Help with contruction of my grow room

[EsC420PoT]

Ok so I'm damn near complete with my grow room and plan on gettin everything set up in the next week. But, still have a couple questions and wanted , o have a thread for me to ask them as i go, or to get any constructive criticism.

Now ima post up a picture in a min to give yall a lil picture of what its going to look like. Unfortunately, I forgot to take one last night of the most current progress. Basically just the pic i posted with panda film wrapped around every inch (on the inside of the framing) except for the flooring. Which comes to my first question

Question:
For the flooring, I was thinking of puttin something down to elevate the plants but as well as keeping them off the cold cement flooring... Which is why i havn't put panda film down yet. But, i'm curious as to what kind of material i should put down? My friend suggested putting down a piece of plywood of a couple inches thick and then putting the panda film over the top. But, i was worried for when i upgrade the grow to hydro (since it's soil ATM) that the reservoir will cause rotting underneath the wood after a while despite is being on top of panda film.(since it's happened to me before) So was thinking of something more towards some type of styrofoam that's super durable??? What do you guys think? Or what would be a better alternative? Thanks

 

[dman1234]

I wouldnt put panda film on the floor, its not needed.

i just put down peel and stick tiles. jmo

 

[Grower13]

how much do you want to elevate your plants? if you raise them much... I don't think you will need to insulate your plants from the floor...... you ever see those racks they keep stuff up off the cooler floors with in the food service industries...... or milk crates..... or those bread racks..... my wife says those 2liter bottle crates would work too.

 

[orangesunshine]

what i would do is---not cover the floor with anything---since you are thinking of hydro in the future---buy your flood trays now---elevate them with milk crates, pallets, bricks, blocks and/or 2 x 4's and put your soil pots in there---the tray will catch the overflow------use shims for some slope to drain when you water---all drains to one bucket or directly to a waste drain line---be sure to leave yourself enough head room for the elevation, tops of mature plants, and lights---good to change over to hydro when you are ready

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I also would not use Panda film on the floor. If you are worried about spills, clean-up, etc, I would lay a solid piece of vinyl and run it up the walls a couple of inches like they used to do years ago (60's 70s?).

 

[Grower13]

I use a cheap blue plastic tarp to put down on my grow area floor that I'm worried about messing up.

 

[oregonduck76]

withe paint with primer is all you need on walls,

 

[EsC420PoT]

the only thing is, I need the floor covered with panda film simply for the clean up, and to make sure it's completely air and light tight. I most def will use milk crates I got a bunch of them from Walmart lol (bought, not the dirty shitty ones out back....) But i don't want the plants to always be on the crates... Only at first when the plants are small. (at least until i go hydro) So what you think a slab of flat wood on the ground with panda film over it all sealed from the bottom??

P.S. I have to enclose it to get maximum climate controle as possible.. Where I live it gets super hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. I plan on adding insulation, a door, w/e I need to keep my environment stable.
BTW I posted the pic of my grow room framming. And will soon post up a more current pic to give you all a better idea.

 

[PuffinNugs]

my wife says those 2liter bottle crates would work too.

the wife is smart, i have a bunch of bottle crates they stand about 2-3 inches tall, work perfect

 

[GREENIE_420]

I used Peel-n-stick shingle underlayment. It's a permanent fix, very durable. Find a new construction site and ask some roofers if they could spare a little. Most (white) guys working on a roof smoke weed, tell'em what its for and they would gladly give you some. A roll cost 40$ at a roofing supply place, Home Depot or Lowes will not have this. But i'm guessing you won't need much.

 

[EsC420PoT]

hm i checked up on that, and not really what im looking for. Thanks tho, i really appreciate it greenie. Now that i think of it, i'm can make due with lifting it off the floor with a inch thick ply wood and just some material over and sealing around edges of the framing to the pandafilm making it ait and light tight. What kinda material would be good for this? Instead of using panda film, i'v seen alot of growers use some type of black tarping material that they lay across the bottom and pin down/seal up around the flooring.

 

[Roddy]

Sorry, but is that a Clone Wars poster?? I'd say that's fitting!!!!

A tarp would work for the floor and could be removed, shaken off and replaced for easy cleaning...

 

[stevetberry]

My grow closet floor is lined with pond liner. It comes in defferent widths and I make sure that I get enough to go about 6 inches up every wall. If everything laked at the same time I would still have no worries. Almost any other plastic that you put on the floor with tear or get holes in it over time. JMO.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Panda film is not strong enough to be used as a floor. I repeat. Buy an inexpensive piece of vinyl and lay it over the concrete and run it up the walls a few inches.

 

[EsC420PoT]

Panda film is not strong enough to be used as a floor. I repeat. Buy an inexpensive piece of vinyl and lay it over the concrete and run it up the walls a few inches.

What from like home depot? So basically, instead of using panda, use the black vinyl and secure to make light adn air tight as what i wanted to do with the panda film?

 

[Hushpuppy]

Yeah I agree with THG, the vinyl(from Lowes or HD)would be what I would do. I wouldn't lay plywood flat on the floor as that would trap moisture and cause it to rot. I wouldn't try to insulate it from the floor as that coolness will be offset by the heat of the lights. Just put the vinyl down and run it up the walls about 4-6" to seal and trap spills. Also if you want to insulate it good and have reflectivity without having to put sheetrock or panelling in the room, there is some styrofoam insulation board that you can get from Lowes or HD that has mylar on one or both sides. The 3/4" works really good at insulating and it is really reflective, I think about 95%.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

What from like home depot? So basically, instead of using panda, use the black vinyl and secure to make light adn air tight as what i wanted to do with the panda film?

No, not plastic--vinyl floor covering--linoleum (although it is not linoleum anymore) like you put down in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and other places that you do not want carpet--a solid piece of flooring. If you are not particular about what it looks like you can probably go to a floor covering store and get a remnant for almost nothing. Be sure to use the correct mastic to put it down (something for concrete. In the old days, they used to wrap the flooring up several inches. I think they called it coving. This way, no water that happened to spill on the flooring could get underneath the floor and cause problems. It is not hard to do--I have done several small vinyl floors by myself.

 

[orangesunshine]

linoleum .....IMO...covering the floor with anything not completely sealed becomes an invitation to future problems...seems linoleum would solve the light leak and seal the floor making clean up quick and easy...not fond of carpeting the floor with anything that has the potential to harbor mold or pests...durability would also be a priority for me

 

[EsC420PoT]

Hey all! Sorry for the lack of keeping up on my thread. I have been sooooo busy latley. Ne ways, thanks for all the creative and supportive help! As of right now, (since i'm a bit limited on money) Me and my partner decided to recycle a bunch of wood we had left over (2x4's) and just put a plank flooring of them, then just put panda film over it and ran it up the walls a bit, and sealed it. (sorry don't mean to not follow any of the helpful tips, just on a budget and it seemed that this route would suffice, while reusing what we already had.) Please let me know if i'm mistaken, or if there are any concerns about doing this. But thats where that is ATM. I'll post up more pictures of the rooms most current progress in just a few minutes. Let me know what yall think so far? As of right now the room is built, sealed all that good stuff, has the fans mounted and sealed as well, light is in place, carbon filter, ducting. Thats it... We still need to put up a door, and then seal around the door( which i'll be needing help with that as well) but other than that, the rooms almost ready for plants.

Question-----
So since i'm most likely going over to the house i'm growing at later today and finishing up the last steps, what should i do around the edges of the door? So that it's light tight and air tight? Or at least something to get it as air tight as possible? I'd say the door way is about... 2-2.5 ft wide. And we plan on putting up some plywood that is about an inch thick with hinges and whatnot. So around the cracks of the door how would i get it to be sealed and keep it from having light shine threw? Thanks

BTW These pics aren't the current progress, these are just the most up to date ones i'v got thus far. Will get more tonight and post them.

 

[Hushpuppy]

On my grow-lab I had 3 doors that I had to build into the walls. I used 2 sheets of 1/2" plywood and 2"x4"s layed flat and sandwiched between the 2 sheets and screwed them together for my doors. then after hanging the doors with hinges, and drilling and mounting the door-knobs, I used 1" strips of plywood and went around the door edge and nailed the strips to the casing of the door-frame on the side of the door where the door opens away from this casing. If you look at an interior door of a house on the side of the door where it opens away from you, when you pull the door closed you will see that it closes against this trim material that is on the sides and top. I put all the way around and on the floor as well so that no light can shine through and then attached some cheap weather stripping to it to completely seal it tight when the door is shut.