Using a paint spray booth can help save money and provide better
paint jobs for customers while protecting the environment. Spray
booths direct harmful particles up the stack and away from
employees, neighboring buildings, and people. Paint spray booths
also provide a well-lighted area for painting.
Paint spray booths help save money in many ways:
- Better Paint Jobs - A spray booth allows painting in a
dirt-free environment. By reducing dirt, a better paint job is
provided. Higher quality means increased customer satisfaction,
which will lead to repeat business and word-of-mouth advertising
for any shop.
- Paint Savings - Spray booths help minimize drafts, which
lessens overspray and keeps more paint on the car. Money is saved
by using less paint and solvent.
- Disposal-Fee Savings - Since less paint and solvent is
used with a spray booth, money may be saved on disposal fees by
lowering the amount of waste generated.
- Avoiding Fines - Texas air regulations require
authorization to spray. Most often, authorization will require use
of a spray booth or totally enclosed spray area. The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ) all can fine a facility for not having a spray booth or
totally enclosed spray area. Without one, a nuisance to neighbors
may be caused with overspray or unpleasant fumes. This can lead to
a complaint against the facility and possibly a fine. Therefore,
common sense suggests a body shop owner can ill afford not to use
one. The money spent on fines later could be better spent on a
spray booth or totally enclosed spray area now.
Not only do paint spray booth stacks have to meet distance and
height requirements, they must provide a vertical upward airflow.
Stacks must be at least 1.2 times higher than the tallest building
within 200 feet of the stack, including the building in which the
paint spray booth is located. Stacks must also be at least 50 feet
away from any residence, recreation area, church, school, child
care facility, or medical or dental facility.
Any rain protection used on an exhaust stack must not cause a
restriction or obstruction to vertical upward airflow. This means
that cone-shaped raincaps or goose neck exhausts are not allowed
because they restrict vertical upward flow.
- Examples
(PDF) (Help with PDF) of
acceptable stack designs for a paint spray booth
- Examples(PDF)
of unacceptable stack designs for a paint spray booth
For further assistance regarding TCEQ regulations for auto body
shops or paint spray booths, call the Small Business and Local
Government Assistance Program at 1-800-447-2827, or contact the
SBLGA Compliance Assistance Specialist in the nearest TCEQ office .
