# Finishing Room in new shop



## robmurphytally (Dec 28, 2015)

Hello all, i'm new to this site so I look forward to hearing from you. After working for years out of one bay in my garage I'm finally able to build a 'real' shop. I'm working with an architect now to finalize the plans. The dimensions will be 32' x 24' and I'm considering creating a 12' x 8' room in the space designated for finishing my projects in order to keep stains and poly odors, etc. from taking over the entire shop space. I'm deliberating on whether or not to give up shop floor space for this purpose. Any thoughts on the value of having a finishing room or not...pros or cons? Thanks!


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

If you have the space then a dedicated and mostly dust free finishing room is sometimes worth its weight in gold.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I have to do my finishing outside- in the outdoor spray booth!

The weather has a lot to do with that. Mostly hot, sometimes wet, and a few times too cold to spray. Houston area.

Back in the 80's, I built a three car garage. A wall separated one bay from the rest of the building. It had a door for access. That work pretty well. I had a window with an exhaust fan to help remove the vapors. I still miss that building, not the EX, though, just the building!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

A finishing room is good to have but not critical. If you would use fast drying finishes you could do it almost anywhere including outdoors. If you are going to build a spray booth invest in an explosion proof spray booth fan. They are very expensive but you don't have to worry about any loud booms. Many finishes are highly flammable. 

Giving the size of the building I would build it in such of a way if you sold the property it could be taken down. I would frame the outer structure and finish out the walls on the inside and then build your walls for the spray booth. That way the walls could be taken down and there wouldn't be a 4 1/2" void in the sheetrock where the wall was. You might also attach the spray booth walls with screws to make them easy to demo.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

32'x24' is about the size of my garage which must house my equipment and 2 vehicles plus whatever. . I am trying to imagine it empty and then using that 12'x8' space for finishing.

I do not think it would be a big impact. I mostly spray lacquer and would have to be sure to have good ventilation. You have to get that ventilation without creating a breeze/wind. Might be hard in a small room.

Good question for which I do not have a straight forward answer.

George


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## robmurphytally (Dec 28, 2015)

*Thanks for all your thoughts*

Seems the biggest issue will be getting enough ventilation air space in a small room. Think I'll keep the space for the shop and forgoe the finish room.


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

robmurphytally said:


> Seems the biggest issue will be getting enough ventilation air space in a small room. Think I'll keep the space for the shop and forgoe the finish room.


The space you mentioned is not nearly big enough for a spray room in my opinion but would make for an excellent 'drying room'. If you kept it clean and sealed it up right - You would have a safe place to put stuff while it was drying while you went back to work in the shop. 

Some finishes take longer than others to dry and there are other times when you may screw up (I have never done this myself - only read about it in magazines ) and 'need' to add retarder to an otherwise 'fast drying' finish because there was way too much humidity going on and you had to slow things down to keep from making a mess. 

My last 'accident' took a good 2 to 4 hrs to dry to the point that it was 'safe' to handle and move around. That was with me messing up with lacquer... Poly takes even longer to dry than that in some cases... :yes: 




If you had a special designated area like you were thinking about - You would never have to stop 'working' in the shop and making dust while you had other things off in that special room drying. :thumbsup: 








I have finished a pile of stuff right in the middle of the shop and it CAN be done successfully but that can sometimes take a little more effort (and time) to pull off. 

Even if you have a fairly decent spray setup that puts 'most' of the finish on the work piece and not just spitting it out as overspray in the air - You can only go so far before you need to take a break lest you end up with a huge cloud and overspray on EVERYTHING inside the shop.

Yes, You can rig up fans and such to pull that overspray out but you have to be careful about how fast you move the air lest you start moving dust and stuff around that can then settle in your finish. 

You also have to consider that if the fan is pushing the overspray outside (and pulling in fresh air from someplace else) and you are finishing in the winter - You just pulled out all the air that you spent money to heat. 

If I have a small something to finish and want to finish it in the middle of the shop I will generally use the best gun I can (high transfer efficiency) and give the air an hour or two to 'settle' before starting.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I think a spray booth is a great idea and extremely useful. Rather than a an actual booth, I have always had a spray area which is actually a booth with one one long side completely open with the exception of curtains to keep dust down. If you spray lacquer, which I highly recommend, you only have to keep the dust down for a about an hour or so. That is more than enough time to coat a large piece of furniture from primer to top coats. 
The advantage of the completely open one side, rather than a wall with doors, is that you have better air flow without wind and you can have rolling tables so you can store stuff out of the way when not spraying.


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## robmurphytally (Dec 28, 2015)

OnealWoodworking said:


> The space you mentioned is not nearly big enough for a spray room in my opinion but would make for an excellent 'drying room'. If you kept it clean and sealed it up right - You would have a safe place to put stuff while it was drying while you went back to work in the shop.
> 
> Some finishes take longer than others to dry and there are other times when you may screw up (I have never done this myself - only read about it in magazines ) and 'need' to add retarder to an otherwise 'fast drying' finish because there was way too much humidity going on and you had to slow things down to keep from making a mess.
> 
> ...


That's great advice. Thanks for the insight and also glad to see you're taking the proper safety precautions for your shopmate! I was most concerned that the room wouldn't be large enough so your idea of using it for a drying room makes perfect sense.


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## robmurphytally (Dec 28, 2015)

Tony B said:


> I think a spray booth is a great idea and extremely useful. Rather than a an actual booth, I have always had a spray area which is actually a booth with one one long side completely open with the exception of curtains to keep dust down. If you spray lacquer, which I highly recommend, you only have to keep the dust down for a about an hour or so. That is more than enough time to coat a large piece of furniture from primer to top coats.
> The advantage of the completely open one side, rather than a wall with doors, is that you have better air flow without wind and you can have rolling tables so you can store stuff out of the way when not spraying.


Very helpful...thanks! I do plan to use rolling assembly tables so that fits nicely with your recommendation.


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