Painting / remodeling reef room

[Mrs Smith]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone out there has done a remodeling/paint job in the vicinity of their reef. (I _know_ it's been done, I'm just paranoid.) Long story short, the tank is in a "finished" basement/rec room. We started by tiling the floor, and while the baseboards are down, we might as well do some more. (And of course, you all know where this is going... ) The drywall was poorly taped, and really needs to be redone. We also need to install some bracing on the back wall, put in a new window, maybe some crown, and on and on and on. (It's a genetic thing, I think. My parents decided to put new gutters on one year and ended up with an addition to the house and a new garage.)

I'm not worried about the sheetrock dust as much as I am paint fumes. (Not to mention that our "actinic" blue paint behind the tank should probably go - if I can reach it all. It's cool, but it's not gonna match.)

Thoughts? I know it will need to be well-ventillated. That is not too much of a problem. The sump/fuge are in another room, but not that far away. Right now I'm thinking that the painting will have to be done in lots of little increments to avoid fume build-up. (I'm planning to use latex paints, btw.) And ideas, thoughts or other things to worry about would be much appreciated.

TIA,
Danielle

[Spanky]

My parents decided to put new gutters on one year and ended up with an addition to the house and a new garage.)

Danielle, that's funny!

Sounds like you've got all the bases covered. We had to have a house tented one time. I covered the tank with heavy duty plastic drop cloths, duct taped it air tight to the floor, ran a hose from a electric compressor (outside).
Didn't have a problem.

Good Luck
Jerel

[Doug1]

I agree with Spanky, cover it well with a large drop sheet of plastic and run air lines from a pump or 2 outside, watch temps and vent the room well> BTW I'm not sure that dtying acrylic latex paint is anymore reef friendly than nasty oilbase, if you can smell it your reef wont like it

[Alice]

Latex however, dries quickly and is usually cured within a day where as oil base takes a week to cure. P-U!

Rent some of the big blower fans from an equipment rental place; it won't cost much and they'll really keep the fumes moving out.

Alice

[Deborah]

When California passed laws controling paint fumes some years ago all our Pacific NW paint companies altered their paint formulas to comply (California is too big a market to miss out on!). If the same is not true in Kansas you might want to shop around for a "low odor" paint. Just using the sniff test the low odor paint does seem to cure and become less noticable more quickly than the older latex paints.

Deborah
(who is sporting a few dark brown latex speckles due to house painting for the parents)

[Mrs Smith]

Thanks guys! I highly doubt that Kansas has the same laws governing what you can and can not put into the air. (You know... cows.) Still, I appreciate the advice. Hopefully it will be done in less time than it's taken to get the tiling done 'cause I haven't got all year.

Thanks,
Danielle