I'm wondering if that could save time and effort? I don't have a shop or room in my garage to paint. I have started painting the doors on my house. To do that i put plastic sheeting on the corner area of my fence and house to catch over spray. The fashion some hardware to hold up the door so i can reach all over it with my paint gun. I'm tempted to get a 10ft x10ft popup canopy with sides to put in the driveway. It should be quick set up and tear down and allow me to catch overspray and protect the freshly painted parts. There's one type on ebay that has the top and side canvas walls and even has clear vinyl windows. I figure if i need more light i could easily string a couple flourescent lights in the corners during painting. (Also, if possible i could use it to paint smaller truck parts too.?)

In my head it sounds like a good idea. What do ya'll think? What are the pros and cons?

 

No but I have used a car port 10x20 type they sell at Costco. I put it up then taped the seams in side and out with duct tape then sealed the bottom by stapling it to 2x6 I had the poles screwed down to. Put down tarp on the floor then stapled and duct taped it to 2x6's Put an exhaust fan on one end and a filtered opening at the other.

I was painting a bunch of stuff at the time so it made sense.

Don't see why the pop up would not work it will contain the spray and help cut down on other things you might get on wet paint like dust and dirt.

 

Thanks for the info, Wagion. And good point on the floor tarp. I didnt even think about that. My wife would be ticked if i made a paint mess on the driveway. lol.

 

Yeah the first thing I did when I got my paint sprayer was completely empty the garage and put three coats of white paint on it hoping to brighten it up also it had never been painted just dry walled. I painted the front half with the garage door open then closed it when I got towards the front did notice till the women came home and ask me why I painted the garage door a weird color. OOPS! got over spray on front of it from being up while I was painting but it was kind of a cool look to it was a beige color but now has really light white frost look to it. Live and learn.

Also got paint all over the floor not thinking about it but it didn't stick in fact was able to sweep it up but that was on smooth finished concrete.

 

I didnt think about fans either. My guns are Low Pressure High Volume. Should i expect so much floating paint in the air that i would need to force air in/out of the 10 x 10 canopy?

 

I wouldn't worry about it if your only painting a few things just be sure to wear a good respirator

 

My dad and I have made paint booths very cheap out of conduit and pvc pipe.

Drive a foot of conduit in the ground, leaving about three feet sticking up. We space them 12 feet across and about 4 feet apart. Slide 3/4 inch pvc over the conduit and 1/2 inch into the other end of the pvc. The other end of the 1/2 inch slides over the conduit 12 feet across. This lets you make an adjustable arch. We then run 1/2 inch pvc lengthwise of the of the sides. Usually two rows on each side. Ductape them in place and cover with clear disposable plastic painters tarp. Tape it down wherever needed. It looks like a mini greenhouse. You can place a small fan with some household a/c filters on the outside of the fan to draw overspray out of the booth. You can make the booth as long or wide as needed for under a hundred bucks. It is all disposable when done.

 

I would also recommend instead of having an exhaust fan, have a fan and filter blowing air in. This way you would get clean air coming in, and the little bit of positive pressure would prevent dirty air from coming in.

 

A little off-subject, but. . . .

I painted the hood, right front fender, left front fender of my old '62 Catalina in my parents' basement.
I was 18.

"Cameo Ivory" - Laquer!!!!


3 coats - wet-sanded (outside) between coats. Turned out nice, too!





Needless to say, Dad was NOT a happy camper!!!

 

'twere this me painting anything I'd absolutely want to exhaust the air if only to remove accumulated solvent and paint over spray before it became dangerous. Once the fresh air/sprayed material ratio is too heavily skewed in the wrong direction you're in danger from oxygen deprivation. Add to that combustible vapors when present in an enclosed space no matter how thin the walls are can surprise the he77 outta ya IF a spark ignites it. (The vinyl structures you mention can cause a static electricity build up that MIGHT discharge at an inopportune time..... Lighting that's not enclosed in vapor or "explosion proof" enclosures can also create sparks or ignite high vapor concentrations.)

The issue of overspray not being properly trapped or filtered out of your exhaust stream is huge too. Should any of it collect on anything close by you might be in for another surprise.

I'm not trying to be Chicken Little here because your idea has merit. Having owned a body shop and being made aware of the hazards of paint booths and vapors reaching critical levels I only hope to have you consider your set-up and protect yourself too.

There are a few more cons to this too but don't want to scare you away completely from what could be a good quick paint booth idea.

 

Those are very good points JWA. Thanks for that info. I wuold not have thought of the spark issue. I havent painted any auto body parts yet. I have successfully painted the exterior doors on my house. It's worked pretty good. I do it during the day with no need for electrical lighting and with clear throw away plastic sheeting walls. The only issue i've run into is i need to get a full body painting scmock/jump suit and a full face respirator. I wear glasses/contacts. The overspray was a pain to clean off my safety glasses. When i start with the auto body parts i will keep your tips/ideas in mind. Thanks.

 

When I owned my body shop an employee painting his cast iron exhaust manifolds with a high temp paint, took them home to cure them. Put 'em in the wife's oven, cranked the heat on and sorta forgot about it for a while. The wife came home and hit the ceiling---her house smelled just warm paint, auto exhaust and baked on baking grease too! He was just about 30 as I recall...........

Another idea about your paint booth idea CigarXTC for less dust settling on your freshly painting parts---hang 'em upside down! Since dust only falls downward it can't settle on your exposed surfaces this way. Had a friend who'd borrow my paint booths from time-to-time or use his own garage to paint motorcycle fenders using the then-standard siphon cup style paint guns, not the HVLP or gravity guns available today. He turned out some great looking work.

Definitely get yourself good protection gear like the Mylar body suit AND filtered respirator too----your body will thank you!

Hope to see your set up and finished items when you're done----hope I could help just a little!