The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Painting without a paint booth

Any good info or advice out there for us crazy bolters that paint in our multi-purpose shops? Done one with pretty good results but there is lots of work with plastic, fans, temperature, etc. Thanks

I bought one of those portable carport deals and sealed it up good used a couple house fans from the thrift shop to vent it. Must admit of all the stuff I did on my truck painting it was the most work.

My dad used to clean out the garage so there was plenty of room. he would sweep couple times, wash with a hose and let dry. you got to be careful w/ fans it can stir up dust, hair, etc. You still end up with a little trash but not bad. Most can be sanded out and polished out.

Depending on how big your shop is, a used paint booth can be picked up at body shops when they upgrade for little to "take it out of here". Then, when not it use it provides a "clean room" for that finished project when you get started welding and grinding on the next. Mine is a Devilbiss semi downdraft, picked it up for 1000.

First, watch your lungs, kind of costly to replace. As Robert said above used spray booths are cheap,and open booths are cheaper. If you have room for one you'll spend more on new 1/4" bolts then you will on the booth itself. Go to IRSauction.com (industrial recovery services...not the other IRS ) and look around on there. They have booths on there all of the time, normally only 1 or 2 bidders - only problem is YOU have to GO get it.

Hello, I painted mine in the drive way. Used Summit single stage 4 coats and then sanded out any flaws, bugs and orange peel. I then tinted first coat of clear with red and straight clear for last 3 coats. Then cut and buffed to mirror finish. I know this sounds crazy but it really came out good.
Al V.

I built a wall full of furnace filters and set it up with the car behind it when there was a nice day and slight breeze blowing into the filters. It didn't turn out too bad for a yard job. I had to have everything ready to go so when the weather was just right and the breeze wasn't too strong. Then jump on it to make it happen.

My "Multi purpose shop" is a finished 26'x28'two car garage with a longitudinal center beam, posted in the center. I used 14' diameter "Ag-Bag" which when split more than covers ceiling and 9'6" side walls. I ran strips screwed to the ceiling to hold it in place and along the outside wall which has some storage on shelves behind it. The center wall I screwed some 1X3 cedar at the bottom of the 'wall' and hooked up a simple roll up system with eye hooks and 50' of line, that way I can take the pressure washer to the truck (and the walls) or keep the dust level down in the rest of the 'multi purpose shop' when stripping paint.
I relocated a dedicated 2 stage whole house fan from the 2nd story attic directly above the garage door, to the garage door. It was mounted on a 40x40 plywood door so I ripped a piece of ply to fit the rest of the way and close the garage door and sealed the edges. It still works to cool the house in the summer and draws heat when I need it in the winter... A separate piece of plastic to close off the back 'wall' works for painting sessions.
I like the Ag Bag for its thickness, and how tough it is and I like being able to hose stuff down, make a mess, and be able to clean it up with out messing up the sheet rock (much)

Thanks for all the great ideas. I'll be painting epoxy primer tomorrow. Experimented with some different fan/heat options today. Always trying to improve.

I've done paint jobs in a neighbors garage that made the shops "professionals" look like toddlers with water colors. The key is the body work first of course. When painting in a garage, just clean the hell out of it first (top to bottom clean like mom's kitchen). Cover everything up that you don't want paint dust on. Wet down the floor. Move any vehicles away from the garage and watch the direction of wind. Filter the air in and have the temperature right for your paints and thinners. Make sure you give your epoxies enough time to mix together before shooting it. If you have neighbors, you might want to do it in the middle of the night when they are sleeping. You could get a nice fine if someone reports what you are doing. Make sure you wear good body protection and breathing mask. Those paints and epoxies are dangerous. And remember to clean your guns after using them. You'll never forget if you forget once.

One thing to remember with flash times, air movement assists with the outgassing of solvents. So if you plan spraying any catalyzed paint products, ie: Urethanes or clear coat, keep in mind that a home brewed fan system may not have the air movement of a designed system in a booth. Add some time to your flash times accordingly to prevent any issue with solvent pop... Your "test spray" with epoxy should let you know how well the fans work by observing how fast any overspray moves on out...