My insulated grow room build

[ManiacPack]

I hope everyone is doin well, im just stoppin by to show off my grow room I just finished. I used to grow in my uninsulated attic but it was frustrating because of how hot and how cold it can get up there. I decided I wanted to build an insulated grow room in the attic off a wall with a window so I could use an air conditioner in the summer.



I used to have my tents set up here so I already had all my electric where I wanted it.


the stairs coming into my attic are too tight to get lumber up, so I had to hoist all lumber thru the window with a rope. My buddy lent me this milwaukee nail gun and it made things so much easier.


Since I built off the existing wall in the back, I just doubled up 2x4 and cut them snug so they could be hammered in between the studs and then nailed. there wont be much weight on top anyway aside from 2 cats and light storage.





I decided to make my studs 24" o.c to save wood and I framed in a space for a door. Ive never really framed anything out before with wood, but im an electrician so i have many tools and I just got laid off so I had plenty of time on my hands.


I wish I had planned the back wall out a little better but it all worked out okay. just sucked sheathing the top since I went all the way to the back wall so I had to cut out around studs.


I went with 1/2" plywood for the roof, and had to cut all 4x8 boards in half to get them into the attic. originally I was thinking id do the whole outside and inside in plywood, but I hadnt thought about how heavy it would end up until I started sheathing the roof. This house is over 100 years old and im not sure of the structural integrity of the attic floor, so I had to come up with something else.

 

[ManiacPack]

I put in cross braces in between the rafters to give the plywood more places to screw in since they were all 4x4 pieces


the cats were skeptical. I decided I was going to make the loft into a chill spot for them to hide away from my puppy


I decided to go with 1/2" rigid foam board to cover the room, lightweight, relatively cheap, and insulating. After screwing up the boards, I sealed the seams with clear packaging tape. I got the cheapest door from home depot and made it open out to maximize space.


Then I went spray foam crazy and siliconed all around each bay to seal it up as much as possible. I decided to do a foam subfloor then plywood on top of it.


I used r-13 fiberglass to stuff in the walls. I made the walls 24" on center and I thought 23" insulation was easy to find, I was wrong, I ended up having to staple in a full bat and then rip a bat down the middle to fill the rest. OSB for the floors.



I think I doubled up some of the rafters because theyre only 2x4 and they felt a bit too bouncy when I was standing up there


all boarded up and seams taped. got a lil workout in in the new digs.


I threw every framed canvas I had over the open bays in the loft so my cats wouldnt hit the nails comin thru from the roof. I built a little step system up the front for them to get up there. and I stapled whatever posters and stuff I had stored in the attic to make it less purple. im going to end up painting the outside with a mural or something

 

[ManiacPack]

im going to post pics of the inside I just realized I havent

 

[ManiacPack]

I painted the inside with a few coats of mold and mildew resistant white paint. then siliconed the edges sloppily. I set up a 5x5 tent and a 4x4 and plan to put another 4x4 soon for a perpetual growth system. Id like to redo the electrical setup as soon as I see where my 3rd tent fits in.



The 25 gallon fabric pots were once a thriving living no till, but they sat dried out in my attic for a couple years because I had moved out of here a couple years ago and my buddy let me keep em there, and I ended up moving back in. Right now I am just slowly watering it and trying to grow a covercrop.



the inline fans exhaust out of the room
a 4" in the 4x4 and an 8" in the 5x5

 

[SteakBags]

Nice setup. Watch getting the OSB wet, it doesn’t come back from water very well. Also is rigid foam board an efficient exterior sheathing? I’ve only ever used it as an interior application

 

[xox]

uh oh the union electricians are doing carpentry . looks nice man

 

[Rufus T. Firefly]

cool project

 

[ManiacPack]

Nice setup. Watch getting the OSB wet, it doesn’t come back from water very well. Also is rigid foam board an efficient exterior sheathing? I’ve only ever used it as an interior application

yeah it seems like it will be fine as long as i dont put any holes in it. This morning my whole inside ceiling was hanging down because I painted over the plastic film of the boards. going to have to cut out the loose stuff and repaint.