Build Journal: Turning a 7'x7' Shed Into a Grow Room

Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
well done shecky it looks awesome, you've built this full room in the time its took me to make some hash and canna butter lol. Puts me to shame, don't tell my missus! Really though congrats. To any newbies stopping by, this is how you build a room! There is no substitute for proper foresight and planning!
 
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sheckylovejoy

sheckylovejoy

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
well done shecky it looks awesome, you've built this full room in the time its took me to make some hash and canna butter lol. Puts me to shame, don't tell my missus! Really though congrats, to any newbies stopping by, this is how you build a room! There is no substitute for propper foresight and planning!
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Thanks, feels good to be done and growing. The baby girls are looking healthy.

We're having unusually dry weather right now (down to 15-25% RH midday), and my expensive Vornado humidifier crapped out after 5 days on the job. While I'm waiting for the warranty replacement, I have a smaller unit in there, which is struggling to keep the humidity high for the seedlings when the A/C is running during lights-on and I have to refill twice a day. Also, I'm looking for a temp controller very similar to the one I have, except with day/night settings so I don't have to change manually, but other than that and Vornado's crappy expensive unit, things look really good in there. So much so that I'm a bit surprised, I expected more problems.

To your point about foresight and planning, could not agree more. Every hour spent planning saves 3 hours down the road. Every extra dollar spent on doing things right saves $3 down the road. Oh, and measure twice, cut once. Seriously ;)

I just realized I still owe the thread a final budget. I'll try and get around to that this weekend.
 
Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
sheckylovejoy said:
Thanks, feels good to be done and growing. The baby girls are looking healthy.

We're having unusually dry weather right now (down to 15-25% RH midday), and my expensive Vornado humidifier crapped out after 5 days on the job. While I'm waiting for the warranty replacement, I have a smaller unit in there, which is struggling to keep the humidity high for the seedlings when the A/C is running during lights-on and I have to refill twice a day. Also, I'm looking for a temp controller very similar to the one I have, except with day/night settings so I don't have to change manually, but other than that and Vornado's crappy expensive unit, things look really good in there. So much so that I'm a bit surprised, I expected more problems.

To your point about foresight and planning, could not agree more. Every hour spent planning saves 3 hours down the road. Every extra dollar spent on doing things right saves $3 down the road. Oh, and measure twice, cut once. Seriously ;)

I just realized I still owe the thread a final budget. I'll try and get around to that this weekend.
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what would your conditions belike if you were to stop extraction? I keep seedlings in a storage tub with a t5 on top of it. Keeps temps a stable 28c and humidity up between 60-80. Seedlings aren't using much co2 so I find just opening the tub every couple days for 10 mins enough to keep them sweet. That is of course if your lights aren't creating enough heat to warrant more frequent air exchanges.
 
sheckylovejoy

sheckylovejoy

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
what would your conditions belike if you were to stop extraction? I keep seedlings in a storage tub with a t5 on top of it. Keeps temps a stable 28c and humidity up between 60-80. Seedlings aren't using much co2 so I find just opening the tub every couple days for 10 mins enough to keep them sweet. That is of course if your lights aren't creating enough heat to warrant more frequent air exchanges.
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When I say the temporary humidifier was struggling, I meant I'm trying to keep it at 70% but it will only go up to 65% when the A/C is running, so it's not emergency time. I ordered another second cheapo ultrasonic unit off of Amazon which I will likely return once the Vornado comes back. God bless Amazon, I just ordered it and it arrives tomorrow evening.

Also, I am trying something different during lights-on tonight. Overnight exterior temps have been pretty low the past 10 days, but with all the insulation, the lamp heat builds up and the A/C runs frequently. Tonight I'm trying the fan-only setting on the A/C, which blows out warm air and draws in the cold outside air through the dampered vent in the floor but doesn't pass the airflow through the coil. Been running that way for almost 4 hrs and temp has been nice and stable. RH still goes up and down like it has since the Vornado crapped out, but in the 62-67 range, roughly. The air being drawn in is particularly dry right now, but so was the A/C output. According to the Kill-A-Watt, power consumption is down about 75% on that circuit (heating/cooling only). Big savings with that. I will still run in regular A/C mode once exterior temps get over 65 F

I did try vented humidity domes at first, but the soil temp rose too quickly, so I pulled them off
 
mrpuffins

mrpuffins

Well-Known Member
This is exactly what I hope to do when we buy our home in a year. thanks for sharing!

How are you on budget and what cost has been the biggest suprise?

Biggest lesson learned so far?
 
sheckylovejoy

sheckylovejoy

Well-Known Member
mrpuffins said:
This is exactly what I hope to do when we buy our home in a year. thanks for sharing!

How are you on budget and what cost has been the biggest suprise?

Biggest lesson learned so far?
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See my budget post above, GSheet is up. No real big surprises, I think maybe I didn't account for enough of the Misc category, half of which I swear was foam spray ;). I think we went through over a dozen cans of the stuff

You've already learned the biggest lesson, since you're researching this before you even have the house. Plan ahead, and make time every night during construction to research and solve problems as they arrive. Like all construction projects, remain flexible if things aren't going right, and have a Plan B in place. Even after doing research remain open to change. Finally, think everything through, and imagine all the different scenarios you will be operating under (e.g., weather) and plan accordingly.

Happy to answer questions once you get going. Good luck.
 
Aeroman14

Aeroman14

Member
Looking good ! I have a shed that recently came across that's pretty much exactly the same one and I was looking into doing something like that.
 
sheckylovejoy

sheckylovejoy

Well-Known Member
Seriously, why didn't I move indoors sooner? This is so much easier than outdoor growing. Growing a variety with a long stretch, so I will probably switch to flower in a week or 2

IMG_6740.jpg
 
Aeroman14

Aeroman14

Member
Man that's looking great. You really did do a good job. Whenever I finally get the funds to fill my shed with the equipment I wanna try a hanging scrog to help keep floor space cleared up as well as maybe doing water cooling on the room with iceboxes and maybe a coil in the reservoir to help fight off any bacterial or fungal growth. Heck might as well go all out water cooling and do the cobs with water blocks too. Living in the sunshine state of Florida and it gets rather hot here. Very humid too. So Gata keep that cooling effeciency as best as possible. Will slowly add to mine over time as funds come and open a journal up again !
 
sheckylovejoy

sheckylovejoy

Well-Known Member
Aeroman14 said:
Man that's looking great. You really did do a good job. Whenever I finally get the funds to fill my shed with the equipment I wanna try a hanging scrog to help keep floor space cleared up as well as maybe doing water cooling on the room with iceboxes and maybe a coil in the reservoir to help fight off any bacterial or fungal growth. Heck might as well go all out water cooling and do the cobs with water blocks too. Living in the sunshine state of Florida and it gets rather hot here. Very humid too. So Gata keep that cooling effeciency as best as possible. Will slowly add to mine over time as funds come and open a journal up again !
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I originally planned a hanging scrog for the same reason, but eventually decided against it for a variety of reasons. The biggest nut we couldn't crack was suspension, but that's a long story. Still, it makes floor space tight, like you say.

I get a little algae around the sides of the reservoir, but nothing too bad. I clean it weekly with Dr Bronners and bleach water.

Can't comment on the water-cooling, I know nothing about that. I can say that the heat emitted from the COBs is minimal. I can put my hand right up to the cone without it getting too hot. Those long finned heat sinks do a great job. Anyway, with all the insulation, the heat builds up quickly when lights are on, but the A/C is more than adequate. It will drop temps about 1 degree F/min. Right now I have it ranging from 76-79 F

I've actually been using the A/C mostly as a fan, as temps have been very cool here during lights-on hours, so I don't have a great read yet on cooling efficiency under other conditions. It was very warm when I first started, and the A/C was great. I was originally planning on not growing during the hot months here, but I'm starting to think it won't be that big a deal.

AFA your humidity goes, the Frigidaire is a beast. You may want to bump up to the 50 or 70 pint, but this thing pulls water out of the air quickly. Try and drain it to the outside like I am, as your tank will fill quickly, and it's hard to pull it out in tight space. Be aware the condensate is pretty acid, so I don't think it's a great idea to send it to the reservoir. Same with A/C condensate. Also, the air from the A/C is very dry, so that will help dehumidify too.
 
sheckylovejoy

sheckylovejoy

Well-Known Member
Switching to flower tonight. I think I waited too long by a week. Still, holy smokes. This is so much easier than outdoors. Also, loving the shock cord for the scrog. Didn't pull it tight enough, which I will correct for the next crop, but it makes tucking super easy, and I can get pretty rough with it without breaking anything off

IMG_6777.jpg
 
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