Automotive Paint Booth Guide

A first paint booth runs from $16,350 to $78,000, and what decides which one you can buy is not the brand. It is whether your slab can take a pit, how much clear height your building has, and whether your panel is three-phase. Answer those three and the airflow type follows almost on its own.

This guide was written by the paint booth specialists at JMC Automotive Equipment. Every dimension, motor rating and price below comes from a booth or booth accessory we stock and sell new; Air Make Up units are quoted to spec. Updated September 2026.

Types of Car Spray Booths and Their Features: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Four enclosed airflow designs are in common use, plus the open, portable and prep formats below. They are listed cheapest first, the order most first-time buyers work in.

Booth type Airflow and floor work Right for a shop that Height needed Price, 24 ft single wall
Crossdraft (crossflow) Front doors, straight across, out a rear plenum. Sits on your slab Paints occasionally; the booth is idle part of most days 11 ft 6 in. + stack $17,500 (RGI ECO 24)
Semi-downdraft Top-front plenum, angled down and back, out a rear-center plenum. On your slab Refinishes daily, one booth cycle at a time 11 ft 6 in. + stack $21,250 (RGI VECTOR 24)
Side-downdraft Ceiling plenum, straight down, out floor-level plenums on both walls. On your slab Wants vertical airflow but cannot dig 11 ft 6 in. + stack $26,250 (RGI DELTA 24)
Full downdraft Ceiling plenum, straight down, out a filtered pit. Needs a pit, or a plenum that raises the booth Turns more than one cycle a day and can pour a pit 11 ft 6 in. + stack $31,250 (RGI STEALTH 24)

Those four prices are the same cabin in four airflows — 24 ft, single wall, car height — like for like. Truck lengths exist in all four types, not only in downdraft: ECO CARGO $43,200, VECTOR CARGO $47,700, VECTOR TOWER CARGO $49,500, DELTA CARGO $56,700 and STEALTH CARGO $78,000, all 16 ft x 16 ft inside.

The Three Things Your Building Decides Before You Pick a Type

1. The pit. A full downdraft exhausts through a filtered pit in the floor: excavated, formed, reinforced concrete. That is a concrete contractor's job, not the booth vendor's, it depends on your slab and your water table, and in a leased building it needs the owner's written authorization. Get that quote first.

The published alternative is to raise the booth instead. The RGI filtered floor plenum is $4,450 per row, 3 ft x 30 ft x 13 in., rated to 10,000 lbs, ramps included from five rows up. A 14 ft wide cabin takes five rows, so the honest comparison is STEALTH 24 at $31,250 plus five rows at $22,250 = $53,500 on plenum, against a DELTA 24 side-downdraft at $26,250 on the slab you already have. That arithmetic decides most first booths.

2. Clear height. A 24 ft RGI cabin is 11 ft 6 in. tall outside with a 9 ft x 9 ft drive-in door opening; the XL versions are 14 ft 6 in. with a 9 ft x 12 ft opening. Above the booth you still need the stack — duct kits ship in 8 ft sections with a rain head, plus flashing and damper cap. Measure to the lowest obstruction in the bay — lights, beams, door tracks — not to the peak of the roof.

3. Power. RGI cabins are three-phase 208-230/460V and iDEAL cabins 230/460V as standard, with a single-phase upgrade offered as a priced option on both. Only the portable Mobile Environmental workstations sidestep it: they run on 115V/230V single-phase air movers. If your panel is single-phase, price the utility upgrade before the booth — three-phase from the street takes weeks.

1. Crossdraft (Crossflow) Paint Booths

Decades in service and still the entry point into an enclosed booth. Air enters through the filtered front doors and crosses the cabin horizontally into a rear-centered exhaust plenum, in solid back, drive-through or reverse-flow layouts.

  • RGI ECO 24, $17,500. Inside 14 ft x 22 ft 6 in. x 9 ft. One 30 in. tube-axial fan, 3 HP three-phase belt drive, 208-230/460V; sixteen exhaust filters, twenty 20 x 20 x 2 in. intake pads, ten 4-tube LED T8 fixtures. RGI publishes no CFM rating — ask us for the fan curve.
  • iDEAL PSB-AFCF23B, $16,350. 9,500 CFM at 0.5 in. static pressure, 24 in. fan, 3 HP 230/460V, interior 22 ft 6 in. x 13 ft x 8 ft 6 in. — one foot narrower and six inches lower than the ECO at $17,500. Measure your tallest and widest vehicle, mirrors and racks fitted, before taking that $1,150 saving.
  • The trade-off: non-pressurized, you cannot control cabin temperature, and air quality at the rear of the vehicle depends on filter area and on intake and exhaust placement.

2. Semi-Downdraft Paint Booths

The compromise most small shops end up buying. Air enters at the top-front plenum, angles down over the vehicle and leaves at a rear-center plenum — downward flow without touching the concrete.

  • RGI VECTOR 24, $21,250. Inside 14 ft x 22 ft 6 in. x 9 ft. One 30 in. tube-axial fan, 3 HP three-phase, 208-230/460V; sixteen exhaust filters and grids, two 37 x 117 x 2 in. ceiling intake pads. CFM not published.
  • iDEAL PSB-SEMIDD26B, $22,860. 12,200 CFM at 0.5 in. static pressure through a 30 in. fan, 3 HP 230/460V, interior 26 ft x 14 ft x 9 ft 3 in., ten 4-lamp T-8 fixtures.

3. Side-Downdraft Paint Booths

The type most guides leave out, and it solves the most common real-world problem: RGI positions it as the economical solution for shops not able to install a pit. Air drops straight down from a full-length filtered ceiling plenum exactly as in a full downdraft, but at floor level it is pulled sideways into filtered plenums on both walls.

  • RGI DELTA 24, $26,250. Inside 14 ft x 24 ft x 9 ft, outside 16 ft 4 in. wide. Two 24 in. tube-axial fans on two 3 HP three-phase motors, 208-230/460V; twelve exhaust filters with fourteen grids, six 37 x 117 x 2 in. ceiling pads. CFM not published.
  • iDEAL PSB-SDD26B, $25,890. Pressurized, 14,000 CFM at 0.5 in. static pressure, two 24 in. fans, 230/460V, interior 26 ft x 14 ft x 9 ft 3 in., hipped roof, vertical and horizontal lighting for shadow-free coverage.

4. Full Downdraft Paint Booths

Full downdraft moves air the cleanest way there is: in through a filtered ceiling plenum, down over the vehicle, out through the pit, carrying overspray away from the panel and the painter instead of across them. It is the right buy only if you can pour that pit — or absorb the plenum arithmetic above — and you turn more than one booth cycle a day. Below that you are paying for airflow you cannot use.

  • RGI STEALTH 24, $31,250. Inside 14 ft x 24 ft x 9 ft, in 24, 27 and 30 ft lengths; outside 16 ft 4 in. wide, because the exhaust vent makes the booth wider than the panels suggest — the measurement shops forget when they chalk the floor.
  • Power: one 34 in. tube-axial fan with aluminum spark-proof blades, 5 HP three-phase belt-drive motor, 208-230/460V, 60 Hz; six 37 x 117 x 2 in. ceiling intake pads.

The rest of each family, same criterion. Extra-tall XL, 12 ft interior height: ECO $35,000, VECTOR $42,500, VECTOR TOWER $46,000, DELTA $52,500, STEALTH $62,500. Double wall PRO: VECTOR $30,600, VECTOR TOWER $33,120, DELTA $37,800, STEALTH $68,400. Single wall tower-exhaust VECTOR T, $23,000. CARGO prices are above.

Open Face, Portable and Prep Station Booths

Three other formats cover the rest of the shop:

  • Open face booths. Air is drawn across the open front and out a rear filter bank. The RGI IOF-888 is $8,400: 8 ft x 8 ft 2 in. x 10 ft outside, 7 ft 10 in. x 6 ft 6 in. x 8 ft working area; the line runs to the 16 ft, 5 HP IOF-1688 at $14,160. Right for bumpers, wheels, jambing and powder coating.
  • Portable and inflatable workstations. The Mobile Environmental Solutions 10x10 HDLT is $4,895 and weighs 93 lbs. The 12x12x9 HDLT is $5,895 — a 12 x 12 ft footprint standing 8.5 ft at the center, 7 ft of interior center height — weighs 125 lbs, inflates in under five minutes and gives roughly 163 air exchanges per hour. Its exhaust filters exceed the EPA 6H rule's 98% capture efficiency and its airflow exceeds OSHA 1910.107's 100 linear feet per minute. The 30x17x12 XL, $15,895, has a 22.66 x 14 ft interior and 8.6 ft of door clearance for ambulance and service bodies.
  • Prep stations. Right for sanding, priming and spot repair alongside a booth — not instead of one: built to the EPA 6H Paint Rule, material sprayed cannot exceed one gallon per eight-hour period, so you can prime and spot-in, not refinish a vehicle. RGI ECO PREP plenum box $6,000, mobile prep station $9,985 with a 30 in. 12,900 CFM fan, matched VECTOR, DELTA and STEALTH prep bays $16,000 to $26,000.

What Is a Fully Enclosed Paint Booth? Pressurized vs. Non-Pressurized Airflow

A fully enclosed booth is a drive-in cabin that seals the vehicle off from the shop. The difference that matters daily is pressure:

  • Non-pressurized (negative pressure). Only the exhaust fan runs, pulling shop air in through the intake filters. Less equipment, no gas connection — but that air comes out of your shop and the building has to replace it. In cold weather the replacement is unconditioned outside air, it can backdraft a gas heater or water heater, and most mechanical codes require dedicated make-up air anyway. The saving is smaller than it looks.
  • Pressurized (positive pressure). An Air Make Up unit pushes more filtered air into the cabin than the exhaust removes. That slight positive pressure keeps dust from being drawn in through gaps, and the same unit adds heat for cold mornings and for baking a panel.

The filters do the real work either way. The RGI STEALTH, VECTOR and DELTA car cabins use 1 in. scrim-backed ceiling diffusion media behind 37 x 117 x 2 in. intake pads; the ECO crossflow line uses 20 x 20 x 2 in. pads. Every RGI and iDEAL cabin ships with a manometer, so measuring pressure drop costs nothing extra — but replacement filters are a recurring cost, quoted by model, and they belong in your monthly numbers.

Codes, Permits and What Else You Have to Buy

The EPA 6H Paint Rule applies to you, not only to prep stations. If you spray coatings on motor vehicles you owe an initial notification, trained and certified painters, HVLP or equivalent application and a filtered enclosure — whichever booth you buy. Confirm your obligations with your state agency before ordering.

Codes and permits. Reference NFPA 33 and Chapter 24 of the International Fire Code for spray applications, NFPA 86 and Chapter 30 of the IFC for curing and drying. Many RGI lines are ETL and ETL-C listed, proof of compliance with UL, NFPA and OSHA standards; the iDEAL cabins meet or exceed applicable OSHA and NFPA 33 regulations. Local requirements vary, so plan on a building permit, an electrical permit, a mechanical permit for the exhaust and any gas line, a fire marshal review, and in many states an air permit from the environmental agency or local air district. Your building department confirms which apply and in what order; they ask for the layout drawing and ETL documentation, both supplied with the booth.

The cabin price is not the project budget. Priced on our site: duct kits from $1,040 (12 in.) to $2,170 (30 in.) for an 8 ft section with rain head; the Air Force Express blower tower at $3,750, six 2 in. nozzles at 2,900 CFM each; the Air Force Plus, with an 18,000 BTU infrared catalytic heater, $7,600; booth heaters from $14,560 for the 30 kW electric Rammstein to $26,330 for the RS-1001 with filter stand. Quoted to spec: RGI Air Make Up units, 1,000,000 to 3,500,000 BTU, ETL listed, 98% efficient direct-fired, cabin air to 160 degrees — plus fire suppression, controls, the single-phase upgrade, freight and assembly. Cabins arrive as pre-punched 18-gauge panels that bolt together with no welds, and iDEAL cabins typically ship within 48 hours. Ask what your quote includes before comparing.

Before You Call: Six Numbers to Have in Front of You

The equipment has to match the building: a full downdraft where you cannot pour a pit is a stalled project, a crossflow in a busy collision center is a bottleneck. These six numbers make it a ten-minute call:

  1. Clear width and length of the bay the booth will occupy.
  2. Height to the lowest obstruction in that bay — lights, beams, door tracks — not to the peak of the roof.
  3. Voltage, phase and available amperage at your panel.
  4. Whether you have gas, and the capacity of the meter.
  5. The longest and tallest vehicle you actually paint, measured with mirrors, racks or light bars fitted.
  6. Whether you own the building or lease it, and who signs off on cutting the roof or the slab.

With those in hand, call 800-562-4791 and we will tell you which airflow types your building supports and what the installed number looks like — or browse our automotive paint booths with pricing on every booth.

Frequently Asked Questions About Car Spray Booths

What are the different types of car spray booths?

The four enclosed types are crossdraft (crossflow), semi-downdraft, side-downdraft and full downdraft, named for the direction air moves through the cabin. Shops also use open face booths for parts, portable inflatable workstations, and prep stations for sanding and priming.

What is the best paint booth for cars?

For a first booth, usually a semi-downdraft or a side-downdraft: both give downward airflow, both sit on your existing slab, and neither drags an excavation behind it. Full downdraft moves air the cleanest way, ceiling to floor and away from the painter, and it is right for a shop that can install a pit and turns more than one cycle a day.

Do I need a pit to install a paint booth?

Only for a full downdraft. Crossdraft, semi-downdraft and side-downdraft booths all sit on your existing slab. To get downdraft airflow without excavating, raise the booth on a filtered floor plenum: RGI's is $4,450 per 3 ft x 30 ft row — about five rows, or $22,250, under a 14 ft wide cabin.

How much does an automotive paint booth cost?

Enclosed automotive cabins at JMC run from $16,350 for an iDEAL crossflow to $68,400 for a double wall STEALTH full downdraft, with truck and cargo booths reaching $78,000. Portable workstations start at $4,895 with the 10x10 HDLT, open face booths at $8,400. Ducting, heaters, controls, fire suppression, freight and assembly are priced separately.


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