Here is my grow room in a section of the family room that was temporarily sectioned off.
The first picture is hallway door into the old family room with a 20" window box fan to exhaust all of grow room into downstairs hallway, then the veg room, then standing in doorway into flower room looking straight ahead at ballasts, then standing in doorway looking midway to the left at the middle of the far wall, then looking all the way left left at the end of the room, then the 6" fan exhausting from flower room into veg room, then 6 of the 9 alleged MTFs newly put into the flower room and finally one of the last crop of the hermieing alleged lowryder.
It is a work in progress so some of the electrical wiring tangles will be sorted out later. I draw fresh air into the flower room through vents in the riser boards in the stairway and then through a vent from under the stairway into the flower room, then through the 6" radial fan into the veg room, then the entire grow room exhausts into the downstairs hallway by a 20" box fan installed into a hole in the door. The fan through the hallway door is so large because I intend to convert the other half of the family room into another grow area soon, plus I had it lying around. The wall between the flower and veg rooms is made of fiberglass reinforced plywood that I had lying around. The wall between the veg room and what remains of the family room is sheetrocked. The doors are made from OSB (chipboard) siding I had lying around too. Each room has a 18" oscillating fan running on low speed. Except for the lights I have less than $100.00 US invested, and even if I had had to buy sheetrock between the 2 grow rooms, the total cost for materials would still be less than $175, including the fans.
My 5 400 MHs have cost me less than $250 by buying used commercial lights, remote ballasting them and fabricating 3 of the reflectors to replace the original round vertical reflectors that focused the lights into too tight of a circle.
Behind the piece of plywood in the middle of the far wall is a 3' tall x 4' wide slider window that has 2" isocynate (sic) foam insulation board behind a curtain so only the curtain is visible from the street and then with the plywood over the inside to insure that there is NO light escaping when the grow lights are on. The ledge around the outside walls of the rooms is where the concrete lower wall/foundation ends and the frame wall start
The last two pictures are first 6 of 9 of my alleged MTFs that were newly put into flower and a close up of one of the last crop of our hermie-ing alleged lowryders. When I say they are alleged, it is because they all came fro clones or plants obtained from local growers that said that was what they were but we can't verify it. Personally, I don't really care what they really are because as far as I'm concerned there is nothing valuable in a name. What counts is how they grow, how they yield and most importantly how they smoke.
While there is a lot of room for improvement in the craftsmanship and even some changes I would make if I was doing it again, I'm satisfied with the results for a 10'6" x 12' combination veg & flower room for less than $175, especially since this was mostly built in less than 2 days by two of us working together (That 2 days included figuring out what materials we had on hand and how we could utilize it.) for my first crop when it became obvious that the upstairs bedroom wasn't going to work out well -- it was too hot in summer and too cool in the winter plus too obvious from the street.
I'm posting this not to brag but to show what can be done using available materials and a little good old American ingenuity. It also gives you some idea that most of what I suggest here are things that I have done, either on my own rooms or helped others do in their setups. If I am just repeating what I have heard, I indicate that in the posts.
My applicable construction background includes extensive remodeling, electrical, plumbing and heating/AC work; auto and heavy truck mechanics and running a successful trucking business for nearly 10 years until the economy and a lack of cash reserves KOed me.
I walk the walk as well as talking the talking. I freely admit that I'm very much a newby to both extensive MJ use and growing, but I utilize the knowledge and experience of others where ever possible to try to avoid their mistakes. I have always been told to pass my knowledge and experience along to repay the help I was given so I try to do that. I also am incapable is not challenging advice that is going to get someone hurt, killed or arrested. I have been in jail overnight a few times and I have no desire to see anyone else go to jail or even worse to prison like I've seen my oldest son do twice -- both times for being stupid and careless. I have been blessed with the good fortune to beat the charges every time that jail was a likely sentence, but I know how blessed I was. I just do not want to see some one else go through that or get hurt/killed or cause it to happen t somebody else who might not be so lucky if I can possibly prevent it by speaking out. Also, I apologize in advance for those times that I get very confrontational or harsh -- tact is very seldom my strong point.
Enough soul bearing and demonstrating how I got where I am. My advice is just that -- take it or leave it. It isn't costing you anything and you are the one taking the risks so it is your free choice.
The first picture is hallway door into the old family room with a 20" window box fan to exhaust all of grow room into downstairs hallway, then the veg room, then standing in doorway into flower room looking straight ahead at ballasts, then standing in doorway looking midway to the left at the middle of the far wall, then looking all the way left left at the end of the room, then the 6" fan exhausting from flower room into veg room, then 6 of the 9 alleged MTFs newly put into the flower room and finally one of the last crop of the hermieing alleged lowryder.
It is a work in progress so some of the electrical wiring tangles will be sorted out later. I draw fresh air into the flower room through vents in the riser boards in the stairway and then through a vent from under the stairway into the flower room, then through the 6" radial fan into the veg room, then the entire grow room exhausts into the downstairs hallway by a 20" box fan installed into a hole in the door. The fan through the hallway door is so large because I intend to convert the other half of the family room into another grow area soon, plus I had it lying around. The wall between the flower and veg rooms is made of fiberglass reinforced plywood that I had lying around. The wall between the veg room and what remains of the family room is sheetrocked. The doors are made from OSB (chipboard) siding I had lying around too. Each room has a 18" oscillating fan running on low speed. Except for the lights I have less than $100.00 US invested, and even if I had had to buy sheetrock between the 2 grow rooms, the total cost for materials would still be less than $175, including the fans.
My 5 400 MHs have cost me less than $250 by buying used commercial lights, remote ballasting them and fabricating 3 of the reflectors to replace the original round vertical reflectors that focused the lights into too tight of a circle.
Behind the piece of plywood in the middle of the far wall is a 3' tall x 4' wide slider window that has 2" isocynate (sic) foam insulation board behind a curtain so only the curtain is visible from the street and then with the plywood over the inside to insure that there is NO light escaping when the grow lights are on. The ledge around the outside walls of the rooms is where the concrete lower wall/foundation ends and the frame wall start
The last two pictures are first 6 of 9 of my alleged MTFs that were newly put into flower and a close up of one of the last crop of our hermie-ing alleged lowryders. When I say they are alleged, it is because they all came fro clones or plants obtained from local growers that said that was what they were but we can't verify it. Personally, I don't really care what they really are because as far as I'm concerned there is nothing valuable in a name. What counts is how they grow, how they yield and most importantly how they smoke.
While there is a lot of room for improvement in the craftsmanship and even some changes I would make if I was doing it again, I'm satisfied with the results for a 10'6" x 12' combination veg & flower room for less than $175, especially since this was mostly built in less than 2 days by two of us working together (That 2 days included figuring out what materials we had on hand and how we could utilize it.) for my first crop when it became obvious that the upstairs bedroom wasn't going to work out well -- it was too hot in summer and too cool in the winter plus too obvious from the street.
I'm posting this not to brag but to show what can be done using available materials and a little good old American ingenuity. It also gives you some idea that most of what I suggest here are things that I have done, either on my own rooms or helped others do in their setups. If I am just repeating what I have heard, I indicate that in the posts.
My applicable construction background includes extensive remodeling, electrical, plumbing and heating/AC work; auto and heavy truck mechanics and running a successful trucking business for nearly 10 years until the economy and a lack of cash reserves KOed me.
I walk the walk as well as talking the talking. I freely admit that I'm very much a newby to both extensive MJ use and growing, but I utilize the knowledge and experience of others where ever possible to try to avoid their mistakes. I have always been told to pass my knowledge and experience along to repay the help I was given so I try to do that. I also am incapable is not challenging advice that is going to get someone hurt, killed or arrested. I have been in jail overnight a few times and I have no desire to see anyone else go to jail or even worse to prison like I've seen my oldest son do twice -- both times for being stupid and careless. I have been blessed with the good fortune to beat the charges every time that jail was a likely sentence, but I know how blessed I was. I just do not want to see some one else go through that or get hurt/killed or cause it to happen t somebody else who might not be so lucky if I can possibly prevent it by speaking out. Also, I apologize in advance for those times that I get very confrontational or harsh -- tact is very seldom my strong point.
Enough soul bearing and demonstrating how I got where I am. My advice is just that -- take it or leave it. It isn't costing you anything and you are the one taking the risks so it is your free choice.