# Home made booth



## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Right then guys im sort of planning to start a small shop next year on my own but my dad will help out a bit with advice and hopefully put a few quid in but talking to a friend (who runs a very successful pdr shop that also does small paintwork too)about starting out and going the full second hand spraybooth route may be pricey and not knowing if the buisiness will be successful has made me side with caution in spending £6k of the budget on a used booth that i will have to strip down an re -erect myself !
I have thought that i could build a very clean purpose made area my self well not me but a friend of my brothers who is a master carpenter! There are a couple of areas that i want to iron out tho and just wanted some views from you guys that have worked in or built yourselves booths ? 
Firstly i cant seem to find many company's that have prices for booth lighting ? The propper explosion proof ones (led prefered )
Second thing is i will use a cross draft system with fan at far end that's filtered but does it need an intake fan ? I would use a calor gas burner for heat but if i pumped that heat through ducting and filtered would that be enough ? The one i paint in now at work only has exhaust fan which pulls well with no intake ? 
And finally i would get the carpenter to build a wood frame then plaster board but would it be better to use another material for the walls ? If i use plaster board i would like it plastered so would be clean and smooth and then paint white ? 
Any tips would be great many thanks folks


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## Aaran (Sep 18, 2007)

seriously think you should look into planning permission regarding painting.

almost any form of spray booth or room requires planning permission. its also required to meet current standards especially in terms of fume venting filtering and airflow etc.

all you need is 1 complaint and bam your out of business without getting the planning as environmental health will be around and slap a big ass fine and a banning order on you preventing you from using said premises for that purpose plus any trade policy you have (which IS a legal requirement if your working on customers cars to have, will be invalid without permission to spray being granted).

buy the second hand booth, because you will be able to get the report and specs from them regards to the booths flow rate etc. if you can rent a premises thats already got planning for painting you will save yourself alot of work!

i got my second hand booth/spray room for £500, and i had to take it down (took me a week solo) and put it up (took me a month due to it all needing modding and updating and there was a hell of alot of fab work as alot of it needed updating ie: all new motors on the fans and heaters, better exhaust filtering and some of the wall section modding and remaking etc)

fire proof lights look on ebay, expect to pay big cash even for second hand units. when i put mine in i used fire proof glass in the booth walls (has to resist flame for 30 mins before failure according to the requirements sheet) and mounted my lighting outside, made life alot cheaper as you can use any lighting as long as its on the other side of the glass, i would avoid LED lights you want the decent florescent tubes with a good color for paint matching imo. 

your booth again needs to be fire proof for about 30 mins, so it really wants to be made of steel or something fire resistant along with everything in it.

exhaust venting i dont use any intake fans, just 2 exhaust fans (properer booth ones with the motors mounted outside of the exhaust gas path) they are pretty small and cheap to run (they are only 0.13kw each) but give enough suction to run the booth in a negative pressure and fully cycle all the air out of it in under 3 mins.

the only form of intake i have into the booth is from the 300000kw heater but i only ever run that during the winter. there are 2 vents in the doors at the front (filtered).

hope this helps but dont go spending your money without doing alot of research first


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Thankyou for all that really valuable information and yes i will be investing a lot of time and money so will be planning all this in 6 months or even a year as finding a garrage at a location that is good for me and a good spot that has lots of potential customers ! 
The garrage i work in was visited by health and safety who did test the self made booth we use and they said it pulls more air than some proper booths they tested !
I do like the idea of the lights being outside the booth which is what I thought about in the first place but was unsure if that was legal.i will obviously make sure the owner knows that painting will be done on site and will most likely be an industrial area away from homes but will get permission to build a booth ! I know i can pick up a descent fan too that i will work out how much it flows for the area of booth to flow enough air.
I am sure some plasterboards are good at resisting fire too and it may even be a breeze block wall i go for if i can use an existing part of the buildings wall.
Thanks again its all a learning curve.
how well does the heater work for you and are your jobs relatively clean?


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## mr paint (Jul 11, 2009)

I use a home made booth have done for years ! 


spec is similar to a booth 


Large plenum on rear wall .... 500mm indirect driven fan spinning at 2800rpm 

plenum 1m wide by full length of room with intake filter running along 

box above with 300mm 2800rpm fan with a pre filter on reverse end of fan 

heating is 2 large central heating rads linked up to oil fired boiler 

and infra reds for smaller jobs or primer work 

Can keep a steady 28 degree air temp flowing through booth ...pre heat panels over night (big jobs) small jobs pre heat with I/red 

Double plaster board will give you the fire requirement you need ...metal stud frame 


If you only run an exhaust fan/s you will create a Huge neg pressure this sucking air from any possible gaps=dirt altho you can run a large intake filer at front doors etc to make it a balanced slight under pressure booth !

Hopefully the tax man is good to me this year and will prob buy a real booth tbh .... newer ones are very economical for running etc 

if you need any other info let me know mate

Tommy


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Thanks tommy very much apreciated ! If you dont mind mate il ask a few questions lol
Is exhaust fan set back from booth and is the filter off a roll type ?
I like the idea of the lights outside the booth for safety but just wonder how to mount them as to direct light in to the booth ? 
Do you have sliding doors to bring car in or opening out doors ? 
What metal was used for the frame bud ? 
Many thanks will probably have a lot more when i get going with it ? 
Do you have any pictures mate ? 
Carl.


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## mr paint (Jul 11, 2009)

Scoobycarl said:


> Thanks tommy very much apreciated ! If you dont mind mate il ask a few questions lol
> Is exhaust fan set back from booth and is the filter off a roll type ?
> 
> The exhaust fan sis on the roof of the booth and comes in at middle of plenum
> ...


:thumb:


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Thanks tommy food for thought mate


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2014)

Just a thought....100mm/4" concrete blocks are less than £1 each...so work on £10m2 and its probably cheaper than buying studding,plasterboard etc.
Appreciate your brother is a carpenter...but materials are so expensive nowadays.


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## mr paint (Jul 11, 2009)

also remember when starting out there are people who will give you help ....inn Scotland we have business gateway etc ...they will help towards start up cost ...government funded !



also once your registered you off set anything you buy for your business and claim it on your end of tax period . so its putting the initial cost out BUT you do get most back 




tommy


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Aka eric... I was thinking on those lone originally mate and as long as I planned for gaps for lights,fans and air filter assembly then cant see it being too difficult.

Tommy.... I was talking to my dad about this last week and within reason not much tax is expected by the tax man for first year or two but yes every nut,bolt,hinge and packet of biscuits will be offset lol ! 

I really like the radiator idea and have heard this on another paint forum im on too mate,does it heat your workshop too ? How economic is it bud ?
Sorry to bug but do you have any pictures at all ? I have seen a picture or two of you bike helmets but not the booth ? 
Thanks -carl.


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## mr paint (Jul 11, 2009)

will sort some pics out for you mate ....not a problem:thumb:


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Thanks tommy your a star - you know what its mate a picture tells a thousand words ! I appreciate your time bud !:thumb:


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