic with all the lights outside the booth. So far I've painted one car in it and it worked pretty well. I'll definately add more lights for the next car (sometime this week); I don't think you can have too many lights. The plastic got a bit covered with overspray, but nothing too bad. I used two box fans, they seemed to work pretty well. The back door is a single piece of plastic with a 12' piece of wood at the bottom. When I was spraying I had the door rolled up about two feet off the ground. The exhaust was through this 2 feet. Seemed to work pretty well.
 
#6 ·
If your going to use it a lot I would lay it out on paper a few times to get it right. Maybe put a door on the side wall in a permanent frame and a squirrel cage blower in the wall. That way all you would need to do is set up the walls. The booth I now is in a building that is heated and cooled. My door has a full length filter, I buy a roll of AC filter stuff, and the squirrel cage pulls the heated or cooled air from the building into the room, that way in the winter I have no source of combustion in the booth but I get the room nice and warm and in the summer the humidity is reduced because I pull the conditioned air.
If I were going to do it in the garage I would do the same thing, set a door that will always be in place, as well as the air lines, dryer and exhaust system in place also mount a bunch of lights, I have 6 8' long 2 bulb florescent lights and it is not enough or it is the wrong king of light? Last paint what ever walls that will stay in place and the roof and even the floor if possible in a very light color. Then all you would need to do was hang the plastic. You would have a good entry door and ventilation system in place.
 
#7 ·
I learned to paint in the Air force (I'm still in but for only a couple of more months) I've never spayed a car yet but I've spent all kinds of time slinging paint on fighter jets. I'm planning on setting up my on spay booth someday soon. This thread got my attention and my question is are just a couple of box fans enough air flow? I'm just use to aircraft hangar sized booths I guess...
 
#8 ·
I had made plans for one, but ended up being able to use my neighbors booth at his bodyshop...anyways...a couple of observations:

The Home Store plastic sheeting may tend to become 'brittle' after exposure to the solvent vapors and may need to be replaced every so often (not a big deal as it's cheap)

To seal the sheeting to the PVC tubing use the bonding glue that is used when assembling a sprinkler system (usually blue in color).

To make a doorway that seals up well, glue strips of refrigerator magnets to the ends of each sheet (sealing partition), making sure that you have the mangnetic pole the right way around.

Make sure that there are no ignition sources in your garage, like a water heater, clothes dryer (nat. gas), or furnace etc....the vapors can and will ignite....seen it happen!!!

Same goes for the exhaust fan...get an explosion proof fan (Class I, Div. I), as the vapors could also ignite from the arcing of the fan (not common, but the potential is there).

If you have neighbors close by, have the exhaust fan blowing onto a wet towel or blanket (keeps vapors and overspray down a bit)


Tim
 
#9 ·
i'm getting ready to paint the vette this week, a couple of things i need to note, maybe ask a few.
i mistakingly used plastic to cover the underside of my doors while i primed the surface. when dry the primer flaked off and made a mess,will this happen in a spray booth made of plastic?? or will not spraying the booth walls be enough.
as far as a door goes , a frame of wood with plastic over, fold some plastic and staple it on as weather stripping.
i've got 3m filterte furnace filters and regular ones as a backer, will this do?
also i'm using the fan off a hot air oil furnace.they work well and there real cheap used.
in a more used application(using mine once)would it be better if it was made of cheap nylon cloth or the like??
the seams will be duct taped as will the spots on the wall where i will shoot the staples in to hold the plastic..i'm plasticing the floor too and seaming it all tight to the filters and fan, like in a big pop bottle. will this work or will i still have dust in the finish??all opinions welcome.mike
 
#10 ·
For a temporary one, consider using the framework for those cheap "carports". You know, pipe framework & silver tarp roof... Instead of the tarp, cover it with visquine & use a ton of those cheap plastic clamps. If you do it outside, it makes a nice oven for the fresh paint to bake in. It gets damn hot inside one of these in the sun.

49 T&C
 
#11 ·
Another thing I found, I think it's best to use the plastic only once. The overspray won't flake off right away; but it might a few days later. I painted two cars within two weeks, and there was some contamination in the second car from old paint coming off the used plastic. I have one more car to paint, and I'll replace the plastic before. Plastic is really cheap, so it's worth replacing for each job, in my opinion.
dh
 
#12 ·
what about those canopies that you can buy from wal-mart. i found one that is 10" x 20" for around 80 bucks...it comes with the frame and the roof. the same company also sells the 3 walls and one zippered door, for about 60 bucks more. will the paint damage the material in these pieces? i was thinking of just buying the frame/roof and using regular visquene for the sides. would this work well enough for a paint booth? it will be set up in my backyard, and i will only be painting small pieces...starting with my dashboard from my truck.
 
#13 ·
paint booth reply

I also paint only motorcycles. I built my paint booth out a metal yard shed I bought at sears on sale. It is an 8x10, plenty big enough for m/c tanks, side covers, fenders or a frame. I built the floor out of pressure treated 2x6's for floor joists and used OSB for the floor. I sealed every joint with a latex caulking ( don't use silocone caulkig as you will get plenty of fish eyes in the paint as it slowly vapors off as it cures ) when the building was put together I also sealed it where it was screwed to the floor. I put 2 high velocity fans at one on top of each other to exhaust and made frames to hold 8 20x20 a/c filters in both ends. The none fan end pulls the air thru from the out side and the other 8 filters catch the over spray just in front of the ehaust fans. I will try and post a couple of pics in a day or two. Kind of hard to explain the filter and fan system. I also made the sliding door seals out of garage door seals that go on the bottom of roll ups to keep water out of your garage. I researched paint booths and the experts say you do not want a negative pressure in a paint booth but only a very slight positive pressure. This setup has worked real well for me to have paint jobs come out clean with out dust or dirt specks.
 
#16 ·
Added to Hotrodders Knowledge Base

This discussion has been added to the Garage - Tools Discussions category of the Hotrodders Knowledge Base.

Also added the article about building a temporary sandblasting booth to the Garage - Tools Articles category of the Hotrodders Knowledge Base. Thanks for posting the link wp442 :).


--For the main page of the Hotrodders Knowledge Base, click here.

--For more information on the Hotrodders Knowledge Base, click here.

--For information on becoming a Hotrodders Knowledge Base Editor, click here.
 
#17 ·
paint booth stuff

Look at a web site for a supply co. The company is call TEK supply. They have all kinds of things but for this topic look at the synthetic wall coverings they have for the walls of dairy milk parlors. It's some type of synthetic that comes in different sizes and thicknesses. It is almost like dealing with a teflon surface. I've not found anything that won't wash off. I walled my booth with it and used it to reroof my motorhome. I think it comes in thicknesses from an 1/8th inch and thicker and I think up to 10 foot lengths and over 4 feet wide. The stuff is called PolyMax it comes in white. That makes it easier to light the booth. They also handle the vent fans. the web site is www.teksupply.com.
 
#19 ·
I painted my truck in the garage with no plastic. Of course the garage was scrubbed clean numerous times before painting. I used furnace filters in the windows. Then I had a plywood panel same height as a furbace blower. The blower was put under the door and the gap filled with the plywood panel. Next everything was sealed. IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS you will end up with dirt in the paint. The door at the sides, at the plywood panel, and particularly at the top of the garage door was sealed with 6" masking paper. If not the overspray will blow back in the top of the door as a dry powder. The only thing I had get into the paint was a very small moth or miller that wanted to try and do the backstroke. :pain: But that was taken care of and the paint turned out as good as any paintshop around here can do with a booth.

Kevin
 
#20 ·
Luckydevil
Check out my photo album for pics of my homemade booth made on a 10X20 frame. Roll plastic works OK for one vehicle but the overspray will flake off and become a major problem. I would make a wood frame and staple the plastic to the inside using duct tape for the seams and replace it after each paint job. Hang your light fixtures on hooks makes them easy to take down. Use daylight tubes , not the cool white tubes in the fixtures. You will need to clean the light fixtures periodically because the overspray is attracted to them for some reason. The plastic sold for masking by your body shop supplier is made for this purpose and the paint will stick just like it will on masking paper. Been there and done that, trying to go cheap.
 
#21 ·
FordSR, Your advice is good but he asked that question nearly 3 years ago! This is what happens when someone digs up these old threads (I know it was'nt you) and I had typed out a reply myself before I noticed the date :mad:

Pat63, you have a legit question there but you really should have started a new thread. :spank:
 
#23 ·
garyroushkolb said:
I heard of a guy that used the frame from his Easy-up awning for a paint booth frame work. Didn't have to build anything and just added the plastic wrap and threw the plastic away when done.
That's pretty much what I did here.



This one was a two bay wide booth with plastic top, sides and ends. even built a door in the back. Had three fans (with filters) blowing in and one (with a filter) blowing out so it was a positive pressure booth.

Here's the finished product.

 
#24 ·
#25 ·
It is important to remember that the first function of a spray booth is to remove the overspray to prevent the formation of a combustible or explosive environment. You should really be doing a minimum of two air exchanges per minute. Thus, if your booth is 9x20x8, or 1440 cubic feet, you need to move at least 2880 CFM. Box fans are often used in homemade booths but should be considered inadequate, as they are intended to operate in a 0 static pressure environment. Curved blade fans, or squirrel cages, offer the best alternative as they can be operated over a large range of speeds and static pressures.
The key to designing a good homemade booth is to determine the airflow you require, as described above, and then build the fan and filter system to produce that flow. Filters, even light ones, greatly increase static pressure, or restrict air flow. When static pressure rises, air volume decreases. As air volume (hence mass) decreases the load on the fan motor decreases. This effect will allow you, with the help of an ammeter, to roughly determine the amount of air your fan and filter system is moving. Broadly, in the range of static pressures typically found in homemade booths, 1 horsepower will move about 1800 CFM. If you need to move3600 CFM, then a two horsepower motor should suffice. Use your ammeter to check the actual amp draw of the motor, and compare that to the Full Load Amp rating of the motor (usually listed on the motor id tag as FLA) If the motor is drawing its full load amps, then it is producing full horsepower. If the amps are low, put a larger sheave (or pulley) on the motor. Be sure to test the motors only with all filters in place, and the booth running as though you were painting.
You will need two different filter areas for your booth. First is the intake filter area. These filters provide clean air inside the booth. If you are using furnace filters, you should have 1500 square inches of filter per 1000 CFM minimum. The second set of filters are the paint arrestors. Use fiberglass filters if at all possible, as they last longer are less likely to spontaneously ignite. Use 1000 square inches per 1000 CFM. You can never have too much filter area, by the way.
If possible, use a rigid sided booth, say drywall as opposed to plastic, unless you build a positive pressure booth. The plastic creates turbulence as it flaps and shakes with the air. For the highest quality paint job, you want to maintain laminar flow throughout the spray area.
One final thought. Positive pressure booths, which have an intake fan to force air in, and then an exhaust fan to pull a little less air out are the best booths. You must balance the fans to produce a positive pressure of no more than .3 in. w.c., but that is easily done with dampers, or with the size sheaves you put on the motors. Positive pressure lessens the need to get all psychotic about sealing your doors, as you can not suck trash in from your shop. (Your a G.I., think of NBC clean rooms, or clearing your gas mask)
Hope I helped. Feel free to ask for clarification
 
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