Grow Room Location, Is A Potato Room Possible?

[AbsoluteRoyal]

Ok so ive just sent in my paperwork and shouldnt be legal for 20ish days or so. In the meantime I wanted to start work on the growroom and the only space available is seperate part of a finished basement. This seperate room is seperated by paneling only at the moment, a door would need to be framed. The room inside is unfinished with brick walls measuring 8 ft x 5.5 ft. x 8 ft x 7.5 rectangle with close to a 6' ceiling and dirt floors. What I want to know is it going to be worth the effort to convert this space into a growing area? Seeling it and getting the neccesary power hookups seems daunting already.

 

also with the dirt floors should I level it and lay a few inches of cement? also it would be a flowering room only if that matters. any help/comments/suggests would be apreciated

[Homes Labs]

oooo you got my dream project room! you going to try to soil or hyrdo? if your going soil you can always plant em in your floor!

 

Are you doing the framing, electrical and plumbing? I hope so, imho.

 

Some things to consider:

 

Power: How many lights do you plan on running? Will your current breaker box support that amount? Can you easily run power to the breaker box? Can you easily hide your wires?

 

Air flow: Do you want to 100% seal the room? If you do, you will have the option of controling co2 in the future. Either way your gonna want a fresh air intake and an exhaust.

 

Temp: With block walls that will help keep your temps down so thats a plus. But bc your at the bare walls you might want to consider setting up a way to cool the room jic. For heating you can always get a damper w/ thermostat that is hooked up to the cooling system for your lights.

 

Water: Lugging water around sucks!!! In or out. This is a must.

 

Security: Reinforce that door! You don't want leo breaking in. jk. And because your already framing instead of using 16" centers I would personally add more studs (6-8" centers) and hang with 3/4" plywood or osb to make it that much more difficult to get in. Also look into a system that will alarm and record.

 

Don't foget to about light leaks, maybe a vented enclosure for your ballasts (helps w. heat), insulating and that floor! Hope this helps a lil.

[AbsoluteRoyal]

Doing soil for sure, I really wanted to dig up some of the dirt and frame in some soil beds with heavy plastic liner. I was concerned about digging so close to the house foundations(1) and also the temperature of the dirt is roughly 55 degree's now so wouldnt it be to cold in winter months?

 

running 1 1000w ballast on an air cooled hood, im planning on hooking a Y on my exhaust for my carbon filter as well, ill connect this exhaust hose to our clothes dryer exhaust which runs outside the house.

 

I think I have to seal 100% the room just because its a damp michigan basement I want to be able to control the bugs and humidity easily. I dont know about the fresh air intake, should this come from outside? or would regular basement air work? also should a passive intake work

 

thanks for the advice

[Guest Mr_smith]

I would consider a grow tent if I were you.

[Guest thequietone]

Ok so ive just sent in my paperwork and shouldnt be legal for 20ish days or so. In the meantime I wanted to start work on the growroom and the only space available is seperate part of a finished basement. This seperate room is seperated by paneling only at the moment, a door would need to be framed. The room inside is unfinished with brick walls measuring 8 ft x 5.5 ft. x 8 ft x 7.5 rectangle with close to a 6' ceiling and dirt floors. What I want to know is it going to be worth the effort to convert this space into a growing area? Seeling it and getting the neccesary power hookups seems daunting already.

 

also with the dirt floors should I level it and lay a few inches of cement? also it would be a flowering room only if that matters. any help/comments/suggests would be apreciated

 

It can be converted into a flowering room with a little work. I would lay a 2 inch concrete floor because you're going to want to seal the room and dirt floors could be a problem. You could do it with Portland concrete, sand and gravel and mix it yourself in small batches right in the room. I would do half the room at a time.

 

I would seal the block walls with a good block sealer. Dryloc is a good one to use but it is a little expensive. Styrofoam insulation can be glued to the block walls at this point if you wish to add some insulation. Or you can frame it with studs and insulate with fiberglass and with our winters you will want to insulate it. You can buy a 1/2 inch foil back Styrofoam sheets that will work as reflective wall covering. I myself would drywall the ceiling.

 

This is what I would do, hope it helps.

[Homes Labs]

You could do it with Portland concrete, sand and gravel and mix it yourself in small batches right in the room. I would do half the room at a time.

thats a good idea.

[SublimeWind]

You could seal the room with panda plastic, lay something on the panda (on the floor) to keep from ripping it (I have this 1/8" plastic "leather" stuff, I've laid over mine)

[Casper]

It can be converted into a flowering room with a little work. I would lay a 2 inch concrete floor because you're going to want to seal the room and dirt floors could be a problem. You could do it with Portland concrete, sand and gravel and mix it yourself in small batches right in the room. I would do half the room at a time.

 

I would seal the block walls with a good block sealer. Dryloc is a good one to use but it is a little expensive. Styrofoam insulation can be glued to the block walls at this point if you wish to add some insulation. Or you can frame it with studs and insulate with fiberglass and with our winters you will want to insulate it. You can buy a 1/2 inch foil back Styrofoam sheets that will work as reflective wall covering. I myself would drywall the ceiling.

 

This is what I would do, hope it helps.

 

Most concrete slabs are 4"-6" thick. I would go with a 4" concrete floor minimum. I am not sure how long a 2" floor will last?

[Guest thequietone]

Most concrete slabs are 4"-6" thick. I would go with a 4" concrete floor minimum. I am not sure how long a 2" floor will last?

 

True 4" is the normal thickness for a concrete floor, but a 2" cap would seal the floor and should last. I would increase the amount of Portland concrete to the mix which will make it stronger. This should be strong enough to hold his plants and the little foot traffic his room should have.

[Homes Labs]

I am not sure how long a 2" floor will last?

 

add chicken wire 1" of the floor

[AbsoluteRoyal]

cement floor is going to be a must as I'm going to cement in the frame to my door, I will probably dig deeper and do a little thicker slab there. I will add some updates when I get things done in the next week. I need to add some floor joists/braces and figure out how to drywall the ceiling.

 

In the meantime I had some questions about my veg box/wardrobe thing. Is it just being inside the house qualify as a locked enclosure? or would I need the door to the room be lockable? I'm using an 4 ft 8 bulb T5 and some cfl's for side lighting. Does anyone know of a good design for DIY?

[big bud]

You could seal the room with panda plastic, lay something on the panda (on the floor) to keep from ripping it (I have this 1/8" plastic "leather" stuff, I've laid over mine)

if you have a finished part of the basement. do not line the rooms floor with plactic the concrete needs to breath or moister will begin to start under the plastic and could cause mold.get your self some block filler from home depot thats what they paint the out side of the house with it fill cracks and seals cheaper then drylock buy a five gallon and coat three times you will never have a problem and its white if your going to cover your floor epoxy it fairly cheap for the room and will with stand alot and is easy clean. seal walls get some freash air flow and good venting and ready to go.

[AbsoluteRoyal]

Well ive put some 1 x 3" joists on the floor and took out the floor jack. Hauled out some dirt and started prep work for the ceiling.

 

Also ive framed up and will finish the paneling and put some pictures up of my wardrobe tonight. It will house my 4ft 8 bulb T5 as well as a 2 2 ft T5's. These will be my seedling/clone room and my veg room. It is pretty big almost 10 sq. ft.

[AbsoluteRoyal]

Im now thinking about buying a grow tent. It is just SO much work trying to get the room ready especially when this isnt my permenent residence. Ive hauled about 200 gallons of dirt up the stairs and outside in the last week and im feeling it. my task is now to dig out the rest of the dirt and remove some of the cistern so I can dig my room tall enough to set up a tent.

[+420Atheist]

To me that sounds like the best plan. You can spend a lot of time and money on building a room you could have to leave in a year. For renters the tent is a great way to go IMO.

[Mememe]

Don't forget the floor drain!

[Mememe]

don't forget the floor drain!

[G3LLO]

I would consider a grow tent if I were you.

 

Get 2X4's and Panda Film... do the framing and walls with a separation for under $100.