[JUDGE3]

Anyone paint their car -at home in the garage- no paint booth during winter?

I'm on schedule for my car to be ready right smack in the dead of winter. doubt any way I can do that though.

I know waiting till spring when the humidity is high, bugs flying, dandelion seeds everywhere sounds like a nightmare.

best time of year to paint? probably right now. wish I was ready.

[HoovDaddy]

All of my work is done in the garage. Ambient and car body temperature must be 60 degrees or higher and remain that way until the paint is fully cured. Paint with hardeners won’t cure properly at low temps and will do funny things forcing you to remove all of it. Sounds like you are out of time. In Michigan the temps are best from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I put screens on the doorways to keep the crud from getting in.

[Rob in NH]

If you have a reliable heater you won't have a problem, I paint in a 30x30 garage with no problems.

[JUDGE3]

heating up the shop is no problem. its venting that would be the problem, cant do both unfortunately.

I will apply my primers and have it ready for warmer weather though for sure.

just curious usually some enterprising hobbyist finds a way here. I know my first effort in my smaller attached garage in summer I had the 2 garage doors pulled down on 4 box fans. was not nearly enough, when spraying the clear it fogged the whole garage had to open both doors full and finish hoping a grasshopper didnt fly in. nothing did, I figure the fog was droppin the insects if they got near!

wound up with one tiny insect in the fender that the legs splayed out flat. towards the bottom no one would notice but me. was to deep to retrieve.

[HoovDaddy]

Originally Posted by JUDGE3

just curious usually some enterprising hobbyist finds a way here.

All of our club jobs are done in the owners garages, typically a standard size attached garage. We have a PVC plastic covered extension for the front of the garage with screen material at the bottom for ventilation that we take to each job. We cover the man door with screen material as well so we can get in and out. We also use a 4500cfm 16" diameter exhaust fan mounted to the ceiling and the exhaust duct up through the attic and vented to the outdoors to evacuate the fumes and bring in fresh air throught the screens. You can see the yeelow unit hanging from the ceiling.

I saw your garage in your other thread and you can construct a small paint booth inside your garage with PVC and/or wood with a similar exhaust system. Bugs are generally not a problem and the air stays clear.

[T/A addict]

I've run into the same issue.... I have a bumper and fender I need to paint but all of a sudden temps have dropped out and I've been trying to think up a plan.

My latest thought is since my garage is attached to my house I could set up a screen door or at least some screening on the doorway leading from my house to the garage (house is usually set to 70 degrees) to pull air in while I use the standard fans under the garage door technique to evacuate the air.
Thinking that if I get a day around 50 degrees it may work.

[tjs72lemans]

I don't think I would ever attempt to allow my house to provide the heat needed to heat garage. Keep that door closed to keep the fumes out of your house. A portable small torpedo type of lp tank to warm garage would be better. But, shut off before you spray. Once done and tack set up, you could start back up with good ventilation.

[Entropy11]

It gets too cold here to really find a way to move enough fresh air in and maintain temps for a whole car. I do smaller pieces in the winter by making a small enclosure. We use a diesel cab heater that I temporarily mount in the garage window. It doesn’t put out enough to heat the whole garage but works for the enclosure and drying period without me losing sleep over an open flame and fumes. The diesel heater can draw in fresh outside air while spraying then we switch it to recirculating garage air for higher efficiency after the fumes dissipate. It sounds complicated but works great for smaller enclosures and keeping parts warm for hours/days just a few dollars in diesel. We do run our garage fume fan on low while spraying.