Paint booth walls

old soul

Member
Updating the homemade paint booth. I have the wall frames built with enclosed lights but not sure what to use for the walls. Would like to use plywood or sheetrock/drywall but those don't like to get wet. It's not like the walls will get wet everyday but just when I wash the booth down before painting or when washing a car. Not going with plastic this time, though it served me well for many years. Can plywood or sheetrock be sealed and painted (latex or oil base) to protect it from water or is there something else I could use for the walls? Any suggestions will be appreciated.
 
pvc plastic sheets . but they are more expensive than sheetrock . sheetrock painted well with enamel . mine are just flat latex but i dont wash it. flashing on bottom and a fresh coat every once in a while .
 
if its home supply materials then cement board is your best option for getting wet and staying together. there is also a fiber board they sell thats lighter, its some type of paper product but they say its even better for wet areas. use the mortar to seal the joints and there are plenty of waterproof paints out there.

alot of towns dont approve on pvc since it gives off noxious fumes if its in a fire when it melts. .
 
glad i dont live in one of those towns . half of the stuff in a house is pvc of some form . how about vinyl siding ? used in just about every town in the country . carpet ? tile ?
 
Outlaw;n83926 said:
Sheetrock walls with a good scrubbable enamall paint.

Agreed. You can use the 'green' gypsum board which is water resistant. Followed up with a gloss enamel or latex paint and you should have walls that are washable and water resistant.

Mike
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. It is nice to have opinions from folks in the field rather than just salesmen. Looks like some form of sheetrock is the way to go. I was surprised no comments on plywood. I thought it would have been a stronger product and easier to work with, though I have no experience with sheetrock.
 
I have a manufactured booth now, but my last booth was home made. I had 1/2" plywood laid sideways so only 4' high, then sheetrock another 4' up. I taped the sheetrock seams, seam sealer on plywood to sheetrock seam, painted the hell out of all of it. Sheetrock ceiling.

I had built a steel box for the floor with a duct going outside to a fan that pulled, booth inlet air was through a grid in the ceiling that I could fit 20x20 tacky filters in. It was a cool booth, I also had tempered glass panels in the ceiling with inexpensive florescent light fixtures above the ceiling, shining in through the glass panes.
 
Haven't tried it yet but Sherwin Williams has a waterbased epoxy paint that supposed to be pretty durable & cleanable. Heard a few painters say it's good.
 
They sell a white fiberglass reinforced 4x8 panel at lowes thats in alot of restaurant bathrooms. I wonder if they would work because you could wet it without causing problems. We used to put in kitchens cause it was easy to clean and passed dhec inspections.
 
curt b;n84017 said:
They sell a white fiberglass reinforced 4x8 panel at lowes thats in alot of restaurant bathrooms. I wonder if they would work because you could wet it without causing problems. We used to put in kitchens cause it was easy to clean and passed dhec inspections.

I used it in my last booth. It stood up well. Nice shiny finish.

Don
 
shine;n83899 said:
glad i dont live in one of those towns . half of the stuff in a house is pvc of some form . how about vinyl siding ? used in just about every town in the country . carpet ? tile ?

We think its more of a push for the plumbers union in the crooked City of Chicago, since they still force residents and businesses to use the heavy clay or cast iron soil pipe. You can use PVC, but you are not selling the house if its exposed. Then most of the suburbs around chicago just use their code so they dont have to write their own. I wanted to replace the 45 4x4 windows on the side of my shop building, got a quote for 120 each for the new pvc windows, it would not get approved. Had to quote fiberglass 3x the cost.
 
curt b;n84017 said:
They sell a white fiberglass reinforced 4x8 panel at lowes thats in alot of restaurant bathrooms. I wonder if they would work because you could wet it without causing problems. We used to put in kitchens cause it was easy to clean and passed dhec inspections.

yeah, this is probably the way to go, forgot about the real fiberglass panels. Most are just pressboard with a shiny laminate. If you like plywood then do a 4x8 sideways for the bottom to protect it from cracking if bumped and allow you endless options for mounting stuff so you dont have to find a stud, even though you should see your screws pretty easily.
 
shine;n83899 said:
glad i dont live in one of those towns . half of the stuff in a house is pvc of some form . how about vinyl siding ? used in just about every town in the country . carpet ? tile ?
Gotta love codes. Around here they make you strap your airconditioners to the pad for earthquake purposes but meanwhile the propane tank is sitting their free to go wherever it wants?
 
With the "fiberglass/plastic panels would you be worried about static charges?
 
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