One of the bigest problems with spray guns and spray paint is the mess that they leave behind. No matter how careful you are or how a particular product claims to limit overspray, you are going to have a thin coat of blue/white/black/red/whatever paint on anything that has the audacity to look at it funny. That overspray keeps me from spray painting most of the time. Between the overspray in the garage and the little bugs that get in my piece when I paint outside, a paint brush provided me fewer frustrations.
When Graco sent me the new sprayer, Tom finally agreed to build me the “easy and cheap paint tent” that he’s been talking about for years. This way, I could paint in the garage (free from bugs) while protecting our surfaces. We don’t have a lot of extra space to store large items, so he wanted to make sure that the tent was collapsible, too.
Since it worked so well, Tom was excited for me to post the tutorial for you guys. He agreed to write it, but that would probably take a few more years to complete, too. So, here it is from yours truly.
$50 DIY Collapsible Spray Paint Tent
1. Cut 12 lengths of PVC pipe 7 feet long. We used pipe that was 3/4″ in diameter and is labeled Schedule 40 (Sch.40 on the pipe). We found that type of pipe was inexpensive yet rigid enough to support our structure. We choose 7 feet because that made will make the tent tall enough for a person to stand in and wide enough for most pieces of furniture that I paint.
You can cut your PVC pipe with a handsaw or a pipe cutter. A pipe cutter
We bought 12 10-foot lengths and cut them down to 7 feet. The pipes were $2.28 a piece. If you are really short, you could buy 5 foot lengths and save yourself a few bucks. I don’t think they were available in anything between 5 and 10 – and no longer than 10 – at my Lowe’s.
2. Connect your 12 7-foot sections to 3-way PVC side outlet corner elbows so that they form a cube. Make sure that the elbows are the same rating (i.e. Sch.40) and diameter of your pipe. I don’t know why other than “Tom said so,” so I hope that’s a good enough answer for you. You will need 8 of these, and they are $1.60 a piece.
It creates a cool optical illusion, right? It magically makes my garage look like we have stuff everywhere! But, we can park my truck and Tom’s car in there, so no making fun of me.
3. Next, you get to plastic wrap the whole thing, Dexter style. You will need 6 plastic 9×12′ drop cloths in total. We started on one side and taped the drop cloths to the top and went around making sure that all sides (except the floor) were covered. After the ceiling and walls were covered (4 drop cloths), I tilted the tent and slid another drop cloth under it to cover the floor (1 drop cloth).
You can see that we made a little door flap on one side of the tent so that I could easily get in and out. It’s just in the way that the plastic drop cloths are positioned. I put little arrows on the below image so that it would be easier to see. Yours doesn’t have to look exactly like this, but make sure there is an open area where the plastic overlaps – it will essentially seal you into the tent.
But wait, Lindsay. You said I needed 6 drop cloths. Yeah, you do. Set up some sort of table/sawhorse system (remember it’s easiest to spray when things are waist high!) and completely cover that with a drop cloth. There’s your 6.
We bought a 12 pack of .5mil drop cloths for $8.98. These really can’t be easily reused, so that one box gave me enough for two different tent set ups.
4. Now, all you have to do is hop in there and paint! In between coats, I propped the little door flap open and pointed a box fan in there – it is super humid here, and that helped cut the humidity in the air and let the paint dry.
5. When you are finished, tear off the plastic and throw it away (it will likely be so covered in paint that you can barely even see out of it). Then, disassemble your pipes and elbows and put them in an out-of-the-way spot until the next time you are ready to spray something.
This is such a nice thing to have – and it cost us less than $50 to put together.
Pipes: 12 @ $2.28 each = $27.36
Elbows: 8 @ $1.60 each = $12.80
Plastic drop cloths: 12 for $8.98, but only use 6 for a tent = $4.49
Painter’s Tape: $3.93 a roll
Total: $48.58
It will only cost you $5 or $6 (for the drop cloths and tape) each time you want to set it up. Isn’t your time worth that over painting with a brush? Mine sure is!
You can click here to see what I painted in the tent the first time I used it and learn more about the spray gun that I used.
*****IMPORTANT! I also need to say that you MUST wear a respirator
I also recommend wearing safety glasses (which you should be wearing anyway when you spray paint), nitrile/latex gloves and long sleeves/pants when you go in there (so you won’t be covered in a fine mist of paint yourself).
So, what do you think? Could you use an easy, collapsible spray tent in your life?
I would love a paint tent…..I think I would make the walls out of fabric drop clothes and just reuse them. How do you think that would work?
Great idea, Robyn! But, I think that gives you two problems to consider: 1) It would be extremely dark in the tent if you used fabric drop cloths, so you’d need to put several lights in there and 2) You might need a higher rated pipe, as I’m not sure if the type that I used could withstand that type of weight.
Thanks Lindsay! Very good points I will keep in mind! My DD told me several years ago I needed a “Dexter” room to do my painting in! LOL
Can I get one to fit a car 14 ft long 4ft wide?
I’m so freakin jealous!!! This is what I need and I have no room…boooohooo! I’d have to get it out every time to paint in the drive way!
And my first thought was Dexter when I saw the tent. One of my favorite shows ever!
This is such a great idea! I’ve pinned this to give it a try. The last time I spray painted in the garage I ended up with the dreaded overspray on everything.
Just made one of these. It definitely took two sets of hands…and we cannot stop commenting/comparing to a dexter kill room. We’re happy to save our garage from overspray + psyched to brake out the new paint sprayer!!
Love that you brought up Dexter because that’s EXACTLY what I was thinking. Brilliant idea!
That is a genius idea! I might have to do this myself, Brilliant!
That’s a brilliant idea – thanks for sharing. Instead of going out and buying PVC pipes, I’m going to try adapting your idea to an old picnic shade tent that I picked up at a garage sale for $10 – hopefully it will work.
Thia is great! I need to paint some stuff on my porch and this would protect everything! And I promise I will wear a respirator : ) well done!
Do you have any idea what the relative humidity ended up being inside the tent? I have a rubber boat to repair that requires very low humidity and a temperature around 65 degrees or so for the glue to take and set properly (a challenge in MS). Was thinking this may work with a dehumidifier. Did you experience issues with your paint curing properly due to excess humidity? Was your fan able to vent the fumes adequately enough to keep them out of your home?
Hi Lindsay, I own a small contracting business and spray quite often. such a time saver.( And yes i use a respirator) I’ve been searching for a portable spray tent and this is just about perfect. I’ve been making them out of 2×4’s and just takes so long to construct.
Thank you for sharing ,I will let you know on the outcome!
Rich
Thanks for the great info! I am going to try your tent and explore your blog some more. It looks amazing!
I’ve seen similar ones to this before. Here’s a little modification for the next time you use it. Pick up a cheap box fan and a cheap central airconditioner filter. After your pvc frame is built, place the box fan at one of the tarp walls and tape the tarp around the edges of the fan and do the same for the filter on an apposing wall. So now you can vent out all that horrible paint fumes and over spray. And the filter scrubs the incoming air so no particles or bus get inside of your clean spray room. I don’t care how good of a respirator you have you will still be breathing a ton of that crap in if it’s completely sealed as you were doing it. Spray rooms need to be vented. Your lungs will thank me lol 🙂
Miss Lindsay, for over a week now, I had been pondering…”I need a tent for my auto detailing business which, because it is always on the move, has me outdoors when it rains, when it shines and when it is windy which carries dust at times, so what am I going to do? My budget will not allow me to spend for a factory built tent so I am going to have to figure out something.” I like to build things and the idea came to me to search for ideas and instructions and voila!, I found the right place at the right time – your great site. Now I am going to draw up a design and head off to the nearest Home Depot, full of inspiration. Thank you so much.
Hi Linda where did you buy the pipes etc for that price as I have looked online and not found anything that cheap are they plastic or metal ,
Just ran across this when I was trying to figure out how to finish painting a ceiling fan. I got it primed when the weather was still nice. Unfortunately we do not have a garage so I needed to figure out how to paint them inside. Going to make this in a smaller version for my craft room and vent it out the window 🙂
In stop 4. The fan didn’t cause any dust?? Where did the air exhaust?
I used the clear plastic shower curtains; bought some curtain rings to hang on the PVC which makes easy for set-up and take down. (the rings; some I already hand and some I bought at thrift stores)
We have no garage so I set mine up outside
It would be helpful if you could post links to the sources of your supplies:
I tried to find the drop cloths but the ones I found were far more expensive that what you quoted: $6.00 EACH ($36 per tent) rather than the $4.49 per tent you quoted in your post. (https://www.amazon.com/Film-Gard-HS005-Dropcloth-9X12-5mil/dp/B0017U7XDY)
The same product on the Canadian Amazon website sells for $13.46 CAD or $80.76 per tent. (https://www.amazon.ca/Film-Gard-HS005-Dropcloth-9X12-5mil/dp/B0017U7XDY)
At over $80 for the plastic per use (and I haven’t even started pricing out the pipes etc.) this spray paint tent is not a cost effective option.
I have gotten very large drop cloths at the local Dollar Tree. I need to go back and get them all.
Just buy a wedding popup tent: https://www.amazon.com/Smartxchoices-Outdoor-Waterproof-Removable-Sidewalls/dp/B01CE2TLYW
Great share! Thanks man!
to fasten drop cloths to pipe ,take pipe scrap cut some rings .make a vericle cut through the ring, heat & open slightly, you now have reusable clamp to place over wrap & pipe to hold in place
The clear answer to my initial question consequently is
determined by how a online industry adapts all together.
Thanks a million for this idea! It looks simple enough and not time consuming. I cannot tell you how I have destroyed (that’s a bit strong) areas in my garage. Thus, I have not painted in a long while. I even accidentally painted my hubby’s white car! I am gonna give painting another go. I have courage now (hahaha!) because of your post. Again, thanks!
You could have jut bought this for $43: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CE2TLYW/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_VHBpFbVT7DX5A
You could have jut bought this for $43: https://www.amazon.com/Smartxchoices-Outdoor-Waterproof-Removable-Sidewalls/dp/B01CE2TLYW
Great share! Thanks man!