Custom wood cabinet

Greetings all - I've been out of state for the last few months and have now returned. Soooo....I thought I would post some pics of a cabinet I made out of lumbar in my shop. The first pic is a drawing I made to give me an idea of what exactly I was going to build. It is 6ft high, 24" wide and 24" deep. I realize that the filter has a higher efficiency when it is located inside of the growing area - but I wanted to utilize as much of the height of the cabinet as I could (giving me a taller plant) so it will hang on the outside. After I install the grow light and cover the inside, I will post some more pics with more detail about the fan, ducting and other items that have gone into this. Suggestions and remarks welcomed!

The fan will work fine outside the cabinet but a can filter is most efficient and will last longer if the air is draw from the outside to the center rather than pushed from the center out. If you are going to run it that way then make sure to remove the dust cover off the filter and put a layer of it over the intake inside your cabinet to catch any dust and prevent it plugging up the filter from the inside like a buddy of mine didn't and plugged his carbon filter right up. Or spend a bit more and get an inline carbon filter.

What are you going to use for reflective material inside the cabinet or do you plan to paint it white?

OldMedUser said:

The fan will work fine outside the cabinet but a can filter is most efficient and will last longer if the air is draw from the outside to the center rather than pushed from the center out. If you are going to run it that way then make sure to remove the dust cover off the filter and put a layer of it over the intake inside your cabinet to catch any dust and prevent it plugging up the filter from the inside like a buddy of mine didn't and plugged his carbon filter right up. Or spend a bit more and get an inline carbon filter.

What are you going to use for reflective material inside the cabinet or do you plan to paint it white?

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Hello and thank you for the advice on the filter.
I'm not exactly sure what type of film to cover the inside with, and I do not want to paint it....I've been looking at different types of Mylar. Do you have a recommendation??

old-timer said:

Hello and thank you for the advice on the filter.
I'm not exactly sure what type of film to cover the inside with, and I do not want to paint it....I've been looking at different types of Mylar. Do you have a recommendation??

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i would paint it with high humidity, mold and mildew resistant white bathroom paint personally, i mean mylar works too I am using it now but ideally I want to paint eventually. Why would you not want to use paint? just curious?

meangreengrowinmachine said:

i would paint it with high humidity, mold and mildew resistant white bathroom paint personally, i mean mylar works too I am using it now but ideally I want to paint eventually. Why would you not want to use paint? just curious?

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That's a great point on mildew.....I just never thought about it that way. I think if I do paint it a good coat of primer would be in order first to cut down on multiple coats of paint being soaked up by the wood. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

old-timer said:

Hello and thank you for the advice on the filter.
I'm not exactly sure what type of film to cover the inside with, and I do not want to paint it....I've been looking at different types of Mylar. Do you have a recommendation??

Click to expand...

Mylar will work and some is better than others tho not enough to make a big difference. Tinfoil would work too as would Panda Film, (B&W plastic). People will say you'll get hot spots using foil or mylar but it takes very intense light like from HIDs to cause that and even then it is very unlikey.

Paint is probably the easiest for cleaning and not worrying about it tearing or falling off the walls. Primer on the wood and then a coat of titanium white for the best reflective surface. Latex is best to cut down on volatiles tho any gassing off by an oil based paint will be taken care of by the carbon filter.

OldMedUser said:

Mylar will work and some is better than others tho not enough to make a big difference. Tinfoil would work too as would Panda Film, (B&W plastic). People will say you'll get hot spots using foil or mylar but it takes very intense light like from HIDs to cause that and even then it is very unlikey.

Paint is probably the easiest for cleaning and not worrying about it tearing or falling off the walls. Primer on the wood and then a coat of titanium white for the best reflective surface. Latex is best to cut down on volatiles tho any gassing off by an oil based paint will be taken care of by the carbon filter.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice on the paint vs wall coverings - - paint it will be! I'm going to try and finish up this weekend and I'll post more pics.

old-timer said:

Hello and thank you for the advice on the filter.
I'm not exactly sure what type of film to cover the inside with, and I do not want to paint it....I've been looking at different types of Mylar. Do you have a recommendation??

Click to expand...

matte white paint works great as a reflective surface for cabinets and what not. I remember back in the day I used emergency blankets spray glued inside my box... but it was a pain in the ass to install. painting white is much easier...

Greetings all.......just posting another pic of my Cabinet. It is now painted matt high luminescence white paint (thanks to advice from "OLDMEDUSER")!! I also have my LED grow light from Timber Grow Lights hanging. It's coming together and I'm looking forward to getting my seedlings started. Also, you will see #3 AIR GROW POTS - which I have decided to use.

When it comes to Nutrients I've decided to go with Advanced Nutrients - I know they are by most accounts the most expensive of all available nutrients on the market, but they seem to be all encompassing (auto PH leveling factor) with the food included - so being a newbie at growing, I thought this was the best route.

Many thanks to all who have provided advice on my journey here - as usual, your thought and advice are always welcome.