Airbrush Venting into garage?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Hello All,

I have run the numbers based on the information provided on this website http://modelpaint.tripod.com/booth2.htm to determine the type of fan required.

My issue is going to be price here. Based on my calculation I’m looking at needing a fan that’s roughly $400. The fan needs to be capable of venting through roughly 30’ of duct work (as the nearest exterior wall is roughly 20’ away + 90* elbows etc.)

I do have some options though but don’t know if they are reasonable, which is where I’m looking for help.

Option 1 (less then ideal) I could move the booth to the exterior of the house, but where I would have it now fits in with the rest of my modelling supplies/workbench. Then I could just vent directly out through either a window or install a vent.

Option 2 (more ideal) I could vent into the garage as the wall that the booth is on is the garage wall. I just removed the central vac and have easy access to drill a hole through the wall and install a vent there. I am concerned about paint fumes BUT, i would be the only person painting or working in the garage, and i cant do both at the same time :slight_smile: would there be a concern? my garage is not air tight anyways, but i would like to avoid having to constantly go and open the door just to vent it after spraying.

Option 3 (least ideal) buy the $400 fan.

Also, are these ‘squirrel cage’ blowers really the way to go? I read the worries about sparking with an kitchen/bath fan. is this a legitimate concern?

I’m a part time modeller but I do have some permanent space to set something up. That space just happens to be in the laundry room so i don’t want it to stink of paint fumes throughout the day. I don’t have the ability to have a booth that i move around the house when i want to spray so while I’d like to have something permanent, i also want something functional and hopefully, cost effective. any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt

2

Never, ever, run a duct from the house through a wall and into an attached garage. Most building codes forbid such a thing. Under certain situatioins it is possible for the carbon monoxide from a running car’s exhaust to backdraft through the duct and into the house. For example, if the car was running with the garage doors closed and the kitchen exhaust was also running, the kitchen exhaust fan would draw the air from the garage via the booth duct into the house. Carbon monoxide is deadly!!

3

Thanks for the input. The garage isn’t large enough for a car to be in it which is why I’m entertaining this idea.

4

Here’s my solution for venting the booth out a nearby window. $15.00 telescoping / adjustable length low-profile dryer hose duct. It is made of thin aluminum sheet metal, with a round hose flange on either end. The dryer hose coming off my booth hooks in one end, and the other end got an exterior vent flap thingy attached to it.

I simply closed the window on top of it and cut a piece of wood to block the window closed (for security). I also got a roll of self-adhesive foam weatherstripping to seal in all the gaps. Works wonderfully!

The only downside is, that it also sucks all of the ice cold A/C air out of my model room. [:O]

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how did everything work out for you? i am new here and am getting back into this stuff after a 16 year break.

[:D]

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Like JK said, NEVER vent into a garage. Fumes can and will creep back inside the house. If you can easily vent out a window then go with that or simply paint in the garage as I have been doing for many years. I set my foldable table near the open doors, run two fans to push out fumes and airbrush away. Easy, simple and efficient.