Research Your Needs

• 1). Determine what kind of facility you will need based on the size and volume of things that you finish. If you work only with small items, you won't need a full-sized finish room.
  
  
• 2). Research what kind of finishes you will be using in the spray booth. Water-based sprays are much less toxic to both humans and the environment, and require less stringent controls than VOCs (volatile organic compounds), resins and other finishes.
  
  
• 3). Include safety features in the spray booth plans, including a fire extinguisher and proper ventilation. Large industrial applications may require a sprinkler system.
  
  

Install Proper Ventilation

• 1). Consult with your local zoning authority regarding regulations for furniture finishing and spray booths. Due to the volatility of some of these substances, regulations can be quite strict.
  
  
• 2). Install a properly-sized ventilation fan in the roof or an outside wall of the shop. Connect this fan via a sufficiently large diameter pipe to the spray booth. You will also need a source of intake air in order for the exhaust to draw out the fumes properly.
  
  
• 3). Install a large filter box around the outtake pipe. The idea is to to capture as much of the particles as possible in the filters as the fume-filled air is drawn out of the spray booth. Some furniture finishes are highly polluting, and filters are necessary for ventilation.
  
  

Isolate the Booth from the Rest of the Shop

• 1). Build a wall between the spray booth and the rest of the shop. If possible, put the spray booth in a different building or on a different floor than where the woodworking takes place.
  
  
• 2). Install a tightly sealing door on the spray booth in order to avoid dust from the woodworking area to enter the spray booth and ruin the finishes.
  
  
• 3). Finish furniture at different times than you do the woodworking if you are in a small shop and the finishing facilities are not totally separate from the woodworking area. Before using the spray booth, clean and vacuum the shop, then allow the dust to settle.