Secret grow room . . . Input needed

The lot my house was built on has a gentle slope from front to back. In the left rear corner under the house there is significant dead space that I have easy access to that will require very little digging or excavating to prep for an 8x12 room with 10' ceilings. I'm going to split this 'box' in half with a wall and a pocket door and have 2 rooms, 1 for veg & 1 for flower I have a very close friend who is a master carpenter and we begin the build on Monday. I'll be looking for illegals at The Depot Monday morning to do the digging.

It's a new home so access to water, power, etc. is no problem. I do however want to pull several new power outlets and isolate on a different breaker. I have a hot water heater close by that has its own breaker box, can I use this to break out a couple of runs to my room? any electricians have some advice for me with regards to pulling electrical and how to isolate and prevent breakers from being tripped? Gauge wire, breaker size, amps, volts, watts, etc . . . (can you tell I'm an IT Geek?)

I'm going to insulate all the walls & floor and it will be built SOLID! I can intake fresh cool air from under the house to cool the 1000w lights and then exhaust outside. I can also pull cool air in to the room itself. During the summer the temp usually stays 60 degrees or so under the house and there isn't any water, mold, mildew, etc. (gotta love a new house!) In the winter I can use the heat that the lights, etc generate to heat the room. We have mild winters down south so this shouldn't be a problem. And I'm insulating just to be safe.

I already have everything up & running with seedlings in the spare bedroom but feel a LOT better knowing this will be secure & hidden underneath the house. We are going to attempt to make a trap door of some sorts from the master bedroom closet to the crawl space (not really a crawl space) below. From there I can stand (I'm 6'-3" tall) and walk the 25 feet to the room. Of course I will have the normal access anyone would underneath their homes via a door on the backside of the house opposite side of the house from the grow room and not visible from the street/neighbors. This will also double as a storm/tornado shelter too! and I got a wireless driveway alarm to ensure no one sneaks up on me. My Dad has one that works GREAT so I bought the identical model. Although I'm sure I ordered mine for a totally different reason than he did.

I would really appreciate any/all feedback or advice on what you would put in your secret room or how it would be configured.

I have a budget of $3k for this build.

Um sub'd this sounds legit buddy

Is any soundproofing needed? This sounds like a great room. I'm not clear on where you're putting this. The house isn't a walk out, but the basement slopes that way anyway?

HydroDawg421 said:

.....I have a hot water heater close by that has its own breaker box, can I use this to break out a couple of runs to my room? ....

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are you using the hotwater heater? if yes then you probably can't use it as most times someone will run a dedicated line only as large as they need. you can post the size of the wire and the ratings on the water heater to be sure.as for wire recommendations,i would need more info. if you are ever planning to run more than 2k of lights in flower,I would consider running a 220 line for them.

The room will be under the house. I do not have a basement just a very large area within the crawl space that I can build this room. With the insulation & plywood on the inside/outside of the room I don't think I'll need any additional soundproofing.

The hotwater heater is in use. There is a breaker panel adjacent to the water heater (building code maybe?) that I would like to use to extend power to the room. If not I'm only 35' or so from the main electrical panel.

Are there available slots in the breaker panel? If so then then Great! But there are still some limitations. If you could post a picture of the panel (preferably with the cover removed) it would be a lot easier to know exactly what you are dealing with.

i would run a sub panel for your room with some 20 amp breakers, i would also run a cold water line down by your room for easy water access. make sure you get a filter for your intake if your drawing it in from under the house.

Sounds like an amazing project sir!
I wish you good luck with this, and there will be pictures of building it, correct?

to properly advise for your electrical needs you have to tell us what u r putting in there... 8x10 with 10ft ceilings is a big area... your options are endless.. throw us a bone here...

Pics posted here:


http://photobucket.com/hydrodawg

Totally password protected

One sound piece of advice I can give from experience is: Make sure ventilation is adequate. Not too hot (or cold). If you have neighbors or nosy Nellies nearby then air cleaning/scrubbing is a must. Keep in mind that the plants will stink up your home and adjacent areas if you are not careful. Traveling smells can lure the criminal element (or cops) to your home. So much to consider. Good luck!!!!

Still login required Glad things are coming together for you let us know when you have a journal or thread going with your setup when your done i wanna front row seat

PhotoBucket sucks! It would be nice to see what space you have to work with..and what your leccy box is etc... I'd love to have a random unused 'secret space' to transform - STELTHY

Sorry. The pictures are now public.

That is gonna be a very nice! Looks like you're well on your way, so I'm anticipating the updates on your progress.
Very nice project! All the Best going forward!

cool such a big space! here in the UK your lucky to have a spare closet let alone the space you've got

GHOSTDOG SA said:

cool such a big space! here in the UK your lucky to have a spare closet let alone the space you've got

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Do what I did.... Build your self a hut... or go 1 step further and build a garage, problem solved. You are right though, Not much room in the house here. Where about your from?