Let's talk about homemake paint booths

[BigMike]

What do you have or have done in the past?

A garage could be temporarily turned into a paint booth using enough plastic. The ventilation is a concern. I've seen people using an intake filter and a fan to exit the air.

Does the air coming out get paint all over everything outside?

Thinking of what I'll do down the road.

[jamesdfo]

Mike: I have never liked the idea of using plastic, as the amount of static seems like a bad idea, as it attracts dust big time.
To avoid lumpy paint, intake air must be filtered somehow, and exhaust air must have a means of capturing solids (overspray), or you will have angry neighbours knocking on your door. (and even then, there is risk, as stopping solids does not stop the polyisocyanates used in 2K paints.....and some people are DEATHLY allergic to them.)
Years ago, I used an old furnace squirrel cage as an exhaust fan, and a furnace filter to catch solids, but with open motor and armature sparks......there is risk of explosion.
In this day & age, if you are trying to lay down a nice dust free paint job, you might be further ahead to see if you can rent a booth at a local shop.
If you are doing your own bodywork & paint prep, a makeshift booth may be just the ticket for laying down epoxy primer or a high solids fill primer, and doing jambs, firewall, etc....but I can't say I would recommend it for a NICE paintjob.......

just my $0.02CDN:)
James

[PFM-64f100]

Does the air coming out get paint all over everything outside?

for the most part yes... my fan is now blue in the shop along with some with mixed in.

I droped plastic in the shop to make mine.

[Dirky]

To take the dust out of the air, my buddy wet the floor of his garage before painting his truck.

[ICEMAN6166]

for the rich folks:

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/bfs/2440600933.html

[jamesdfo]

Brian: I have seen the old flow through style booths advertised here as low as $1500.00.....but I don't have room for one in my 24'x24' x 8'H garage:)
But if a guy had the space, they go cheap, as anyone putting a new booth into a commercial shop is putting in a downdraft w/makeup air for curing the paint, so no one wants the old flow through's......

James

[grump]

Last year I painted my Harley in a home made booth. I painted it red candy over a silver base and it came out very well. I built the booth with a frame made of 2x4s and plastic sheeting. I used rolls of furnace filter material double thick for my intake filters and the same for my exhaust fans which were two box fans. The paint job came out very clean and this is with a stone floor. It was 8x16 feet in size. I did not have any problem with over spray getting out of the booth. A hvlp gun makes a difference. I wouldn't want to paint like this all the time but it works short term. I've painted in paint booths that weren't this clean. As for static I laid a chain on the bottom of the plastic onto the floor and wet down the floor and lower walls. Just my two cents worth.

[Rusted64]

I have also painted a motorcycle in a home-made plastic paint booth. Worked well for the small project, but the fan with several air filters and sucking air out, with an air inlet helped.

[andgott]

I've painted a couple of boats in the garage with a 'booth' made from plastic sheeting and 2 x4's. Not an ideal setup- but it worked, and the results were great. The outlet fan got plenty of paint on it- We used a furnace filter to trap some of it...

I used a HVLP sprayer- So the overspray wasn't too bad anyway.

[BigMike]

I was thinking of making a booth out of PVC pipe instead of 2x4's. That way I could take it apart and use it again without too much hassle.

[Michelle]

When it comes to home made paint booths you are talking to the right woman. I painted my N series and my Ranger in a home made paint booth. I have a 11 X 21 Foot awning and leave one section out making it only 14 feet long. I cover it with plastic I buy at the lumber yard and seal the bottom by laying a 1 X 2 on the overlapping plastic and standing the up rights of the awning on the 1 X 2's. I install two A/C filters in the back and a box fan in the front next to the door. I sweep and wet down the floor before I paint and I have never had any problems Here are a few pictures, the first two is when I put it up for the N series and the last was for the Ranger.

[Max]

There are two ways of making a paint booth depending on where and how you set it up: positive pressure or negative pressure. You can Google both and see the difference because one will work better than the other for your own application.

Wetting the floor is a must and helps keep a lot of trash out of the air that the guns create while spraying.

[grump]

My inlet filters were floor to ceiling (about 71/2 feet) that were about 17inches wide and that was 2 strips wide or about 34 inches wide so I had plenty of air flow.