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I Think I Might Be in Trouble


Joe Flanagan

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So yesterday morning I'm shooting high build primer on the front end of my Plymouth when I looked up and saw a vehicle from the fire dept. pulling away from the curb. I have no doubt he was watching me. He's either an old car buff or he's going to report me. I think he's going to report me. I'm sure that what I'm doing is not allowed in residential areas here. I waited all day for a phone call or a visit but nothing has happened so far. I was going to shoot color on Friday but now I think I should lay low for a while. Meanwhile, I'm going over all kinds of ways in my head I can finish this without getting the city involved. They're very observant. I had a friend who had some brush piled up in his yard and they cited him for "encouraging rodent harborage." They never hesitate to approve a town house development that will add 200 more cars to the road system, but what can you do? Am I going to have to paint at night? On Sundays? In my garage with blackout curtains? Have any of you guys ever run into this?

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WEll Joe, You live in a great area however it is very visible. When I visit it's very busy. There are always eyes on you. You are doing something very interesting and everyone is excited including the authorities. Down the country it's different we can burn leafs and paint cars outside because of the wide open area. I would just do my thing until someone says stop. You do have a garage. Do as much as you can inside there then do the body.:)Worst case, I hear the food in prison has gotten much better since the head cop over there resigned for driving drunk:D

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Try and get her done on the clandestine side quickly Joe.

Spraying Urethane based paints in a residential neighbourhood is becoming a real no-no, these days.

The ISO's in this stuff are very toxic, and have a lot of health hazrds.lot of guys would not even consider using and spraying this stuff without an air fed respirator and a decent spray booth.

Also when mixing your paints, where your charcoal mask, that is a time when the fumes can be wicked too.

I live in the country, 1/4 mile form the neighbours, I do not think I would shoot any urethane paints in a city neighbourhood, would be afraid of being reported.

Not trying to sound negative, but spraying 2 k urethane products, or solvent based enamels is geting to be a real no-no, if not illegal with out the correct environmentlal equipment like a spray booth with an environmental exhaust stack to vent the fumes safely. Try and get her done quietly and as quickly as you can.........Fred

Edited by Rockwood
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I live in the country to some degree but in an older established community and with a tad of elbow room with my neighbors. Most are quite congenial and totally support me and myold car habits..few come by to see what is going on in the shop now and then. Ihave a spray booth, Ihave intake and exhast filter..these exhast filters work..trust me..the filters after a apint job are caked, the other side of the filter is the white metal grille..after many many cars..the grilles are still white..residue and particles are captured..the solvents odors are dispersed rather high and thus dissipate before anyone knows what is going on...I have asked my neighbors if they ever smell my paint process..the answer has been no..I do wish I could have copied my exhast setup Ihad in Charleston, I lived in a subdivision there...again the exhaust filter and the stack was 16 feet off the ground..

However in Joe's case...the actual "caught in the act" is enough to potentially cause him problems..Virginia is quickly becoming the east coast California...

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nothing obvious in the enforcement sections. Abandoned cars are mentioned, but mostly building codes and restaurant fire suppression and ventilation hood inspections.

http://www3.alexandriava.gov/city/codeenforcement/

I believe most hobbiests are exempt from epa still unless there is a complaint or serious discharge.

Check around your area, if there are auto detailers they typically do touch up spraying without booths, as do the fellows who go around to the dealers touching up bumpers and small panel repair. If they are doing it, you should be able to without issue.

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I believe most hobbiests are exempt from epa still unless there is a complaint or serious discharge.

Check around your area, if there are auto detailers they typically do touch up spraying without booths, as do the fellows who go around to the dealers touching up bumpers and small panel repair. If they are doing it, you should be able to without issue.

Sounds good and I know its the same air but they probably enforce the laws more in a residential area than a commercial zone. More neighbors to complain:D

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I wear a respirator at all times. Gloves too. I'm going to find out when those guys are NOT prowling around. Meantime, I may just have to find a space somewhere else.

Joe,

Is your wife planning any more trips? Weren't you able to use the rooms in the house for your project the last time she went away? Just kidding. Too bad you can't bring the car out here to Fauquier County.

Jim Yergin

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Time will tell where this thing goes. I have a friend who works for the city and he's checking around to see what's up. He said--and I agree--that the guy from the fire dept. would have approached me then and there if there was going to be a problem. Instead he just drove away.

I've heard of them making people get a permit just to reroof their house. My neighbors had an old falling down garage that they wanted to replace and the city made them get a demolition permit to take the old one down.

Thanks, Greg, for calling up the Alexandria code web page. I couldn't find anything on the site either.

No, Jim, no more trips for my wife for the near future. I think shooting paint in the dining room would be grounds for divorce. Pretty sure about that. The most I can get away with is storing junk in the rooms and sometimes working on something if I lay newspaper down. She's always asking me if I'll move some car stuff from where it is and put it someplace else.

Anyway, if I get busted for this, I hope I don't get fined. And if I get busted, I'm going to have to find another place to work. Oh well. As they say, it's a journey, not a destination.

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As a sujuestion.... Find a local . small body shop! ... go in and ask the man if you could rent his paint booth! offer him 50.00 or 100.00 trust me your paint your gun. you doing the work ! with the type of paint he usually sprays in his booth! .. who knows maybe he will hire you if you do good work! (second job income!) works around here...DANiel

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I have not seen a "public" paint booth in ages..we had one on the Air Force base years and years ago..I think it was 30.00 rental, only stipulation ws that the respirator you used had to first be approved by the occupational health on base..I rented it on a Saturday, closed Sunday so I was able to leave my car undisturbed till late Monday morning..arrest me red Porsche..

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How about one of those "car tents"? I have one, 20X12 from Kijiji that was $100. We have a new city bylaw that says you can't have an "unlicensable" vehicle on the property.

Unless it's in a shelter.

Under a car cover doesn't count but under a "car tent" does. So, my 49 Chrysler parts car will go in this thing before winter(it's under a cheap car cover right now).

There is quite a bit of room inside and the sides will roll up to give you some extra room to work.

Maybe situate it so that it blocks all the prying eyes?

Here, the city will only act on a complaint...they don't drive around looking for infractions.

As for spraying, hobbyists here are exempt from environmental laws for spraying but you are still bound by safety and liability issues...you are responsible for overspray damage etc.

I think here it really does just come down to common sense.

Even though the bylaw says a car cover doesn't count, I have the 49 covered, as is the motorhome and the 62 Dodge one ton. I figure it's easier to prevent the complaint in the first place...so far so good.

Instant Garage:

http://www.princessauto.com/shop-garage/garage-storage/shelves-cabinets-shelters/8137754-garage-instant-poly-20x12x8ft?keyword=garage

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Joe, If things are really that bad you can always bring it down to my place and shoot it. I will pull my cars out and you can go for it.:Dyou know you have options here, I would love to be a part of it. :) I got to see your car to the end. Us forum guy's must stick together.

I know the wife is tired of stepping over all those doors and fenders:cool:I had some lake pipes in the living room for 3-4 days before the NC trip. My wife finally asked me if they were going to be there much longer. I told her they would be there as long as I wanted them there, next morning they were out back with a pair of my old work shoes. I put the work shoes on and installed the pipes on the car.:cool:next time she touches my stuff I'm gonna.........install it before she says anything:eek:

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The other day I put the tailgate on my Studie truck. it had been leaning agaist the railing in the entry hall for over a year. My wife came home from grocery shopping. When we unload the car we usually stack the bags up in the entry then bring them up to the kitchen. ( have you ever counted how many times you touch a can of beans before they get opened?) any way after the groceries were put away she went down in the hall way as asked what I did down there to make it look different??? I said I didn't do any thing I was working on the truck while you were at the store. She came upstairs and sat down and started reading a book with this wierd look on her face, she went back down and came up and said something is different down there and I can;t figure what it is. Of course all this time, I'm thinking she's going nuts, cause it doesn't dawn on me she is missing seeing the tailgate. About an hour later, I aksed her if she noticed the progess on the truck, she cracked up and said YOU MOVED THAT DAMNED TAILGATE DIDN'T YOU??? Yep that's what's different.

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If you were sprayin primer when the fire dept guy was there he may have thought it was smoke at first and stopped to check it out. We are a small hick town but we do have a paid fire dept. The only people who work for the dept. who drive a pickup are the district cheifs and there is one on each shift. He is the head guy over the shift but they do no type of code enforcement at all. Scott

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