Ideas wanted for my shipping container grow room

Ok, I bought a 40' high cube shipping container I plan on converting most of into a grow room. (need one end to remain storage)
I have my lights, fans, co2, etc, I have usually used bedrooms, but this is the best solution for an indoor grow for me right now so......
I have the power pole / meter / power junction about 12' away from the container, and I have a sub panel / timer / 6 outlet 220 light outlet box so power is taken care of, I just have to do the work. I have a window A/C unit, one thought was to cut a hole in the side and hard mount it. I have to cut holes for intake / exhaust anyways. I also thought of buying a rooftop a/c unit like you'd see in an RV. I am looking for ideas on framing and insulation, I need to insulate floor and ceiling and have very little construction exp, but I read books lol. I have looked into building 2x2 and 2 x4 framing attached to container with construction adhesive, and was thinking about recycled blue jean insulation for its fire/mildew/bug/fungus resistance, and was thinking subfloor, sheetrock and paint are a must..... so what would you do?

You could perhaps have hidden intakes/outtakes exiting underneath the container in the slots/gaps for the forklift tongs. You could do this for the A/C as well, but you would have to build a hollow 'column' for the unit. Maybe this way you could avoid having anything visible from outside and be more stealth.

You could also use sound dampening insulation and double layered sound reducing plaster board.

Did you mean 40' long not high?

Sorry, it is called a 40' high cube, it measures 40'L x 9'H x 8'W. I should have put in the above post too that it is right up against the side of my 12' x 12' shed and the plan is to have the container doors open to my storage area which will be full floor to ceiling so the container will look full.
The grow room entrance I have planned will actually be through the shed, behind a movable shelf. My plan for the intake and exhaust has been to run through a fake addition to the rear of the shed, but I like the thru the floor into fork slots, seems cleaner
I LOVE the sound dampening insulation and sound reducing board idea! how do these compare to sheet rock / fiberglass insulation price wise and are they available at Lowes?

Leroy, those boxes are 10x10x40, you are going to dedicate 10x10x20 to the grow area, correct? Are you going to climate control the entire box or just 1/2? What kind of grow are you planning in there?

it says 9' high right on it, and the width fits inside a freeway lane, which is 10' so i figured 8' wide tho I can honestly say I habe never measures the width. I was thinking 32' of the length for the grow room and 8' for the storage, because of 8' building materials, but I am still gathering all my ideas.... I have been planning on climate control and finish work only for the grow rooms. I was thinking 18' for flower 10' for veg, and 4' for a small cloning area, but I know I need some adjusting of this probably. The plan for type of grow is OmmP compliant for 3, SoG, and never ending

Leroy Jenkins said:

Sorry, it is called a 40' high cube, it measures 40'L x 9'H x 8'W. I should have put in the above post too that it is right up against the side of my 12' x 12' shed and the plan is to have the container doors open to my storage area which will be full floor to ceiling so the container will look full.
The grow room entrance I have planned will actually be through the shed, behind a movable shelf. My plan for the intake and exhaust has been to run through a fake addition to the rear of the shed, but I like the thru the floor into fork slots, seems cleaner
I LOVE the sound dampening insulation and sound reducing board idea! how do these compare to sheet rock / fiberglass insulation price wise and are they available at Lowes?

Click to expand...

http://www.lowes.com/pd_98765-89477-500_4294864808_4294937087?productId=3069747&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Drywall%2BMaterials_4294864808_4294937087_?rpp=15$No=60

http://www.lowes.com/pd_89017-1722-E009_4294858103_4294937087?productId=3185533

There ya go

Damn I'm jealous, that container would make the most kicking grow room! BTW just so you know those containers get really hot during the summer, I used to drive a truck for a living and I can attest to that. If your going thru the trouble of setting something like that up I would suggest a false roof over the top, nothing too fancy, just something to shield the direct sunlight from hitting the top. Those containers are usually 98" wide exactly, per FHWA regs, so the inside will be just under 8', probably more like 7'10".

On a similar note I have known peeps to use old reefer trailers for this, since they are heavily insulated. Also most reefer trailers have a large cutout on the very front for the thermo unit to utilize which allows for a nice A/C to be hooked up. Another design they use is also a reefer trailer but the thermo unit is mounted underneath the container. This causes the inside to be about 12" shorter than normal but the advantage is the A/C unit and fuel are all stored under the floor and these units will keep that trailer cool even on the hottest days. Looking around I have seen the 20' containers with diesel A/C running around 3 to 5k each, not bad but you would need to be in the country for one of those, the diesel genpacs are a little noisy

Anyway just my thoughts, subscribed to see what develops, peace out

Conventional wisdom would say 32X8=256 sq feet 7,000 BTU of A/C. What are you going to run in that flower room, 2 1,000W lamps? 3.2 BTU per watt X 2,000 watts= that's another 6,400 BTU just to cover the heat from those lights. Add in the other lights that you intend to use as well and you are going to end up with a pretty large unit. The conventional wisdom also doesn't account for a cargo box. This sounds pretty cool but, I don't think that it's going to be simple. Good luck and keep us posted.

4k in flower with 6" air cooled hoods exhausted to outside. 8" intake, 6" seperate room exhaust and 4" fan and can. Co2 is tank style so no heat, all is run through an environmental controller. I have had this set up in a bedroom before, and it got up to 130 w/o fans and window unit on, but 85 with. A/C has to be big, but if well insulated and exhausted I think the numbers can be lower, am I wrong? I looked for a reefer trailer but got this for $1400 delivered, and where I live the whole fuel thing isnt practical at all. I know people live in these things, I have a show where they turn 3 into a house..... can anyone do the math including insulation and a false roof (great idea, thanx) for a/c requirments? I do have acess to 2 rooftop a/c units for an RV or also a basement A/C for a rock star type coach that has a heat pump too.... but that will cost me. I know people use these things in CA to grow and OR doesnt get as hot, so maybe it has to do with what type of insulation maybe?

You can apply a spray on insulation, which would be cheapest but have a lower R value, or you can install firring strips (wood 1" x 3") on 2' centers, use insulation board (blue sheets 4' x 8' at Lowes) and sheet rock. This allows you to also run wiring behind walls and use shallow work boxes. You are going to need good air flow for lower temps and healthier plants. I'd love to see some pictures. We have a port nearby and lots of containers, some being turned into housing, as is the case in your area too. I have seen them cut out windows and doors and then weld angle iron to form the frames.

[youtube]mIkuZSFPHpM[/youtube]

OH i want to see that sooo bad, am on dial up, 24k at that..... trying to wait it out tho, thank you Miss!

Hey there, Leroy; you ever continue on with this project??


....if anyone has links to diy's in these shipping containers, other than the new pro built ones, please post them up here.

peace
gman

Should get a backhoe to dig out a spot underground or halfway underground so you can cover it with dirt(or a mound of dirt) if it's a normal shipping container (but your desc says 40' high/tall? never seen that, only length that long), also would benefit from the constant "cool" temperature underground to counter the heat from the lights.

id bury it, coat it in tar, dig out a couple feet on each side of container and make some concrete forms, and fill the sides and top
this could get expensive though, probly in the 20000 dollar range or more if you have to rent a back hoe

Miss MeanWeed said:

[youtube]mIkuZSFPHpM[/youtube]

Click to expand...

I was going to post the same vid. This is another 1 that I like better only because the power is out of the room and in the first walk in area.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkIgBovz_zg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I was going to build 1 useing both these idea. But with a 40' it's unlimited ideas.