Ventilation, Smell, And Noise Issues

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

So things are going well for my first grow, beginning to learn some new things, for instance the smell. Not bad but still makes me nervous. Lots of questions i have i will just start posting pics and asking away, again thx for all the great info.

 

Ok here are some measurements for what i am working with, room is 14 x 13 feet, 7' from floor to ceiling.

 

In this pic you will see the top of the inside of my room, notice how it just goes into the next room not being sealed off at all.

 

This is the view from the other room,

 

What can be done about this? My first idea and one i hope you guys will say is safe is i was gonna buy a roll of insulation, pack that in there as tight as possible until i am unable to see any light in there, will that work?

 

I am moving on to ventilation, these may be stupid questions but you dont know till you ask. In this pic you will see the top of my water heater being exhausted into the fireplace, can i add a t to that and run exhaust out the same pipe? There are two square doors near the water heater in the wall behind the furnace, are these viable options for running exhaust?

 

I have 6 plants going now, they will be ready for flower april 1st, how much can i expect it to stink? i mean will people outside be able to smell that?

And what do you guys do about noise? Between air pumps and fans it sounds like an airport in there. Is this just how it is and i will have to deal? I was thinking about putting a fish aquarium upstairs to combat the noise issues of basement equipment.

 

Thanks again for all info.

[Hydraulic Jack]

You can do the insulation thing but do NOT exhaust your fans into the chimney that has noxious fumes going up it...You need to go out a wall and put a 6" dryer vent type thing on the outside wall....HJ

[Restorium2]

You need to put some blocks of wood up there between those joices. Then claulk the cracks. You want the room 100% sealed as good as you can.

 

You can duck tape pillows around the outside of your noisy fans. Make sure the fan is suspended in a way it's not rattling against anything.

[phaquetoo]

That bottom door kinda looks like a fire place clean out! do you have a fire place?

 

as far as the ceiling yes insulate it, and go to a hydro shop and get there plastic for grows it is black on one side and white on the other, you want the white to be showing, or go get some 4x8 sheets of the insulation board, you can get it at home depot it is silver on one side, it reflects pretty good, or you can get a laminate that is white and put up there, Im gonna use the insulation board on all of my walls and ceiling and im gonna tape all of the joints and corners with real ducting tape, that will seal ya in pretty good, and if your floor is cement paint it with floor and deck paint white, you could use epoxy paint, the main thing is it needs to be lite tite and air tight, in my basement I cut a 6" hole just above the concrete wall and ran my exhaust out there, but i dont have neigbors to worry about, I hope this helped!

 

Peace

Jim

[Restorium2]

Yes, he said he had a fireplace. He better have it sealed off upstairs, or those fumes from the hot water heater might get pushed into the room the fireplace is in when you get a down draft. Make sure the damper is close tightly. Like HG said. don't force feed that chimney with exhaust while that gas hot water heater is exhausting. You might fill your house with fumes. Usually dampers don't seal 100%.

[phaquetoo]

I concur!

 

my basement has a plate on top of the cement wall, I cut thru that for my venting, I also put one in that has a splitter in it so I can let fresh air in from outside when needed, the type of insulation boards im talking about actualy have the like dents in it like mylar, Im hoping he totaly bleach them basement walls to kill any kind of mildew, actualy the best thing in a basement with poured walls it to just paint in nice and white, You want to be able to wash that room down and not worry about get water on walls that may eat it away after time. also on your fan, i dont know what kind of inline fan you have. but mine is a high velocity 6" with 424 cfm I have the speed control on it, but man when you open that baby up in the summer it sucks out or blows out every thing lol! yea I had one hooked to a tent, I was afraid it was gonna ripp all the seams it is pretty strong!

 

Peace

Jim

[thanks2]

Depending on the strain 1 plant could make a whole house or yard stink. Carbon filters are a must. Insulating the ceiling will cut down on noise and stop the floor from getting strangely warm. As said many times above, do not vent into a water heater or furnace smoke stack. The pipes will only handle so much air then that air will come into the house and gas everyone.

 

Carbon filter ratings are for scrubbing, so for many of the filters cutting the cfm rating in half will insure no odor.

[FearAndLoathingInGR]

That bottom door kinda looks like a fire place clean out! do you have a fire place?

 

Indeed i do which is why i had the idea of venting into that. I have researched the subject and the dangers i read about was thru backflow from the furnace, so i was only gonna vent to the chimney when as a household we are done with using the furnace for the winter.

 

and if your floor is cement paint it with floor and deck paint white, you could use epoxy paint

 

It is indeed a cement floor, i have so much money going into this already i just painted the walls. Now i have some extras cash and i did plan on painting the floor with an epoxy but i have plants growing in motion now. Let me ask you this, lets say i painted 1/3 of the room, wait 24 let it cure, move all plants on to the newly painted surface, finish the other 2/3. Main concern is fumes, would they paint fumes be too much for the plants?

 

You want to be able to wash that room down and not worry about get water on walls that may eat it away after time.

 

Before i started the project i shop vacced the whole room, dumped 3 gallons of water on the floor, scrubbed the walls and floors with scrub brush, shop vacced up water, blew fan for 24 hours to ensure dryness. I put lotta work into this because 2 years ago basement drainpipe backed up due to root growth in septic pipes. This cost a $$, required professional rooting and cleaning services. So i made sure to go the extra mile on cleaning and i hope all is good after 2 years.

 

Depending on the strain 1 plant could make a whole house or yard stink.

 

This makes me most nervous. I am completely legal following the full letter of the MMM laws, but also still paranoid and looking to attract ZERO attention. If i cant vent to the chimney this means my only other option is to remove a pane of glass from the basement window located 20 feet from the room, get plexiglass and cut a hole in that . This goes to the back yard near a porch pretty secluded but not so well if company is over, out on the porch having a founders and they get a nice whiff of bud air coming from the porch stairs. Im gonna have to rethink this, i am open to any ideas as this makes me very nervous. Plants seem to be getting stinkier since this mh light was added.

 

To all who have replied, you have fed me well with info, im at 1500 ppm atm lol. Off to research and come up with a plan as i refresh this thread for you guys awesome wisdom.... Thx again.

[Timmahh]

a roll of 4 inch pink insulation cut to just oversize, will fill the holes from light/sound and air passing through between the floor joices. Take pieces of cardboard cut ot size, and cover the pink side of the insulation and staple them (insulation and cardboard cut outs) into place. This will form a barrier keeping all light and air from passing through, and almost all of the sound. If you use 6 inch thick insulation, it will be more quiet. You can then use one of these areas to pass your ducting through for ventilation as needed. as noted a CF will really keep the smells down on the end of the exhaust vent.

 

you Could use a Y piece in the Water Heater vent, but its not really recommended unless you REALLY have a firm grasp on how the venting systems work on water heaters and furnaces... as noted above, do something wrong, and all that carbon monoxide is venting into the house. While the Plants would love it, you and the family wont likely care for it much, especially if you end up dead from it....

 

Keep in mind, people use CO2 Generators in their grows, and what is the exhaust of burnt natural or lp gas? CO2. Properly done, this can be very safe, and a free CO2 feed for the girls, but again, you better have a good darn clue about what you are doing or you could end up on a slab.

[Restorium2]

You can possibly vent out the roof using your plumbing vent. You might have one that connects to the plumbing near your grow room.

[shredder0911]

I bought a roll of panda film (white one one site and black on the other, 5.5 mil thick I think - as suggested above) and a staple gun, and cut little squares and stapled up between the joists. It isn't 100% light proof, but pretty close and I don't use much light down there anyhow. I covered my windows with the same panda film by stapling to the wood around the windows. I also bought a 745cfm 8" fan and 8"*24" filter rated at 750cfm, and it does a pretty good job. I didn't do anything but place the fan on top of the filter sitting upright and gravity holds it on, just put some chees cloth on top to keep anything from falling in and hitting blades.

 

Something you should also consider which I still need to address is a dark place with carbon filter/scrubber for drying (which gets REALLY dank).

 

Now I have a question I hope someone can answer - my basement looks almost exactly like pics, and I keep wondering why it appears ALL of the nails miss the floor joists. What is the point of all of the nails going through nothing but the floor above?? B~0

 

Oh yeah, I dreaded it but think I paid about $275 for fan and carbon filter, but supposed to last 12-18 months on the filter and "pure virgin carbon" in the one I got, so you could spend more than that on room air fresheners which really won't work.

Edited March 14, 2013 by shredder0911