Need a Paint Booth (Houston TX,)

Does anyone know where I can rent a paint booth in Houston TX?

Todd

Todd,

Back in the day of the wooden wheel, I would make my own out of 1 x3 furring strips (or hang rope and affix the plastic with Duct tape) and 6 mil clear plastic, also covering the top area and cutting a
16" x 16" opening in the top and be sure to anchor the bottom of the "walls".
Make the same size 16" x 16" square opening at the vertical end on the "booth" at floor level, place a fan on a low setting outside of the "booth" at this point it acts as a puller type of fan to allow for air flow at the floor
Carefully wet down the floor being sure not to get any water on the plastic sheeting ( have someone hold up a large pc of cardboard as you do this) final wipe down with Prep-Sol, this allows time for most of the moisture to evapoate into the and not remain airborne as excessive moisture.
Yes a genuine half assed spray booth that takes an hour or less to hang together but for a one time paint that you will be bufing out anyway. it does work well.

Hey Todd!

I too have utilized the "Alan Merklin" spray booth in a garage method! Like Alan says, for a one time shoot, it'll save you the process of getting your car "To and From" wherever you find a paint booth. Sooo, unless you have an EPA agent living next door to you, go for it!

P.S. - If you use this method, make sure your 'other' car is not parked too close to your 'booth' exhaust fan.

Good Luck!

Yea yea yea .....the "other car" ....forgot about that !

I apprecitate the feedback. I am going to wait it out a bit more, not becuase I don't think it will work, but becuase of the 100% humidity in Houston. The plastic walls will sweat.

Todd

I used to shoot acrylic lacquer in garage but you can hardly buy it any more. It dried very fast so oops could be quickly fixes and it buffed up to show room quality. Can the newer acrylic enamel still be painted in a garage without a million bugs landing on it and ruining the surface? It appears to be 1/2 the material cost of lacquer.

Wolfgang,

As a hobby I paint mostly race cars but have done a few street cars also. I have never used lacquer. Most of the painting I've done has been with acrylic enamel although I am starting to use more base coat clear coat.

I paint in my garage. I have furring strips attached to the ceiling with strings so I can rollup the plastic sheeting and get it out of the way when I'm not painting. I put a fan in the window and slightly open a door at the other end of the garage. I wet done the floor and plastic (although the spray dust tends to stick to it) and blow off the garage door openers and lights. I do get some dirt in the paint but considering what I've got to work with it's not bad. I always paint in the morning to try to stay away from the bug problem. If I do have a run or dirt problem it can be wet sanded and buffed after a day or 2 if it doesn't have metallic in it.

I'll be doing my paint (hopefully in a month or so) and will post before, after and "how to"
pics during. It's not science. The poly paints nowadays are amazing. My friends (partners in crime) and I have let a few ounces dry in a glass bottle. Crack the bottle, shape the paint into
a circle. It bounces like a super ball (or close at least). It's so flexible and durable.
Thats why the big rigs (look at the fed ex trucks) look so good after all those miles.
Imron(polyurethane paints) and with the base coat clear coat it's very hard to screw up the base (it goes on like flat paint) and the clear adds the shine and depth. Wow.

P.S.----I still have not mastered the metal flake and usually end up with "droop" or
settling of the flakes in areas. But I'm working on it.

OH NO! IMRON is extremely toxic to the respiratory system (due to isocyanurates - a relative to cyanide!). It requires a full paint suit and special repirator with outside air. Not something you want to try at home. You;ll have a hard time finding a professional who will do it. Its great for boats, airplanes and low nosed cars like the Corvette and has a wet look to it.

Metal flake = proper air pressure, the path and angle which it is applied will dictate how the flakes lay into the surface ...I learned the hard way by applying, sanding, applying and sanding over and over again, that car had about 8 - 9 coats when done, sure looked perty !

Imron is nasty stuff=yes, but it's just the brand name of one polyurethane paint.
They all attack the central nervous system. Fresh air supply, suit (it's absorbed thru the skin
also too) are the minimums. You have to respect it all. But you can't beat the durability.

I painted in the Garage, wet floor & exhaust fan set up to avoid pulling dust etc. across painting area. BIG respirator, eyes, nose, ears,& Skin covered. That stuff is NASTY! and NASTY EXPENSIVE!

I have a friend that retired early from the Air Force because the paint they had him use ate his ear drums. He was a Fighter pilot in Desert Storm and now he can't even stand up with out drugs.
Dupont has clear coats now that set dust free in less than 15 minutes. With HVLP gun, overspray is less than 3 feet.
(which was a problem for me. That stuff sets so fast that I couldn't get it to flow.)

As a Hobby, I've painted a Chopper and a Car in the last couple of years. Discovery Channel shows like Monster Garage, Overhauling, or any of those bike, car restore/makeover, usually show at least part of the Paint process. When it comes time to paint, the PROFESSIONALS are in a booth, with no protection whatsoever. Mixing and painting bare headed and handed.

Recently I saw ads for water based paints (similar colors as HOUSE of KOLOR). They still use NON-Water-Base Clear Coat.

Greg B

Water based is the wave of the future. As for flow and layout, the better quality paints can't be beat.I recently painted a jeep and when I bought the supplies I was asked if I wanted the "OK clear"
or the "top of the line clear". What I heard was $85/gal or >$100 qt.
I short sightedly chose the "cheap stuff". Hours of sanding and rubbing taught me a lesson. Since then, I've used "the good stuff" (read: expensive)and the difference is amazing. I'm still cheap
but the paint I use isn't.

A trick I use for metallic that my father taught me is if you are using acrylic enamel after you have achieved coverage do one more coat. Thin the paint more, maybe twice the reducer and hold the gun back 2 to 3 times farther than when you painted the first coats. Also move the gun faster because you can easily create runs. Once you get the technique down it works pretty well. For base coat you don't reduce the paint more, you just stand back farther and fog it for a final coat. If it comes out rough, it probably will, the clear smoothes it out.

My trick---hand the gun to my more experienced friend.
I kinda feel the same way about golf. The learning curve just beats
me down enough to convince myself I have reached my limits=I give up.
No golf or metal flake for me.