Setting up a location for spraying

[Adam Gerlach]

All, I recently purchased a used Fuji HVLP turbine that I love. Unfortunately, I have not really found a place to spray that I feel comfortable with. I originally thought I would just spray outdoors over my lawn, but I soon realized that bugs seem to be attracted to my projects and that it is windier where I live then I ever noticed! I have a 2 bay garage, where one side has all our family stuff (car, kids toys...) and the other side is my workshop and an unfinished basement. I've thought of hanging plastic in either of those places and spraying (with added ventilation in the basement of coarse), but I have concerns with getting overspray on stuff I don't want sprayed.

Another option I've thought of is buy a cheap portable garage that I could put up and tear down after each use. Harbor Freight has a 10'x10' unit on sale now for around $150 (LINK), the reviews suggest that it is stable but that the cover fades quickly after being exposed to the hot sun. Because I don't plan on leaving it setup permanently, I don't think this would pose a problem for me.

So, I was wondering what you all had to say about this. I would like to hear your opinions on my 3 options I posed above, or any other solutions you have that I haven't thought of. What do the rest of you do?

Thanks.

[John TenEyck]

If you have easy access to the basement as well as provisions for ventilation, that would be a good location if you confine your materials to shellac and WB products. Your garage/shop would also work if you move out the car and anything else that absolutely can't get any overspray on it. The outdoor tent would me my last option; lighting and wind will still be an issue, as will variable temperature and humidity. The only advantage it has IMO is that you could potentially spray solvent based products there safely. I spray in my basement workshop using a temporary spray booth which is nothing more than 6 mil plastic draped in a U shape from nails in the floor joists. It's about 8 ft wide by 10 ft. long. I use the fan from my dust collector as an exhaust fan. The inlet hose, disconnected from the bags, goes to the back of the spray booth about 4 ft high, and the outlet hose goes out a nearby window. At 1200 cfm I have minimal overspray and odor. I also put paper or old sheets on the floor to catch whatever overspray there is. A 4 foot double fluorescent light is directly above the center of the booth; lighting is critical to a good spray job. The whole thing goes up/down in 5 minutes and the only thing to store is the plastic. The advantage of my heated and dehumidified basement workshop is I can spray year round under near constant conditions, which is a big advantage if you live where it gets cold in the Winter. If you intend to spray solvent based products, other than shellac, then the basement is out unless you have an explosion proof fan and lighting. That would leave your garage/shop as the best alternative, although you will still have to figure out how to light and ventilate it safely. Hope this helps.

John

[Curt Harms]

I've sprayed some things outdoors with no issues, I just had to pick my time. Where I live, early morning or later in the day usually means little or no wind. In my experience water based finishes are usually dry to the touch in 10-15 minutes and bugs are less of an issue in the cooler mornings. I've also sprayed in a garage without any sort of air cleaner. The only evidence I see is drips or overspray due to inadequate drop cloths. Do bear in mind that just because water based finishes aren't solvent based doesn't mean you should be breathing them. A respirator is a very good idea, especially in enclosed spaces.

[Art Mann]

I can't answer your questions but I really appreciate you sharing the idea of using a car shelter as a temporary spray booth. I have a concrete pad in front of my shop that I now use when conditions permit but I have the same contamination problems the other guys have mentioned. This should help a lot. If I were spraying inside one of those things, I would certainly want to use the best respirator I could find. I might use a fan/filter combination to improve ventilation.

[Julie Moriarty]

When it was still to cold outside to consider spraying outside, I set up this in my basement




I took 1/2" PVC and just pressed the cut pieces into the fittings. Then wrapped it. I also cut an opening for a fan and placed spray filters in front of it. Of course, I was spraying WB finishes.

So far I've sprayed 35 cabinet doors, 3 coats each side, and a kitchen cart. Plus a lot of test pieces. The basement is finished and there has been no over spray on anything.

[Ken Krawford]

I have a dedicated finishing room in my walk out basement. Unfortunately the location of the room prevents venting air to the outside. I have an attic fan with a filter mounted in the door of the finishing room which does a great job preventing overspray. However EVERYTHING in the rest of the basement is covered with overspray dust!

[Adam Gerlach]

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas. Unfortunately, work has gotten in the way of play and I don't know when I'll be able to get around to trying something out.