Autobodytoolmart.com booths

B

BoostedOne

Anyone have any experience with the booths from autobody tool mart?

I am about to put up a new 40x40 building on my property to supplement my shop, partly as a garage, partly to house a booth. The bugs out here in the country are just way too bad. At this point I am over spraying color at $500/gallon, spot sanding out bugs then reshooting color, only to cross my fingers when its time to clear... then have to sand and reclear several panels every time due to bugs and poor lighting....

I was planning on doing a homebrew booth with all the headaches that entails, until a friend of mine told me about the autobodytoolmart booths being reasonably priced. But while being an accomplished sprayer, he's in the city with only dreams currently of having his own booth on his own property. He also plans on moving out into the sticks on some acreage soon which is why he was looking at them. But so far at this point he only knows as much as I do, which is the literature on how great their booths are.

I concede that a super nice downdraft setup with an external breathing air supply and heaters would be awesome. However my friend and I both learned years ago when cross drafts were the common booth and a respirator was all you needed. For what we need to do(4-6 jobs a year, without the need to bake for increased cure time), a simple clean room is adequate.

So I am looking at a couple of booths from them.... First is their basic crossflow booth..

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/crossdraft-value-paint-booth-p-18826.aspx

Second is their "front flow/cross flow"

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/paint-booth-front-flowcross-flow-p-12556.aspx

At just shy of 6-7 grand, the price point is attractive. My concerns with the first one thats a thousand bucks cheaper is with the angled walls the lighting is going to be weird.

So thats what makes me consider their front flow/cross flow booth because it has vertical side walls where the lights are attached, which I think would mean better lighting.

When it comes down to it though, I just want something that's a seal box that will hold up over time to moderate usage. Anybody have these booths, how well does it hold up a handful of years down the road, assuming it works adequately when set up? My fear is that if immediately after construction the door seals leak horribly, that after a year or two that the booth will distort and when I go to open the drive in doors, the doors will be dragging on the floor and the doors won't seal for anything.

I understand these booths are galvalume finish inside and out.. If structurally they are good according to yall and I get one, I will be painting the inside of the booth a nice white.

Thanks!
 
i built my own booth in my shop. sold my prefab booth when i moved to the farm. i doubt i have 1k in it. the exhaust fan is the biggest expense . the duct and stack were made by a local heat/ac company for 125 bucks. the booth is framed with metal studs.
i always hated the galvanized booths. dark and depressing to me . paint booth.jpg
 
The bad thing about you're booth, and the room I have been painting in.. well it's not technically going to pass any inspections or meet any sort of code..

I think one could be made to do so, the biggest thing I see is the exposed lights need to be behind glass. And I don't think outlets are allowed in a booth.

But thats just a risk you have to decide if you want to take.
 
i dealt with the city for many years. ever year it was something new. pissed them off that i did not have to comply with any of it since i was granfathered in. here on the farm i set the codes . as for lights if you have an concentration of fumes thick enough to ignite your booth is doing a lousy job. if he is in the city he will have far more things to deal with besides a booth . they will permit and code you out of business. big franchise and dealerships make it hard on the small shop. they are the ones who lobby for all of it to kill competition .
in 45 years of doing this i have never even heard of a booth blowing up. paint shops burn because of car fires 9 out of 10 times. then they have an oil drain pan full of thinner setting around .
 
Im not worried about inspectors either. Heck the whole buiding doesn't require a permit out here lol.

As was mentioned I was considering the homebuilt method for a while. I don't see how one could be built for a grand when its all said and done. I Suspect its like building a car and you think you have x in it but its really 2.5x if you count up all those 20,50 and 100$ receipts.. plus all the time and fuel spent driving around abd researching to save 10 bucks.

One of my biggest fears with building one is coming up with doors that actually seal. I have read about pressurizing the booth though but you are adding fans, have to make dampers, etc.

Regarding thr galvalume finish obviously that's lousy. I would paint thr interior white.

Plus I have a few jobs that are just waiting on me to be ready. IF, and that's why I posted this, IF those economy booths hold up, and perform as advertised I will be happy.

Im just worried about longetivity. If its a flimsy piece of junk or you have to fight the doors, that's what will make me steer clear.
 
well my booth has been standing for 18 years . doors are steel tube framed . but your right . if you dont know what your doing dont attempt to build anything.
 
A friend of mine bought the second one you have linked. He's had it for a couple years.

He painted the inside white and added a variable frequency drive that I recommended. (requires the std. 3phase motor) To adjust the fan speed.

He is happy with the purchase but he isn't a painter, just a hobby restorer. He waited until they came out with the free shipping offer and jumped on it. I don't think it's a bad deal. I think they even have the inside access lights as standard now. Nice option.
 
I'm all about building things myself. And often compare built booths to bought, for the price of those you could build a few. But it's not worth the headache. Imo
 
shine;40402 said:
i built my own booth in my shop. sold my prefab booth when i moved to the farm. i doubt i have 1k in it. the exhaust fan is the biggest expense . the duct and stack were made by a local heat/ac company for 125 bucks. the booth is framed with metal studs.
i always hated the galvanized booths. dark and depressing to me .
Click to expand...

Could've sworn I heard ZZ Top playing on that boom box. LOL
 
shine;40405 said:
i dealt with the city for many years. ever year it was something new. pissed them off that i did not have to comply with any of it since i was granfathered in. here on the farm i set the codes . as for lights if you have an concentration of fumes thick enough to ignite your booth is doing a lousy job. if he is in the city he will have far more things to deal with besides a booth . they will permit and code you out of business. big franchise and dealerships make it hard on the small shop. they are the ones who lobby for all of it to kill competition .
in 45 years of doing this i have never even heard of a booth blowing up. paint shops burn because of car fires 9 out of 10 times. then they have an oil drain pan full of thinner setting around .
Click to expand...


I agree 100%.... Just wanted to point out as it is something to think about... You can easily be fined out of business if they really want to do so. In my opinion.. It doesn't even matter how hard you try to do everything right.. If they want to find something.. they will.
 
now days the boombox is gone. just a small bluetooth speaker running off my phone and pandora.
codes are lobbied for by franchise shops and dealerships. it's how you kill competition .
prefab booths are too small for me. mine is 16x24x12. it gets hot here so i wanted room for the heat to stay above my head. . more room to work in and around the car even if the doors are hung.
 
Shop that booth, its most likely made in Texas or a manufacturer in NC. Look under Kayko booths (TX)
Also look under Standard tool I think inGreensboroo (NC) Both booths are great buys but all toolmart is doing is adding 30% to the price.
Also anopther good booth name is viking but not sure where they are.
Spend a few hours playing on Google and you will save 3-5 thou.
 
shine;40402 said:
i built my own booth in my shop. sold my prefab booth when i moved to the farm. i doubt i have 1k in it. the exhaust fan is the biggest expense . the duct and stack were made by a local heat/ac company for 125 bucks. the booth is framed with metal studs.
i always hated the galvanized booths. dark and depressing to me .
Click to expand...

For some reason, today was the first time the picture would come up. Looks like adequate space, I like how your duct/plenum also doubles as a bench. Only thing I am not sure I like is the light position. Seems like from the pillars up the lighting would be awesome but get dark as you approach the rockers?

shine;40415 said:
well my booth has been standing for 18 years . doors are steel tube framed . but your right . if you dont know what your doing dont attempt to build anything.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how to take that, LOL.. I'm torn somewhere between a "I agree" and something not so nice LOL.. But hey, I am building the entire building(which is not a pre-fab steel building by the way) almost by myself between the walls, roofing, electrical, concrete, etc. So far the only thing I am having someone else do is build the pad. I can pay this guy to do it for less than I can rent the equipment to spread and smooth 100yds of dirt.
Thing is, I'm not retired so I still lose 10 hours a day to going to my job. I do live on acreage so there's always upkeep on equipment and maintaining the property. I will build the building myself instead of using a contractor to save 10-30 grand. On the booth, I know the things I need to figure out can be figured out(one of the main things that bothers me, is again, door seals), but is it worth the time? I usually don't have much time for internet surfing at work, and when I am home I am usually turning wrenches or something similar. Either way, at home I am usually outside doing something that needs done, not on the computer. So again, reason for the post was feedback on these booths. If they were heaps of junk I would figure out the home built thing.. Cool thing is that apparantly some guys here have experience with them and they seem fine. So I will probably just go that route.

Regarding the height for heat, I doubt thats even going to help me here.. its still hitting 90s these days. I have a window shaker A/C I used to use in my old shop office. No matter what, that will be incorporated into the booth. I will be using that to cool the booth down to a decent temp prior to shooting.

Barry;40424 said:
Shop that booth, its most likely made in Texas or a manufacturer in NC. Look under Kayko booths (TX)
Also look under Standard tool I think inGreensboroo (NC) Both booths are great buys but all toolmart is doing is adding 30% to the price.
Also anopther good booth name is viking but not sure where they are.
Spend a few hours playing on Google and you will save 3-5 thou.
Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch for the tips. I will take a look. I did come across one site that was cheaper, but it make it appear that the "drive in doors" were an upgrade.
 
the second one you have listed is the one i have. its extended to be 8ft longer and painted white inside. what i will say is if you are looking for an ok functional booth then its fine. it works and will last you but it doesnt have any type of craftsmanship in it whatsoever. its very sloppy build quality. if i was on a super tight budget i would buy it again BUT if i had a couple few extra grand i would look at something else. find something with pre punched holes in the panels that nut and bolt together. not something that is zip screwed.
 
Devilbiss semi-downdraft that I bought from a local Ford dealership that had ceased doing their own bodywork. Paid 1K for the booth. Put in some new light fixtures, all new bulbs, and new tempered glass in some of the light "windows" that got cracked, I have about 1800 in it.


8365e034.jpg



Lined up my metal working eqpt down the side and bolted some storage cabinets above those to use otherwise wasted space...


HPIM6452.jpg



I would check locally for any body shops closing or upgrading to a new booth, see if you can get a deal on the old one. About a month after I put mine up, my paint rep told me of a body shop about 1/2 hour away looking to give one away just to get it gone, the new booth was due to arrive in a couple days. So it's hard to say what kind of deal you could find.....
 
Wow. THat would be awesome to find a deal like that. I don't know any people in the business anymore, don't have a paint rep either. But I guess it couldn't hurt to put the word out to my local body supply shop if they know of anyone upgrading or getting out. Every once in a while I see entire businesses for sale on Craiglist, but not people peice-mealing everything off.

Thanks for the feedback Jim. Thats the kind of stuff i was hoping to hear. I found a company called Autek that is down in St Pete Florida, a few hour drive from me. So depending on what it costs to ship a booth from out of state, maybe I could save by going to pick it up(although I will have to pay some serious sales tax). Looks like they use the same kind of screws, but they do mention having an I-beam construction for the framing.
 
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