Painting In Your Garage: Advice, Pics

For those who have painted their car(s) in a regular garage, can you share your lessons learned?

What did you do to keep overspray from getting everywhere, and did it work?

How about ventilation, did you use a fan? Any complaints from neighbors about fumes/paint dust?

How about the size of your compressor, paint gun style/type, and whether your paint was suede or gloss.

Was it worth it? I'm trying to compare doing this with renting a booth. My goal is to keep cost low, and I plan on using a single-stage flat paint.

 

first thing you do is let your insurance company know that you work on cars and paint ...if you ever had a fire you'd be on your own and liable for any damage

 

one thing to do if your water heater is in the garage turn off the pilot light.

use an HVLP gun... less overspray.

it doesn't take much of a compressor to paint. just be sure it is not blowing oil out with the air.

 

Poly tarps fashioned into a makeshift booth, and a full air supply mask/respirator where what I used last time.

Good lighting is also very important, I use twin halogen work lights and move them around as needed

I've even painted a few Jeeps outside with good results, but than again we are not talking show car finishes.

As compressors, you don't need too much of a compressor to keep up with a spray gun, what matters most is that the air is dry, clean and contains no oil.

 

First a couple of questions; Is it an attached garage or detached garage? What kind of paint are you going to use?

If it is a detached garage, over spray shouldn't be a problem.

If it is an attached garage and you're married, don't paint ever; it will be a problem. Even if your wife is gone for the day, the smell will be there. If you aren't married and don't mind a little dust and fumes; go for it. As far as plastic goes to try to seal everything, you can try; but dust and fumes have a way of getting in anyway. I've seen it happen.

As far as neighbors go, paint it at night when it is raining and you'll have less problems.

As for air compressors, you can paint with almost anything, if the gun isn't too big (use to much air). I've even seen paint jobs that were done with a vacuum cleaner that looked good.

 

he's right. There are flammablle liquids mentioned in certain parts of a HO3 policy. Most of the time it only relates to you using your home garage for profit, as in a business. But it wont hurt to ask, especially if its an attached garage or real close to the neighbors house. It wuld really suck to burn down your house, your garage, and the neighbors house and have the insurance company turn their back on you.

I have painted in various home garages in the past. You'll need some type of forced ventilation or you wont be able to see good enough to produce a good finish and you will get hot as heck real fast with no air movement. This can be as simple as a box fan in the doorway blowing out and a furnace filter taped to the fan. Youll have to crack another door somewhere to get air coming in, also.You may have to use a furnace filter on this air to, especially if your neighbor starts mowing his darn grass in the middle of the second coat. Man that makes a lot of dirt in the paint. You can keep the floor wet through the spray job but MAKE SURE you dont have water dripping off the hose when you reach out over the hood and top. Best thing to keep the hose from getting caught under the tires is old brake shoes. One under each tire works miracles.

 

It's a detached garage. My main concern is getting overspray on stored furniture, and my tools, etc. As far as the smell goes, my wife parks in the garage, so when it's all over, I know I'll catch hell.

Thanks to everyone for their good advice.

 

If you paint at night, you will be covered up in bugs. Also, rain and high humidity can cause problems with blushing and even water in your paint. I like to paint real early in the morning-the dust hasn't been stirred up and there are fewer bugs.

 

as far as overspray...yes you'll get it. I wouldnt recommend having furniture in there when you do it. The more ventilation you have the better off you'll be. But if this furniture is very important (to the wife) I'd recommend moving it to a mini store place during the paint work.

 

Bro, I know what you want: Get some big plastic dropcloth sheets from the local HD or Lowes. These are really thin clear plastic. Get them big enough and enough of them to go from floor to ceiling. Staplegun them down both sides and the rear of the garage, sealing them tight. I used a box fan blowing out the bottom of the garage door, with cardboard on both sides to seal that to the jamb.

This way the plastic seals all your garage stuff from the paint area.

I have done this twice with great results.

 

Heat lamps for drying help. Exhaust fans where possible. Wash as much as you can down, before painting. Cover all other dusty stuff with plastic to keep dust down. Careful with the overspray on things that don't need a coat of paint.

A friend of mine painted his car a beautiful blue metallic in his garage, car looked great, so did the washer and dryer and frig. Wife was a little unhappy, like divorce lawyer unhappy.

 

When we painted my 59, we left the doors open somewhat and covered the openings with some fabric I bought from the store. It was kiind of like gauze, but acted as mosquito/bug netting. It was cheap and kept the bugs out of the paint and some air flowing. I also hosed the floor down before we started to hold any dust down

 

If you have a ceiling fan as I have a pair of them......wipe the blades clean before turning them on if you do.....or you could end up repainting as I did the following day.....its always the simple things that will bite you.........Littleman...take your time

 

Thanks Drag, that's the direction I'm thinking now.

From the fabric store? Thanks I'll check it out.

 

my dad has painted for years in a one car garage. 10X16. left the door open a lil and had a fan in a window across the room. if you want build a bow around it and put a filter on it so the outside fumes are not so bad. wet down the floor to help with dust. hope your paint job turns out.. Jones

 

Really need to condom-ize the garage with plastic sheeting. Especially if you have open rafters instead of a finished ceiling. Wash the ceiling if it's finished.

You CANNOT have enough ventilation. Think about the entry/exit points and be sure they're not going to kick up dust devils. Also be sure to run your exhaust system a few times in the empty garage to stabilize any dust it kicks up. Also filter the incoming air with a cheap furnace filter. You may wish to put a fan on the incoming side to encourage single point entry so it doesn't pull dust out of the little spots all over the air is coming in from.

If you have close neighbors, let em know what you're gonna do in case the wind takes fumes their direction. They may ask for a courtesy knock so they can close windows.

Do a dry run before painting with the car and ventilation in place. Work the car over with an empty paint gun, or an air gun. Simulate all the weird air currents painting will generate. Then reclean the car and paint.

good luck

 

painted several cars in my shop

2x4 structure maybe 10 total with visqueen or some thype of plastic to keep the overspray from hitting everything else a 19" kmart fan and a ffurnace filter at the end to blow the overspray out for ventalation

have done it just covering the items in the shop but ended up with a yellowish floor from the race car -- forgot to wet the floor

if doing it in a open garage than i would assume you sanded in their and have body dust all over --- blow the shit out of every nook and cranny with a compressor and a blow gun than let alone for a day or two to limit the dust from moving around --- clean up your mess

 

oh yeah...flammable liquid vapors are heavier than air...so intake up high and exhaust down low. This helps with dust, too.

 

That's all good advice and all of it is necessary. Now consider all the time and materials invested, and how much your time is worth. Kinda makes renting a booth sound like a pretty good idea, doesn't it?

 

The over spray could be a problem, depending on what type/kind of paint you are spraying. If is a lacquer, the paint will be dry before in lands on anything; so for the most part it is dust. If you are spraying a enamel type paint (and this depends on the material, is there hardener added or not), the over spray will probably still be somewhat wet when it lands; so you would almost need to wipe any over spray off with solvent if it lands on anything of value. Whatever you decide to do, if you cover everything with plastic, wash everything down, have plenty of ventilation, everything should work out fine.

Because of the neighbor deal (my neighbors would probably turn me in) wait for a rainy night and shoot it late; they'll never know. Portland weather is similar to Seattle weather, so you could almost shoot it anytime. <LOL>

 

It does sound like the better option. Thanks for all the info guys, I just got off the phone with my insurance company. They informed me that any damage from fire as a result of the painting would NOT be covered. I'm glad 32v said something, thanks again.

I guess I'm going to look into booth rental and see if I can round up a car trailer.

 

maybe 20 bucks for boards and plastic everything else you already have i bet

i think we all have one of these next to us

 

If you are using a single stage flat paint, you could end up spraying this thing on the driveway without too much problem. (It doesn't always rain in Oregon!) Renting a booth would be the second option, everything that you need is there already. Are you bringing your own gun? And lastly, using a portable fabric garage is another option.

 

Ok. I'll join in. Why not, he asks, cautiously..

Have you ever sprayed a car before? Sorry if you already said you did but these new spectacles are hard to get used to.

Rent a booth and be done with that worry.
Make sure you do a good clean up of the booth first. Don't rely on anyone else.
That bit me once.
Also make sure the air line and tank are purged and a new filter is in the line.
See what they have for your personal air supply.
Do you have a good mask or hood with external air supply?
If you paint it without proper protection... well, you are young and tough once but keep doing stuff that's hard on your body and you won't be tough for long.
Lungs do NOT like paint and the stuff that you use with them. Neither does skin.
Yes, I DO speak from experience.
And yes, even once is bad for you. It's like sex, once IS all it takes to get her preggers. Ok ok. It's not JUST like sex. But you get the idea.
But I'm a old fart. Who listens to us?
Oh. Take pics!

 

Rent a booth... I don't think it's too expensive (is it?)

-ns

 

I put up painters plastic all around the car that I had parked on a tarp (in case of drips) and set up a exhaust fan blowing out. The one thing I forgot was hat with the white garage door up, a lot of overspray (maroon) floated up and settled on the exterior of the door. Now, one garage door is white, and one is pink.
Oilless compressor
water trap inline
hvlp gun
set-up bench (mxing and filling gun)
GOOD respirator (get one from a auto paint supply, NOT Home Depot!!)
Disposable cover-alls.
Latex gloves
Keep that shit off your skin! Save your liver for drinking. No, really, cover up and use a good respirator.

 

I'll second what GizmoJoe said. I painted 30years ago and paid the price was sick for many years, was so bad that I coundn't even get close to fresh paint with out feeling sick!!
So rent the booth and wear all the protection, as you only get one chance for a good and healthy life.
Plus your wife won't be on your case for the overspray or the I told you so when your health fails.
But I'm just another old guy too...

 

The new paints stick to everything especially epoxy primers and the clears (the clears are really heavy).. I didnt tell my insurance co shit and im not gonna. I have a 20x24 garage and all I do is wet the floor but not all the time. Open the back window and fire up my exhaust fan and paint.. If you listen to all the answers here you will be looking in the classifieds for a booth and washing the grass near the exhaust fan so the dog doesnt die Oh ya I started doing this back about 1972 and i havent changed my ways yet..
Dave

 

Rent a booth, rent a booth someone always says.......... In my whole life I have never seen or heard of a booth for rent. It has always been a home garage, a high priced pro or pothead Delbert on the edge of town.

 

Oh dont worry you dont have to tell them. Any competent fire investigator will figure it out and tell them for you.