Printing in a garage, Few questions

[john1]

Hey guys, I need more room for my family and am considering moving into a town home that has a garage below the town home (1 car garage)

I work from home and was wondering if doing my production and digital printing in the garage (heated of course) would be fine or if it would not be recommended. I have a eco solvent versacamm 30" and do about 4 hours a week tops in printing. More concerned about the fumes than anything else.

I am purchasing a air filtration system from Island Clean Air also for the area the printer will be in.

Thanks!

 

[OldPaint]

fumes rise!!! anything you do in that garage you will smell upstairs. why not look around and get a house with a garage........at one end or the other? or better yet a totally detached garage. i have a car port on our house, and if i spray paint out there i still get some smell in the house.

 

[Locals Find!]

Since your going into a garage any way you can vent outside??

Wouldn't be too hard to make your own system to vent outside and keep the garage at negative pressure. That way if you open a door or window air will rush in from outside into the garage and not the otherway around.

Wouldn't be too hard to setup just need a good sized exhaust fan some ducting, a dryer exhaust vent and a couple of air conditioner HEPA Filters and some basic tools to cut a hole to the outside. I could set something like that up for under $1000 and I guarantee all the fumes will leave.

 

[signage]

First thing to look into is if you can legally run a business out of this townhouse!

 

[BPI Color]

You better check your codes and lease agreement(s). Many Condo associations wouldn't allow the type of operation you're describing. I'd go with the detached garage/workshop of a rental home. You'll need to vent, control humidity and temperature.
Good luck...

 

[MikePro]

4hours of printing a week on a 30"? nah, no need for air filter. install an air blower, like you would in your bathroom, to vent your printer's exhaust outside.

 

[HulkSmash]

4 hrs with a printer that size isn't necessary. Have you thought about leasing out a small space, and getting an actual place. You'll be surprised how fast you'll need to get a bigger printer

 

[allamericantrade]

First thing to look into is if you can legally run a business out of this townhouse!

You better check your codes and lease agreement(s). Many Condo associations wouldn't allow the type of operation you're describing. I'd go with the detached garage/workshop of a rental home. You'll need to vent, control humidity and temperature.
Good luck...

+1 I started in a garage. had no intentions of growing and wanting to keep my overhead as low as possible. I had no choice but to relocate and it's the best move I have ever made. I don't miss the garage.

 

[rfulford]

fumes rise!!! anything you do in that garage you will smell upstairs. why not look around and get a house with a garage........at one end or the other? or better yet a totally detached garage. i have a car port on our house, and if i spray paint out there i still get some smell in the house.

I think actually that most V.O.C.s are heavier than air.

 

[Patentagosse]

'Worked from my basement for over 6 years with a 30" Versacamm and the stairs to 1st floor were open (no door). Printed everyday for few hours and never got complain from the boss (wife) regarding odor. EcoSol is almost odorless... Fumes? I was doing airbrush works using premium urethane paint (automotive grade) and always put 2 coats of clearcoat. That's fumes and smell! In worst case scenarios, I just opened a window on one side and put a fan in front of another window on opposite side of the house and few minutes later, fumes were gone. Printer fumes? LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

[300mphGraphics]

I started out of a garage 20 years ago. One day I heard someone out front and thought it was a friend and opened the garage door and it was the city inspector. "Um, you can't do that in there". Neighbor called. I would be very concerned in a townhome the same thing could happen to you.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I started out of a garage 20 years ago. One day I heard someone out front and thought it was a friend and opened the garage door and it was the city inspector. "Um, you can't do that in there". Neighbor called. I would be very concerned in a townhome the same thing could happen to you.

especially in this whistleblowing age

 

[artbot]

first the garage, then the hall to the garage, then the least used bedroom. before you now it you'll be eating breakfast on a cutting table. build a long flat board that the garage can seat down on with a hold at the end. put a blower there. there will be enough cracks in the construction to provide fresh air.

 

[Gino]

If you have to ask this question, you probably already know technically on so many levels, you shouldn't do this. From the legal standpoint to having little ones running around upstairs and although you might not smell all the fumes, there are still things going up.

When saying something is only working a few hours a week... aren't you intending to grow ?? What if you get a chance for a big job, turnaround is four days and you'll have to be printing 12 hours a day for four days ?? You gonna tell them to move out for the week ??

If it was me and my wife only, she could make an educated decision to live in it or not, but a child.... you're the protector and must make the best educated decision YOU can for them, so they grow up to be strong and not hurt from some process they find out later was causing an unknown harm. Besides, their lungs and organs are much smaller than yours and will usually show signs of fatigue faster than a full grown person.

Here's the other thing..... you don't let knives, scissors, sharp metal objects laying around.... do you ?? Then why consider this in your house, unless its for decoration ??

AH, what a unique end table you have there. Yes, and on the weekends it doubles as a printing and cutting machine. Quite the deal.

 

[bayshorecreations]

I think actually that most V.O.C.s are heavier than air.

Yes VOC's are heavier than air therefore they do not rise. My suggestion would be to keep the garage door open a little bit when you print and maybe put a fan there to blow air out the door. Other than that I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Gino]

The VOC's are indeed heavier than air, but you're really fooling yourself, if you think this is alright around a family in your home. Throughout the years, VOC's have been around and there are any number of articles which will tell you how to cope with it in a work environment, but nowhere do they address the needs for in your home.... and for basically one reason. They never thought people would take solvent or mild solvent machines into their homes.

You're literally talking about a solvent that is used to melt and break the barriers of plastics and vinyl and bond ink in there. 40% to 70% of the carrier is solvent. And this solvent can do this to plastic, but you think it won't have any effect on young lung tissue ??

The heat from the machine and the heating of your garage will carry much of the unsmelled particles throughout your entire house. Possibly not enough to do harm initially, but over a period of time.... Oh yeah.... and what about your cleaning fluids. You gonna roll this thing outside to clean it ??


From a very recent article:
Later, manufactures came to market with so-called eco-solvent, low-solvent and mild-solvent printers and matching ink formulas that offered low odor and lower VOCs. They were often presented as greener or “healthier” inks, but, most eco-solvent and mild-solvent inks still contain some VOCs, and most use nickel, and so could not be called HAPs-free. Yes, the ink might not smell like the hot solvent, but it could still have hazardous fumes and potentially harmful ingredients.

 

[Mosh]

Read the warning on the yellow eco sol ....says something about may cause cancer....only the yellow says this.

 

[bayshorecreations]

Read the warning on the yellow eco sol ....says something about may cause cancer....only the yellow says this.

Awe man, yellow is the best tasting color!

 

[john1]

The yellow is the only one that contains nickle, That's why it says this. If you read through the MDSS sheets you can see what each ink contains and the yellow is the worst one if any.

I do intend to grow which is why i am making this move, I know a lot of you look down on people working LEGALLY out of their homes but rent is too much to not work from home if you can do it. Hell they want $500 a month for a 10x10 building (no joke) around here which isn't big enough to do cut vinyl let alone printing. Not sure why Maryland has Hollywood rent values on buildings. Just looked at a 2200sq ft space and they want $3300/mon.

I found a few places with a garage on the side but they all need some sort of pesty maintenance, Hell most are missing ALL the copper pipes since crackheads like to steal them around here. There is not 1 office space to rent for 50 miles which sucks or i would just get one of them.

What good are these Island Air scrubbers if they still aren't good enough to vent?

 

[OldPaint]

i think some of you really need to read this instead of talking.....on a subject you know a little about.
Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs are organic chemical compounds whose composition makes it possible for them to evaporate under normal indoor atmospheric conditions of temperature and pressure3.
EVAPORATION: Evaporation is the process of a liquid becoming vaporized. In other words, a change in phase in the atmosphere occurs when substances change from a liquid to a gaseous, or vapor, form.
as for the VOC'S in printers being heavier then air.......i doubt it, so agian i say FUMES RISE))))

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc2.html