Slide out expandable paint booth....?

[Shagrat]

I've been trying to work out how to build a permanent paint booth in my shop. I can't give up that much floor space, so I'm thinking about building a 12' wide x 10' deep structure w storage on top. I'm trying to figure out the best way to make a 10' slide-out with the doors on the front. It would need to be lightweight & seal at the floor & with the back section. Rollers/wheels of some sort are what I'm leaning toward. I don't want any tracks or rails that would hold dust.
I've already worked out the inside panels, lighting, ventilation, all that stuff. Really just need ideas for materials for the sliding section.
And, to (try &) head off a few unnecessary comments.... no, I don't want an inflatable booth. I don't have neighbors nearby to smell the fumes, I'm in the country. No codes or inspections here. Home shop, not a business, etc, etc...
Thanks

 

[Zeke]

If it's 12' wide and you're only going for 20' overall I think you are short changing yourself. But IDK what you paint.

My idea if I needed that would be to have 2 10' doors swing in and parallel with the permanent 10' walls. With those swung out 180º, you could pull out the top part to make the ceiling setting it on top. Now you just have to place a couple of doors at the open end and they can be very light as you might want to use that wall for filters as well as a man door.
Sealing to the floor should work out with some rubber strips. Not easy to make an air tight booth that knocks down or has any kind of joint..

The thing about swinging doors vs. sliding is if you think like how a refrigerator door works. It has a seal all around whereas a sliding patio door has a lap joint and wheels. Much easier to seal something with compression than it is when things are sliding past each other.

To make this a bit clearer think about how a box folds up. A little more than that, but it's done with hinges. Light weight side walls could be polycarbonate sheets like they use in greenhouses. Ceiling too.

 

[Shagrat]

20' overall I think you are short changing yourself.

Yeah, 20' is little tight for a complete car. I might stretch the overall to 22'. That's about all I can go. The shop is 30' deep & I want to be able to park a vehicle in front it.
I thought about a folding setup, but couldn't think of a way that I liked. It does seem like a better way to go, though. I'll do some more drawing & see what I can come up with. Thanks

 

[bdbecker]

Caveat emptor, I have no first hand painting experience...

Maybe a 'box in a box' design would work? Basically, the fixed portion is large enough to house the sliding portion when collapsed. Your main booth doors would be on the end of the sliding section, which would allow you to use the booth in both the expanded and collapsed configurations. For sealing up the two halves, a sturdy rubber wiper setup mounted on the larger box, and along the bottom of the sliding part might work. Otherwise you could have some boards that bolt or clamp into place to seal things up. You could do some sort of an alignment rail system by burying a set of tubes or channels in the roof structure of the fixed portion, and then use a smaller set of tubes mounted to the top of the sliding section for alignment. This would allow your work area to stay free of debris.

I realize a lot of that might not make sense without a picture. I can put together a quick sketch of what I have in my head if you'd like.

 

[Shagrat]

Maybe a 'box in a box' design would work? Basically, the fixed portion is large enough to house the sliding portion when collapsed

That was my vision. I want to use the "small booth" most of the time and extend it when I need to paint something bigger. I had considered tubes for the slides, but hadn't pictured them recessed in the ceiling. That's a pretty good idea.

 

[niget2002]

I just bought an inflatable paint booth. I blow it up and put a pvc skeleton in it when I need to paint something big. Take it down and store it on a shelf when I'm done.

 

[wssix99]

^ I was just in a garage that used an infaltable paint booth. It was amazing and is the way I would go if I ever had the calling for one. (They restored old WWII and Vietnam era Army vehicles.)

If you aren't running a body shop, I think its really the way to go.

no, I don't want an inflatable booth.

What don't you like about them?

 

[Shagrat]

I considered one, but I just don't think it would be practical for me. I frequently paint smaller stuff & clearing out 1/2 of my shop to set up a full size booth would not be worth it. Having a small booth, that needs no setup, which can be extended when I paint a whole car is what I want, if it can be done.

 

[ycgoat]

I was just yesterday considering building a retractable, ceiling mounted set up out of PVC tubing and poly that way I could just hoist it up and store it up high out of the way. It was just a day dream really and not fully thought through.

 

[PoorUB]

When I want to paint I hang a plastic curtain across my shop. Paint on one side, all the tools and goodies on the other. I have a furnace blower I use to blow the air outside from the painting area and a window I can open on the other end of the shop so the tool area gets fresh air all the time.

You might consider some cables run across where you need to so you can hang plastic and enclose and area for painting.

You really don't need to seal the plastic to the floor as long as the paint booth in in negative pressure. I usually set a couple 2x4s on the plastic to keep it where I want.

 

[Youngandfree]

Paint small things, make small booth. Don't overcomplicate it.

 

[Shagrat]

Paint small things, make small booth. Don't overcomplicate it.

I considered it, but I would still have to make a temporary extension when I paint a whole vehicle.
I don't think this is an overly complicated idea, really.

 

[niget2002]

I use this for smaller jobs

Portable Spray Paint Booth - Airbrush Spray Paint Shelter Tent - DIY Hobby Painting Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HMZQ4M7/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Youngandfree]

.

 

[tomtomgt356]

Could you build the small booth large enough that part of the inflatable booth could be inside it? Normally you have a small booth then when you need it open it up and inflate the larger booth.

 

[Shagrat]

Could you build the small booth large enough that part of the inflatable booth could be inside it? Normally you have a small booth then when you need it open it up and inflate the larger booth.

I'm leaning toward a different idea. I've drawn up a fold up design with a movable end wall. Less complicated than a slide out. Easier to seal.

 

[rsanter]

I saw where someone had a portable blasting buisness where they would come to you.
For blasting a car they had a semi trailer type setup where the sides flipped down and had a canvis tent type cover (like you see with some of the pop up,or pop out campers).
They would winch the car in, and then those flip,down sides were where the guy doing the blasting would stand.
All the blast media was recycled as it collected in a hopper under the car.

You could do something similar.

A guy I knew painted his own cars. He turned a 2 car garage into a paint booth.
When not using the paint booth he kept his show cars in there as it kept the cars very clean.
You could put up one of those low cost metal garage buildings and spray foam insulate it to seal it up.
Add seals on the doors and filters where the man door is and you are good

 

[e015475]

My painting experience as a hobbyist is that for every car I paint, I have a dozen projects where I'm just painting misc parts

I think you need two booths - a pop-up booth for spraying parts fairly often and an inflatable booth for the once every year or two where I need to spray a whole car.

Here's a temp booth stowed against the wall-

For the inflatable booth, I'd buy one that fit in a single garage stall that you could use either inside or outside.

 

[Shagrat]

This is what I'm thinking about now. This is not exact and is missing lots of details..... It would be like the picture most of the time. To expand it, the front wall with doors& filters would detach and be moved forward. Then the folding side walls would be moved into place. Then the hinged ceiling panels would be lowered. I could simplify it by having the ceiling be all flat and fixed & just have taller wall panels, but I like the 45* for lights. "Floating" section of the ceiling will be supported fro the rafters. Scale looks weird, but it is a 12'x22'x10' booth. Still working out the best way to make the front wall but keep it light so I can move it without too much difficulty.