Poor man's spray booth

[joesquid]

Has anyone built their own spray booth?  I was thinking of something along the lines of a rectangular box frame made out of wood (2x4s, etc.) covered in clear plastic.  I can't afford to purchase a booth and need something easily built and torn down as I move alot (Navy).  Any ideas?

Thanks!

[BryanH]

Eric, I'd be interested in the same... have been contemplating it myself as the winds out here can really ruin a nice finish.  Mine would need to be torn down and stored between use.  Framing is easy, setup and tear down (so I can resuse the plastic) is where I've been stumped.  Could always toss the plactic afterwards but that costs more and I think it would increase the time to setup substantially (always having to cut and attach)

[Eric]

I was checking under portable paint booths on Yahoo... WOW... it would be cheaper to go to Lowes and buy one of those pre-made sheds. Guess you could build a frame then use tarps.... I'm sure there's a pattern out there... Good Luck

Eric

[Kevin C]

Hello

Is the requirement for a paint booth to keep the dust & dirt off or to stop the overspray from hitting everything in the garage? Maybe both?

I was just going to use the garage with the machine up on some saw horses, wet the concrete floor & go slowly to keep down the overspray.  Of course the wife's van will be outside.

Kevin '>

[BryanH]

Quote (Kevin C @ April 21 2005,3:21)

Is the requirement for a paint booth to keep the dust & dirt off or to stop the overspray from hitting everything in the garage? Maybe both?

For me it's both.  My garage can be a real wind tunnel if I open both doors (for ventilation) and that brings in the dust.

[Creighton]

Haven't built a paint booth, but I use PVC pipe and fittings for stands that must break down (just don't bond it together). Cheap shower curtians might work for the sides. Only problem is light weight. I've filled the pipe with sand which helps. Might work :-)
Creighton

[BryanH]

Creighton - sounds like it might work real well.  Great idea.

[MoonDawg]

A tent might keep the overspray in, but won't keep the dust out. Try the cheap blue plastic tarps with the brass eyelets you get at the hardware stores for $4.00.
     For best results....have everything ready to spray. Get up at 6:00 am when the winds are calm. Spray what you need, clean the gun, and go back to bed....
      When dry, we always need to colorsand off the dust and buff anyway

[Pat Pixley]

A poor mans paint booth,  And I have used this before with good success Ive used 2x2 and clear plastic with a sq.
cut out for a box fan to fit there to vent out the over spray
and fumes.     A true spray booth should have walls that are smooth this will eliminate dust clinging to them and should
have an unobstructed working area as well as an access
door.

Pat   '>

[loman4ec]

I have an idea. I havent tried this but I have been trying to figure out the best idea for this for a while. Go to walmart or a hardware store and buy clear plastic in rolls. Then hang them from the rails the garage doors run on. Streach it over the top and on all sides. Vent the booth by having the garage door up about as much as much as a box fan. Cut a hole in the plastic and attach it to the box fan so that is the only part of the enclosure that is vented to the outside. Have the fan blowing out of the door. You would also want to strech a good amount of plastic on the driveway as the fan will be pumping out paint filled air and if it is just a bare driveway it would probably have a red hue to it by the time you are done. You could also attach a big flexable tube to the fan directing the paint fumes into the lawn or something like that. The booth will need a source of fresh air but the fan shouldn't be pumping out that much so I figure since the booth isn't air tight it will get air from the seams and shouldn't stir up that much dust inside. Again this hasn't been tested. I just thought I would share my idea. Please if you see any flaws with this let me know as I plan on trying this in the neer future.

[sodaworks]

I am getting ready to build a paint booth in the corner of my shop. I plan on using canvas tarps (2) on a overhead rail (electrical unistrut) system that will allow the tarp to be retracted and fastened to the wall when not in use. I am installing a 2600cfm fan that will create an induced draft through a 4'x6' filter bank. The fan exhaust will exit into a swamp cooler that will only use the water pump to wet the pads to "scrub" the air. Terry

[Jim]

I know the biggest problem you'll face with a garage booth is removing over-spray. If you don't, the over-spray will settle onto the machine and create a dull finish or worse yet, a dry finish.

Glen was very close to what I eventually utilized which I'll explain in a minute. Box fans do not remove/circulate air fast enough, so be careful... Remember, you're introducing air pressure into the area by just spray painting; this pressure, if you will, creates back pressure against the box fans.

What I actually found gave me excellent results but I had the right conditions. I'll try to paint, no pun intended, a good picture...
Behind my garage, I had a utility shed on a 15' x 20' concrete slab that backed up to the side of my house on the east side of the property. There was a gap between the back of the garage and the shed along the house that had three sides and allowed me approx. 10' x 8' area to work with that caught the rising sun. The day before, I would get everything wet sanded and thoroughly dried. At this point, I would handle the pieces with lint-free rags so no oils from my hands would get on the surfaces. The next morning, I would get up early and begin paint preparations by spraying everything, walls and concrete, down with water, set up portable saw horses for items that will need to be relocated after the finish coats have been sprayed and then setup the cabinet to be sprayed since it will stay there until curred... Which didn't take long since the sun usually aided in this process. I found my window of opportunity to spray was between 8am - 10am; meaning I would be done spraying by 10am. The conditions I worked with provided me with some of the best work I ever did and that included spraying in a booth!
Please don't think this will work for everyone!
I live in an enviroment that has ideal conditions most of the year and have no trees near by to cause problems, wind and bugs are non-existant in the early hours as Glen has mentioned. Lighting is excellent since it's sunlight. Ventilation and over-spray weren't any concern(although it's now illegal to conduct such activities). After moving outside, I never moved back into the garage to spray paint again...

[BryanH]

So I think what I'm hearing is that this may be a little more complicated that throwing some plastic wrap over 2x4 or PVC frames...  '>

Thanks for the great feedback...  Love to hear more from anyone else that's tried or thought about it?

[BryanH]

Got impatient and threw caution into the wind (literally).  Here's my paint booth... I was only priming for hammerite so wasn't too concerned.  Will need to figure something out before I paint the exterior.  Anyway, thought you might you might get a kick out of the high tech setup...

[BryanH]

Would have been more funny if I had actually posted the pic.

[joesquid]

HAAHA!!  And I thought I had the original "paint-on-a-box" idea....there goes that patent:D
Brian, too bad we can't get away painting automotive paint like that!

Bryan,
great high tech booth. Do you think it will work with the table-box too? :'>

[Eric]

Hey! That's what I do with my gumball machines! When I'm done I throw
all the newspapers and tape I used to tape off areas in the box then set
it out for the trash!

Eric

[BryanH]

Thought you men and women might like to see my new paint booth in action.   I upgraded a bit from the cardboard boxes.

[BryanH]

Ok - granted it's not quite a poor man's booth.  A buddy of mine manages an autobody shop.  Saw me painting one of my machines in the side yard, on boxes, etc, etc.  Saw my VMC77 at the our memorial day party and is thinking that he'd like one... Anyway offered to help me paint the 56 in his shop.  

PS - you're not seeing things.  The color is unique - that's the DuPont #95605 as cross referenced to the Sherwin-Williams fleet colors.  It's much lighter than I expected.  Hopefully it'll dry darker.  Don't know if that's the real color or the cross reference didn't work right.

[Jim]

We can only wish to have a commercial spray booth at our disposal...
Probably one of your best deals yet!

[Creighton]

Bryan,
Looks like outstanding results!! Great to hear of neighbors working together. Let us know of any tips that would help if anyone else should get so lucky :-)
Thanks!
Creighton