Choosing the Right Paint Booth Doors

Of all the decisions to make when selecting a paint booth, choosing the type of doors may be the simplest, yet is among the most important.

The amount of space available in a shop often dictates the type of paint booth doors that are chosen. Whether the paint booth is indoors or outdoors also plays a factor. Selecting the right paint booth doors is crucial to ensure a proper seal for the booth and to allow enough room to move products in and out of the spray booth.

Here is an overview of the most common types of paint booth doors:

Swing Doors

Global Finishing Solutions (GFS) industrial paint booths come standard with swing doors. About half of GFS customers keep swing doors on their paint booths, typically because they do not have space restrictions around their booth and because they are the least expensive door option.

Multi-Fold or Winged Doors

About 40 percent of GFS industrial customers upgrade from swing doors to multi-fold doors. The cost to upgrade varies, depending on the size of the paint booth. Multi-fold doors are ideal for larger booths and businesses with space constraints. Some shops lack room for a swing door and opt for a pair of multi-fold doors instead.

Most GFS automotive paint booths come standard with product doors available in two, three or four wings. Compared to industrial multi-fold doors, two-, three- or four-wing doors give shops increased flexibility, with the option of tailoring door configurations to meet their specific needs.

Solid vs Filtered Doors

Paint booth doors are either solid or filtered. Solid doors are used with intake plenums to enclose the front of paint booths in pressurized applications.

Filtered doors allow product entry and exit in non-pressurized paint booths, while filtering input air. The doors attach directly to the front of the spray booth, adding minimal depth to the booth.

Rollup Doors

For shops tight on space and those with automated processes, rollup doors are preferred because they do not require additional space. However, they come with the heftiest price tag. Upgrading from a multi-fold door to a rollup door can be two to three times as expensive, due to the explosion-proof operator that comes with the rollup door.

Shops with very large paint booths often upgrade to rollup doors to save space. For outdoor weatherized paint booths, rollup doors are usually the only option since swing doors and multi-fold doors are not insulated enough to provide a proper seal and are not rated for the additional wind load.

Another key advantage of rollup doors is that they open and close with the push of a button. This saves technicians the hassle — and time — of having to physically open doors when moving products in and out of the paint booth, as well as cleaning overspray off the doors.

RollSeal Doors

In addition to metal rollup doors, GFS offers an exclusive line of heavy-duty fabric rollup doors. With a unique, patented design, RollSeal Automated Door Systems’ triple-layered fabric door and airtight seal prevent overspray from escaping the paint booth and keep contaminants out of final finishes.

RollSeal Doors are the best option for Side-Load Finishing Systems, which maximize space in an automotive body shop. Putting a RollSeal Door between booths allows vehicles to effortlessly move between bays, saving up to 15 minutes per car. A downdraft paint booth with a side-load system should be capable of processing six vehicles per day, possibly even seven or eight if the shop is firing on all cylinders.

Perhaps the only drawback to steel or fabric rollup doors is that you lose overhead space for the hood that is required for the rubber fabric or steel coils to roll up into. With a RollSeal Door, about 1 foot is lost overhead, and with a steel rollup door, as much as 1.5 feet is lost.

Like the rest of a paint booth, doors require routine cleaning and maintenance to remain in excellent condition. If properly cleaned and maintained, paint booth doors should last as long as the paint booth itself. Additionally, if the correct type of doors are selected, achieving a good seal and having adequate space for moving products in and out of your booth should not be a problem.