Anyone ever busted for painting at home??

I'm going to be starting on the body work here soon. I will be doing it all in my garage. I'm going to use HVLP to keep some of the fumes and overspray down. I was just wondering if anyone ever got busted for painting at home.
Like I said inside in a covered and closed garage ect. I obviously know better than not to do it while the next door neighboor is having a birthday party in their back yard and things like that.

Any hints for staying out of trouble? Besides having a spraybooth.

Todd

 

If you have window in the back of garage put a cheap furnace filter and box fan blowing out. If you see or smell fumes , take a garden hose with a fine spray out side. My neighbors never knew I was painting the car.

 

Never.

that being said - DON'T do it inna enclosed garage - I about p***ed out the one and only time I did that. The quarter panel kept getting smaller and smaller; ran the tip of the gun right up to the panel B4 realizing I'd been doing the painter's equivialent of huffing a tube of glue for the past 45 minutes.

went outside and nearly fell over; sat on the edge of the patio with a hellacious headache while the body flashed over. Didn't give a **** what the neighbors thought after that; painted with the garage opened up from there on out.

 

HAHAHAH! Chuck, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing with you. I thought I was doing OK, my my secound p***, everything looked good. Walked to the bench, opened the pot, started to refill from my mixing jar, and poured the damn thing on the floor - and my leg. KNOWING I was hitting the pot head on ... made it out the door, and headache is not a strong enough word!

 

ive painted several cars in my garage the way danog said. you have to be carefull though you need a filter resporator with the two screw on filters and you have to check the flaps regularly. i almost died when one stuck open and i nearly p***ed out. if have a back door or window you can blow the air out through a filter and wet down everything outside. i usually spray at night, but i dont know if its warm enough in connecticut.
i have been caught spraying outside at a friends house but the cops just gave us a warning and made us stop

 

Where you guys using any kind of respirator at all?

 

Respirators were newfangled things just out on the market; you prolly weren't in school yet - woulda been 1976.

 

I believe if you aren't doing it to make $$$$ and all is good. They look at it as instant work place and not zoned for it. It may differ in each state. I know they come down on ya here in Cali......only if someone makes a stink about it. KNUX!

 

I try to do mine while I think everyone is at work. I hide the compresser in a quiet room and run a long hose so there is little noise.

If you don't want to spend the bucks on a positive pressure respirator, you can do what I did.

I kept an eye on eBay.
I bought a ventilated face mask made for use with a hose.
I think it was only about $18 or so, and it came with a short bit of flex hose. I see them on EBAY every now and then. Look up "RESPIRATOR" every once in a while and one will turn up at a good price.

A couple dollars at a time I bought some 1" plastic pipe from ACE Hardware and ran it from the garage (paint area) to an outside fresh air location.

From there all you have to do hook a fan to it when you want to paint.

If you want to really go low-buck, you can think of a solution using duct tape, a heater blower and a car battery if you have to.



Don't worry, you can tell LONG before you start painting whether or not you are getting enough fresh air blown into your respirator.

The one I have used for years consists of a mask, a hose, some ACE plastic pipe running into the house, and a fan in a box blowing air conditioned air to me.

I use it for painting urethanes, and for breathing in a very dusty grinding room.

The air source I use is a small box with a small fan that puts out just about what a hair dryer would. cool air, of course.

It can save you from severe nerve damage from inhaling fumes, or lung damage from breathing contaminated dust, and it doesn't cost much at all.

 

I'm glad I'm in an area that doesn't bother what others do in their garages.

Do be careful though. The few times I have done it I did use a respirator. I know a couple guys who have been doing it for a good while without one. I always ask them if I can have their stuff after they get sick and die.

They know I mean well.

Do try and set up some sort of ventilation and wear a mask. Odds are that unless you are running cars in and out getting them painted nobody will bother you.

 

Although it sounds obvious, don't forget to eliminate all sources of flames and sparks such as a water heater, compressor, etc. in the fume-filled area.

 

IF you get busted (friend has been), you will NEVER be allowed to work in your garage again, EVER.
Not even an oil change.
Prolly not even to change a light bulb .
The cops will be watching you like your neighbour watches Pamela Lee on ******Watch, or whatever they called it.
I've seen this happen. Not often, but when it does happen, you've no choice but to move if you ever want to work in your garage again.

Cosmo

 

Here's a dumb question:

Is it against the law to paint your car?

It's not against the law to paint your house with a paint sprayer... that I know of.

 

Thank god I live in Idaho. You can do any thing you want as a hobbyist. Just can't run a business out of your shop.

 

Painting at night is a great tip to minimize disruption to the neighborhood. Use lots of filtered ventilation, but a closed garage. My biggest concern would be if one of my neighbors had a pet bird. I've heard several stories about home painting that didn't end well for mister birdie.

 

I was shooting lacquer on paneling at a home years ago. It killed
their pet Iquana. Not good

 

Painting at night has its' own problems. Number one, bugs... we all know how they are drawn to light. Your garage will probably be the best light source around. Second, you can't see the sides of the car well enough unless you have lighting that is aimed at the sides of your car. This is the voice of experience talkin' here. Did a Chevy wagon a few years ago. It looked geat til the next day when I pulled it outside. The top was absolutely gorgeous, so nice, every damn bug for fifty miles had to get a closer look at it. They musta thought it was slick as a swimming pool 'cuz they all dove in and took a swim. The sides looked like the first topcoat of a candy apple paint job. It was so transparent, that you could see thru it clear to the other side of the car. that was the last night time paint job that I ever did.
And as far as respirators go, WHAT A BUNCH OF CANDY ***ES ! I have NEVER used one and have one of my lungs in a jar in the shop to prove it!!!

 

Rent a booth with proper vents and get a good mask.
Damage from many of the new paints are irreversible. Lung are delicate things.
Most body shops will be glad to get extra dollars when thier booths are empty.
Most advice from old guys will get ignored, but think about it before you ruin your lungs.

 

Thanks for all the feed back fellas. I think what I wrote my have gotten taken out of context.

What I meant about a "closed" garage was not outside. I have two windows and a back door on my garage. I do plan on opening one window and having a box fan pulling air in and putting a boxfan in the other pulling the air out (I do like the furnace filter idea). I can also crack the garage door on the bottom and open the side door. AND OF COURSE I WILL WEAR A RESPERATOR. I killed enough brain cells in the 80's. I have none left to spare.

Todd

 

do it on a Sunday am....my old neighbors used to call on me all the time..but seems you have to be caught in the act, with gun in hand spraying...the cops would just drive slow and look.

 

Apart from the safety issues that have been addressed, I would say go to the courthouse/city hall, see what the law says. Second, as has been mentioned, DISCRETION will keep you out of trouble, instead of trying to get out of trouble. Paint when every one else is at work, never on weekends, all that stuff. Don't have cars stacked up around the house, do 'em one at a time, all that good neighbor stuff can go a long way. You give folks a little courtesy and they will cut you a lot of slack. Piss just one jerk off, and it could be a problem. But you already knew this, I bet. Good luck. Don't forget the hardner, like I did once.

 

Rent a booth! do us all a favor! any body shop(including mine) love the extra cash and you get a great clean job and no **** goes into the enviroment! I hate to read about all these home jobs! You guys are making the use of painting and buying paint as a hobbiest harder and harder and you can only blame the hobbiest(you!!!!) in the end. Then at some point ill be scrolling through the forums and see... hey you need a buisness liscense to buy paint, and im all pissed off ! I might be 75 when this goes down but ill write "I told you so" and youll remember what i said! Hey, if you need a mask......so do your neighbors! I hope you consider a rental. its a win win!

 

PAINT BUGS!

ARRRGH!

I HATE 'EM!

Especially the litte ****ing *******s that flip upside down and attempt to 'fly' thru yer fresh paint for the next 20 minutes B4 expiring - they leave a track from hell...

As for the box fan...

I ran the calculations not long ago - you need a minimum of two for decent ventilation - and if you want a nice paint job free of overspray - four.

 

That is going to happen anyways so you might as well paint while you can. Anything that can be regulated will be by someone trying to justify their existance.

 

Very well put... no bugs no ****... a booth is the way to go...

 

Rent a both . In the long term it is better for you and your car. All that work to have a half *** paint job from your garage, might as well spray your car with spray cans or spend the next week color sanding and buffing. A heated booth will cut your spraying time by a huge amount.

 

Never been busted, but I'm bad about respirators/dust masks.... I actually remembered to wear a dust mask last night for the first time in a while while blocking the hood and fenders on my old stang...

I ALWAYS wear one when painting, but for some reason, primering and sanding don't get the same attention from me.

Having kids and thinkin about how my parents enjoy their time w/ our kids makes it a bit more important to me though... I just wish I didn't love the smell of clear soo much!

 

So for your shop owners who *would* rent a booth.... what would you charge?

I figure thats a pertinant question here....

 

It surprises me that shops would rent the booth, you'd have to have someone there to baby sit and safegaurd the materials and seems like more trouble than it'd be worth... but i'm curious what the rate is too...

My dad has been in the business for over 30 years and I don't ever recall any of the shops he's worked at/owned/managed to ever rent the space.