Thanks for the Great Health articles.
I painted using a two part epoxy primer some call it killer yellow and get very sick, head aches, body aches etc.

I have a two story house with an attached garage. The garage attic also has access to the "between floors" area of the house.

After my first and only painting experience I have not tried it again but need to. I don't want to risk my health and could pay to get all the paint done but I would like to do this myself.

Here is my plan:
Install one or two attic fans (wired to be reversable) into the garage shingles, duct those directly to the garage ceiling.
Seal the area joining the garage attic to the house with 5mil plastic.
Hang plastic on the walls to protect from paint.
Water the floor to protect from paint.
Crack the garage door open 1.5"
Run fan(s) to provide down draft during painting and then reverse to provide negative pressure during venting.
Possible fresh air supply? I am thinking if I duct the air compressor inlet to suck fresh air; then tee into the airline and reduce the flow and duct that to a hood I will have a positive supply of clean air. Yes I know the air may have some oil in it but this is not a compressed dive and seems it would be ok.
How long does the paint/primer take to dry? How longs will I have to leave the garage door cracked 1.5" and the fan(s) running to ventilate?

Thanks for any/all suggestions.
Coyote

Coyote,

Do not seal off any vented airspace in your attic. The floor joists/HVAC chase is vented to the attic area above your garage I would suspect. If that area is sealed, moisture cannot escape and we get into a possible mold situation. If you need to isolate that space from the garage, you can use sheetrock or a breathable Tyvek material that will allow moisture to transfer from one space to another, but will prevent the free flow of paint fumes into that space. Is'nt your garage finished in drywall (walls and ceiling) in your attached garage, venting only thru the garage doors ? If not, I assume the attic space over your garage is vented by ridge vent, air hock or turbine vent at least. If not, it should be. I would also suggest getting a box fan to expel air to the outside from your garage while painting. Also, be sure to wear the appropriate respirator as stated in Sevt_Chevelle's topic on health.

Give me some clarification on the construction of your house and I can help with your situation. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

BTW
I am a licensed professional real estate inspector TREC lic. 5831
licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission in Austin, Tx.
http://www.iqinspections.com

If you are only going to paint one time why not look into renting a paint booth. There is a rental booth about 2 miles from my house that rents for 75 bucks per day. It's great because you don't have to worry about the ventilation and mess issues in your own house.

The Garage is finished in sheetrock. I cut a hole in the roof sheetrock for a box fan. There is also a drop down stair set in the roof. There are three little vents cut in the roof. There are no windows in the garage, just a house door and the garage door.

The house drafts like a sieve so I don't think I have to worry about that too much. I need to seal between the hardy board. The garage is wrapped in brick though but the siding above is hardy board.

I like the idea of renting a paint booth. How do you go about finding one in the austin texas area?

Thanks!

Have you considered "renting" a paint booth for the day? The cost of that will pay devidends is assuring your health remains the same and you will not have to do all that extra work preparing the garage.

John

Hey if your just spraying primer can you do it outside? Don't know if you have the room outside without fear of overspray, but I paintet all my primer in the side/back of the yard. Just waited for a warm non-windy day, sprayed down the grass/rocks with water and proceded to spray. Always use breathing apperatus, S.C.B.A. (self contained with NIOSH approved filter is what I use) if you can find one.

Good luck.

Also, turn off gas water heater or any source of ignition, due to fumes! I wish I could find a spray booth in the san diego, ca area, but can't, so I use my detached garage, no ignition sources! The overspray will get on everything, so cover of remove items. Ground car with chain or battery powered 'grounder' available on body shop supply websites to minimized static electricity on car. Good luck!

if your going to exhaust vent dont just vent it into the attic, at worst, make a shroud and get some flex duct to run to the gable vent, which you should have if i understand you correctly, you have a two story house (between floors, unless you have newer style floor trusses, are rarely, if ever, vented) with an attached garage under a conventionally framed or trussed roof) i'd do what i could not to involve the main house at all.
all that said, for primer id just spray in sections and dont worry about it, use a respirator and spray a 1/4 or door or fender, as much as you feel comfortable with (ive done whole sides of a car with an hvlp gun and wasnt worried my mask would come unsealed or any other reason i might have to take a breath or two) and take your gun, leave the doors closed and get out of there (have a cleaning station set up elswhere, i just put some cleaner, cleaning tools and my portable air tank in the back yard), after it flashes or my guns cleaned, open the O/H door a 1/4 or 1/2 or completely (depending on wind and other factors, whatever youre comfortable doing) and let it clear out (if theres no wind, i just use a couple fans, one at the door blowing in and one kitty corner at back pointing out and i never run the fans while shooting, it just introduces more trash)...since ive got an old bitty next door whos called the cops on my grinding noise and a homeowners association who are a bunch of holier than thou parasacial pricks, i do it late night or early morning hours, ...ideally, with a good breeze blowing ..also, i know, for example, the cheaper 2-stage ppg primer/surfacer smells like roses compared to the acetone or thinner reduced (or even unreduced) polyester primer i normally like to use, so, if i have to spray when i think it maybe bothersome to my g/f or the neighbors, i use the ppg ...and remember, its almost universally illegal to shoot automotive paint or primer in a zoned residential area, so the fewer have a hint, the better, and do what you can to spare any/all the neighbors even a wiff, because if they get annoyed and press it, you WILL lose

be very careful of a home made fresh air supply, i have a small oilless (airbrush type, i guess, though i think it was originally made for pesticide spraying) compressor and a regulator procured from a hospital and i still concluded it was safer and easier to just use a good respirator after reading lengthy threads here and at www.autobody.com good luck

That air you plan on piping in from your air compressor will kill you much much sooner then any paint fumes will.
CO2 will form in that compressor then piped directly into your lungs. Depending on how much CO2 depends on your compressor.

Most fresh air units that run from air compressors have a 3 or 4 stage filter device with a CO2 monitor. The 3M system that we use costs around 3500 bucks.

As for renting a booth in Austin, Texas am sure their is a body shop about every block. Just call them and ask. The bigger chain stores probably wont, but the smaller shops more then likely would.
I worked for a large Ford dealership in Kansas City that would rent out the booth on saturdays. They are out there you just have to put in the effort to find them...Eric