Specs for Building a Spray Booth
A cabinetmaker wonders how complicated it would be to build his own booth and gets an earful of advice. July 11, 2005
Question
Does anyone know of a place where I can get the specs (safety requirements) for building a spray booth? I know it can be done, I just want to know if it would be more cost effective to construct my own.
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
To the original questioner: Are you trying to satisfy a municipality's requirements? I would check to see what they require.
There is a lot to it, and it is your burden to prove that everything meets all requirements. The control panel is quite a work. It must shut off the air and fan when certain conditions are violated (door open, fire, low water pressure), and automatically notify the fire department. You must also prove that everything meets UL explosion proof standards as well.
From contributor M:
If you do some research, you can find all the components you need. They will be in brand new condition and will cost way less than what it will cost for you to construct, and it will meet all current codes.
From contributor J:
I distribute spray painting equipment and booths, and in my 10 years of experience it is much less expensive to buy a booth from a distributor than to build one. Just an example: a 14'W x 25'L x 8'H automotive booth with fan, motor, and 9 4' 4-tube fluorescent lights is about $6,000. The booth meets all federal codes, and two people should be able to put it together in 8-10 hours.
From contributor S:
I'm in a JBI booth now after two home built booths. Building your own booth is a serious waste of time and does not save money, and chances are will function unsafely and poorly.
Getting it right the first time is important. An engineered package booth is not that expensive. If you can't do a new one, you should be able to find a used one. If you're bound and determined to do it anyway, just try to find a dealer or manufacturer who will send you a catalog to look at.
From contributor N:
Many building inspectors, fire marhalls and OSHA people want to see the UL listing on a booth. Your home-built booth may be exactly the same as one with a UL rating. But since it is not certified by UL, then according to the ones who give you the final ok, they will not pass it.
Many of these people do not want to get involved with all the details and minutia of spray booths and The National Fire Code. So with no UL rating they assume the worst. They assume that there might be some issue somewhere, that there is the potential for something unsafe to happen and then the inspection wont be passed.
From contributor D:
If you ever get a visit from your insurance company inspector and there is no UL sticker on it, you will either have to rip it out and replace it with one that has one, or you will have to run without insurance. That sticker is the only thing they will look for and if you don't have it there is nothing you will be able to say or do to convince them you are right.
