Guest run_n_fool Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Greetings all, I am planning on building a "home paint booth" with 2x4s and plastic sheeting. I'd like to set up a fresh air fan to push fresh air in and possibly an exhaust fan to pull dirty air out. For those of you who have done this, how bad are the fumes inside the house (I have an attached garage with insulated, drywalled walls)? The kitchen and living room are on the other side of my garage. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 This is almost exactly the way I recently painted my Z, except I used 3/4" thin-walled PVC pipe as the framing: The paint fumes were not an issue inside the house, but I took a few extra steps to insure the paint went outside the garage. I used 6-mil plastic sheet that was duct-taped at ALL seams to make it airtight. Then I sealed a fan at one end with two allergen grade central A/C type of filters, sealed on the intake side of the fan (I used two large filters oriented into a large "V" in front of the fan so as to double the area of the filter element, making the airflow more efficient. Then I installed a fan on the other side as well to draw the air out. A brush-less motor was used for this to prevent ignition of fumes as they passed through the exhaust fan. It all worked well EXCEPT for one major issue (which was resolved by being very careful), which was the plastic sheeting. I seems that the plastic has a Teflon or silicon based residue on it. Get this on your hands, and then touch the part(s) being painted, and it's fisheye city. I used (can't remember if it was acetone or lacquer thinner) a solvent to remove this residue on the edges where tape was used to seal the plastic, otherwise the tape basically just fell off (did not stick at all until the residue was removed). Now with all this said, and hopefully Ernie will add his expertise in here soon, the fumes inside the booth were deadly, and required a fresh air hood, and not simply a filtered mask. The fumes could probably be lessened with the fans on during the spraying, but I hate spraying with the air "on" unless it's a "whole car" job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest run_n_fool Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Using PVC instead of wood seems like a very good idea. Was it rigid enough for your needs? Did you use the "booth" for painting primer coats too? I am aware of the extremely toxic fumes and plan on using a fresh air system. My main concern has been that the house not smell like paint at all if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 I used PVC also, just bought the tubing and T-s and 90 deg bends and fitted it all together. Didn't want to deal with nails and wood. I used blue tarp from Harbor Freight and pretty much had the same setup as Terry. My garage is attached also and I didn't have any problems with the smell. Here's a pic of the booth squeezed into the garage. Do a search in the archives here, a lot of people have done home booths. http://www.autobodystore.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?index Cover the entire booth including the floors, you'll be glad you did. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clint78z Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 I typically do a sweep then vacuum, I then light mist the floor with water. I then hang plastic, the static charge actually attracts paint. The biggest helper to cut down on fumes and about 1/3 the overspray is HVLP gun. I was was astounded how much less paint it took. Before I couldn't even see, now it almost all goes on the metal. Take your time painting and never get in a rush, never spray on the vehicle until your gun is set up perfect on a piece of cardboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkspeed Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 I did similar deal. I "encapsulated" the entire car, floor and ceiling, with a big roll of plastic ordered from McMaster Carr. Hung it all on PVC frame. Use at least 1/2" SCH 40. I also ordered a stack of cheap AC filters. I stacked 3 $10 fans in the side doorway blowing through the filters into the "booth". I raised the (2-car) garage door up about 2' and lined filters across the opening for the outlet. I figured it would keep the neighbors from complaining. Sealed everyting with duct tape and put halogen lamps around the perimeter. Worked great. Paint came out perfect, I just wish my body work was better. I tried this one other time a few years ago and wet the floor down. When I was on the 2nd coat the floor dried out from the fans and 3 months of bondo dust came up out of my concrete which I had scrubed clean. I also had a dozen or so bugs fly in. Such is life in Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Yeah, this was the reason I went 360 degrees all the way around the car with the plastic sheeting so that the floor (and it's dust) was separated from the paint environment. A note on the PVC type of tube I used. After I started building the booth, I found the schedule 40 pipe (the thick-wall tube) to be of no advantage in stiffness over the thin-walled (and cheaper) tube. I attribute this to two things. 1) Most of the tubes rigidity comes from the outer circumference, in; 2) the extra weight of the thicker tube caused it to bow under it's own weight more than the thin-walled tube did. In the end, I replace all the sch 40 tubes with the thinner tubes before finishing the booth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkspeed Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 That's interesting on the PVC. I thought my sch 10 bowed a little too much. I assumed if I ever did this again, I would use the sch 40 to strengthen. By your notes I will stick with the thin stuff, just add more braces. It's cheaper too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 I just used rope on the outside of the booth (made holes in the tarp) and pulled the sagging PVC up tight against a beam in the garage. It was almost a shame to take the booth down, kept everything else so nice and clean! Maybe I should get one of those car storage bubbles . Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 If you have a gas furnace or water heater in you garage shut then off completely including the pilot lights. Youi do not want to have and ignition source while painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z2NV Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 Try not to flame me too badly if this is a stupid question; but, how do I know if the 20" box fans that I planned on using for forced ventilation are 'safe' ('ignitionless')? If they prove not to be 'safe', where can I get inexpensive ones for a one-time project? Thanks! Stan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 I believe (and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong) all box fans now produced are induction motor fans (brushless) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanomon Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Home lighting circuts such as ON-OFF switches, could these be considered a possible ignition source for Ka-BOOM?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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