You just installed a spray booth — or you're about to. Before the first job goes in, you need the right filters in place and a stock of spares ready to go. Running out of a filter mid-week means either a stopped booth or, worse, spraying without proper filtration. This checklist covers what to set up on day one and what to keep on the shelf.
Step 1: Identify every filter position in your booth
Booths vary, but most have several distinct filter stages. Walk your booth and find each one:
- Intake / ceiling (diffusion) filters — clean the air entering the booth; the last line of defense for your finish.
- Exhaust / overspray filters — capture the paint that doesn't land on the part.
- Floor filters — in downdraft booths, catch overspray as air pulls down through the floor.
- Makeup-air filters — on the air handler / AMU that supplies replacement air.
- Pre-filters — some setups have a coarse pre-filter ahead of the main media.
Write down the size and quantity for each position. This list is your reorder template forever.
Step 2: Get the sizes and grades right
- Measure each opening (or pull the spec from your booth manufacturer's manual). Note whether positions use standard panel sizes, pleated filters in a housing, or roll media you cut to fit.
- Match the efficiency grade to your work. Fine-finish and high-gloss jobs want a higher-grade intake media; primer/structural work can run a standard grade.
- Confirm compliance documentation. If your operation is subject to the EPA's NESHAP 6H rule, overspray filters should be demonstrated to capture at least 98% of overspray, and intake filters in many assemblies are expected to be UL 900 listed under NFPA 33. This is general information, not legal advice — your code edition and local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) govern what applies. Keep the manufacturer's docs on file from day one.
Step 3: Install the first set correctly
- Seat each filter fully in its frame with no gaps, sag, or torn media — bypass air carries dust straight to your finish.
- Note the airflow direction arrows on the media and install them the right way.
- Record your clean manometer reading with fresh filters installed. This baseline tells you when future filters are loaded and due.
Step 4: Stock your spares (the part everyone skips)
Order enough to keep running without waiting on a delivery. A practical starting point:
- At least one full change-out set of every filter position, on the shelf, ready to swap.
- Extra exhaust/overspray media — it loads fastest, so you'll go through it most often.
- A roll of cut-to-fit media if any of your positions use it — one roll covers multiple changes.
- Consider a standing reorder or subscription for your fastest-moving filters so you never run dry.
Step 5: Set up your records and routine
- Start a filter-change log at the booth (date + position).
- File the manufacturer efficiency/listing docs in a compliance folder.
- Set a routine to check the manometer at the same time each day and change on condition.
The bottom line
Day one: map every filter position, get sizes and grades right, install the first set sealed and recorded, and stock a full spare set with extra exhaust media. Do that and your new booth runs clean, compliant, and never sits idle waiting on a filter.
Setting up a booth? Send us your positions and sizes — or use Find My Filter and Custom-Cut for odd dimensions — and we'll build your starter order and spares list.