What's the most cost-effective way to seal/wall-off a 20x30?

Not very good at building, but willing to learn. The average 10x20 tent is $2700, there's gotta be a more cost effective way to light-proof say a 10x20 space for flowering, this way I will have 10x10 left over for veg. Anyone know of some tutorials around on this? Ceilings are 14ft and would like to keep this height if possible. Thank u

A 20ft stick lumber wall of 2x4s 16" on center plus drywall and materials would probably cost $1200-1500 if you did it yourself. Watch some YouTube videos, its pretty simple when youre not dealing with a load bearing wall, which it sounds like you aren't.

Depending on the ceiling, gabled or flat, it might be tricky or dangerous attaching the wall to the ceiling

Thanks, I guess it's either this or the tent. Unless I can totally black out every area bringing in light and use the whole room.... hmm maybe some really thick curtains on a circular shower rod. oK goodnight

Frame it in 2x4's and buy a bunch of panda film maybe. The 14 ft ceiling is the hard part. Not sure they sell 2x4 that tall.

Going to try it.. .so 2x4s, dry wall, nails and film? Going to read up on framing. Thanks again!

Its pretty simple to frame. top and bottom plate have to have marks on them where the studs will be nailed bettween. Build it on the ground and then stand it up. It gets tricky if you plan on building a wall inside that is the entire length of the room or width. Then its a good idea to build it in two sections and reattach them. As your standing the wall you can use wratchet straps, chains, rope, or just a bunch of people with strong arms to lift it. I just did a 30 x 10 wall with two guys and three wratchet straps and a ladder. If your floor is concrete you can use a .22 caliber hammer nailer to attach it to the floor. And if your running parallel to the rafters you can put blocks in between the rafters to nail to at four feet apart and then nail to that.
Also dont forget you may need to insulate the walls and drop in electrical lones because theres a good chance that with that much of a distance from one wall to the other you may need power along the way. Pm me if you have any building questions and ill gladly help you out.

By the time you figure time and materials, it would be cheaper to buy multiple tents and have all stages of growth at one time.

Mad_Prophessor said:

By the time you figure time and materials, it would be cheaper to buy multiple tents and have all stages of growth at one time.

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Your probably right but its way more badass with real walls oh and to the op, dont forget about a double door to contain the light.

Having one large room is not badass if you have no veg room, no nursery, no mom chamber, or no flower chamber, where do you get the plants that you WILL grow in the large room? How are you gonna veg your plants if the big room is in flower? Let's not get into what will happen to the entire crop of there is a parasite. There are better ways to spend your money.

Tents create negative pressure. This is key in keeping your smell under control as well as keeping parasites out. Building walls for your grow room used to be the way to do it, but we also used to use those loud magnetic ballasts too. Moving forward, the reflective abilities and the ability to segregate your plants with a tent far out way the benefits of the dust and crap from building walls. Basically, just don't get the most expensive tents you can find and spend the money you save on lights. Tents are the future, walls are the past.

Mad_Prophessor said:

Having one large room is not badass if you have no veg room, no nursery, no mom chamber, or no flower chamber, where do you get the plants that you WILL grow in the large room? How are you gonna veg your plants if the big room is in flower? Let's not get into what will happen to the entire crop of there is a parasite. There are better ways to spend your money.

Tents create negative pressure. This is key in keeping your smell under control as well as keeping parasites out. Building walls for your grow room used to be the way to do it, but we also used to use those loud magnetic ballasts too. Moving forward, the reflective abilities and the ability to segregate your plants with a tent far out way the benefits of the dust and crap from building walls. Basically, just don't get the most expensive tents you can find and spend the money you save on lights. Tents are the future, walls are the past.

Click to expand...

Tents will need to be replaced eventually walls won't u can buy small tents and put them inside your big room and they will be cheap tents

Mad_Prophessor said:

Having one large room is not badass if you have no veg room, no nursery, no mom chamber, or no flower chamber, where do you get the plants that you WILL grow in the large room? How are you gonna veg your plants if the big room is in flower? Let's not get into what will happen to the entire crop of there is a parasite. There are better ways to spend your money.

Tents create negative pressure. This is key in keeping your smell under control as well as keeping parasites out. Building walls for your grow room used to be the way to do it, but we also used to use those loud magnetic ballasts too. Moving forward, the reflective abilities and the ability to segregate your plants with a tent far out way the benefits of the dust and crap from building walls. Basically, just don't get the most expensive tents you can find and spend the money you save on lights. Tents are the future, walls are the past.

Click to expand...

Ya but the op will have 1/3 of his space for veg/mothers/clones. 10x10. Ive never heard of anyone with a smell issue running a scrubber or carbon fliter set up if the filter is the right size for the room. And the op wants to keep the 14 ft tall ceiling height and as im sure you know height is always the enemy for us.

Mad_Prophessor said:

By the time you figure time and materials, it would be cheaper to buy multiple tents and have all stages of growth at one time.

Click to expand...

I'm really leaning toward tents, the only thing is I'd be losing the 14ft ceilings, and you know what that means =)

Alienwidow said:

Its pretty simple to frame. top and bottom plate have to have marks on them where the studs will be nailed bettween. Build it on the ground and then stand it up. It gets tricky if you plan on building a wall inside that is the entire length of the room or width. Then its a good idea to build it in two sections and reattach them. As your standing the wall you can use wratchet straps, chains, rope, or just a bunch of people with strong arms to lift it. I just did a 30 x 10 wall with two guys and three wratchet straps and a ladder. If your floor is concrete you can use a .22 caliber hammer nailer to attach it to the floor. And if your running parallel to the rafters you can put blocks in between the rafters to nail to at four feet apart and then nail to that.
Also dont forget you may need to insulate the walls and drop in electrical lones because theres a good chance that with that much of a distance from one wall to the other you may need power along the way. Pm me if you have any building questions and ill gladly help you out.

Click to expand...

Thanks allot, I'm going to give it a shot!

sunny747 said:

Frame it in 2x4's and buy a bunch of panda film maybe. The 14 ft ceiling is the hard part. Not sure they sell 2x4 that tall.

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they do sell 2x4s that tall, actually. but not 2x2s. otherwise i would have suggested 2x2s and panda film as the cheapest light proof "wall".

Mad_Prophessor said:

Having one large room is not badass if you have no veg room, no nursery, no mom chamber, or no flower chamber, where do you get the plants that you WILL grow in the large room? How are you gonna veg your plants if the big room is in flower? Let's not get into what will happen to the entire crop of there is a parasite. There are better ways to spend your money.

Tents create negative pressure. This is key in keeping your smell under control as well as keeping parasites out. Building walls for your grow room used to be the way to do it, but we also used to use those loud magnetic ballasts too. Moving forward, the reflective abilities and the ability to segregate your plants with a tent far out way the benefits of the dust and crap from building walls. Basically, just don't get the most expensive tents you can find and spend the money you save on lights. Tents are the future, walls are the past.

Click to expand...

Alienwidow said:

Ya but the op will have 1/3 of his space for veg/mothers/clones. 10x10. Ive never heard of anyone with a smell issue running a scrubber or carbon fliter set up if the filter is the right size for the room. And the op wants to keep the 14 ft tall ceiling height and as im sure you know height is always the enemy for us.

Click to expand...

Forgot to add I have an upstairs space for vegging. Will just be extra work to move the pots but worth saving space.

Anyone know of a good 20x20 tent, but not too expensive? I sure wish they'd name them with 10ft height extenders! I'm going to do a price comparison on the build vs tent. Sounds like the frame will have to be pretty tall and I don't have allot of help (that I want to involve anyway).. might be better to start with tents, then move them upstairs once I can afford a proper build out that will utilize those ceilings. I'd love to have 11 footers one day lol

Why do you need a 14' tall ceiling? With topping, scrogging, and lst, I can't see why you would want to have that much height. In the middle of winter, you will wish those ceiling were lower when you are trying to raise your temps. Do you own this structure?

There is no way that building these rooms with conventional lumber is going to save you money unless you know exactly what you are doing and are able to devote a serious chuck of your time to doing it. How are you going to raise these walls by yourself or frame the ceiling? 2x4x8 or precut 2x4 92 5/8 are inexpensive comparatively speaking. The top and bottom plates are much more expensive when you get into cost per foot. 14' lumber is the least expensive for sure, but even at 2' on center, you will need to run a double top plate for load. Keep in mind, the plates are where your money will go and considering 8' 2x4s or even the long pre-cuts 104 5/8 are not terribly expensive, this is still no where near the height you are trying to utilize. You will need to sheath it just for rigidity, or lag it to the structure. Either way, you will be spending a bunch more money shoring up the structure just due to the size of it. All of this you are going to have to consider before you get your reflective film. Cheap tents will still be cheaper, more reflective and easier to deal with. An 8' ceiling is more than enough.

If you want some real advice on how to do this from somebody that has the actual experience with tents and framing/building, send me a PM. I am not gonna get into an argument with a bunch of people that have never done this and "think" they know what they are talking about. Good luck to you either way.

Better yet, a construction forum would be a smarter choice than a pot growing forum

I really appreciate your replies, really has allowed me to reflect. While it seemed possible in theory, when I look at pricing, labor, my first time framing, potential mistakes etc it just doesn't add up. But hypothetically speaking if I start with tents, at least I can save up for perhaps creating a loft and one day using that extra 6.5ft as a 2nd floor grow space (one can dream). So here's what I'm thinking: two 10x10 tents with height extensions to start, gets me to 7.5ft. That leaves some room around the tents, maybe just enough for a manicuring table, and a small area for drying which happens to be about a 10sq ft corner closet (framed, no dry wall yet).

Within the 10x10s I'm very tempted to run one with two LEDs each on 6ft light rails (any ideas on make models appreciated- I really want the Lumigrow 650s but too expensive this time around) , and the other tent with three Gavita 600W(?). My budget this run is $6k, a little more available in 3 months to expand on this foundation. For veg upstairs, a room with another LED and 6ft light mover. Will get all the drying etc stuff in 2-3months.