Building small grow space in basement (8' L x 5.5' D x 6' H)

Hello everyone,
Been reading, first grow in over 25 years. Last was hydro, 4 separate buckets with pumps....was ~OK for what it was. Today, I'm looking for help nailing down the details. I have 20 White Widow seeds from ILGM, but am thinking of maybe looking at running something more compact for my space, unless you guys think its doable with LST, which I've never done. For my first run, I'm thinking of just 4-6 plants to figure it out. So far I have almost fully enclosed the space. I have:
1 - DWC home made fiberglass box 6' L x 3' W x 1' H with 18 sites in lid to fit the space with a little working room on each end
75 GPD RO water system
2 - 55 gal blue plastic food grade drums
4" net pots for each site
3 - Vivosun 1110 GPH 8 port air pumps
18 - 10" diameter air diffusers
6" air intake and exhaust to the outside
2 - 1000w digital ballasts with air cooled hoods
2 - 1000w HPS
1- 1000w MH
2 - Vivosun 6" 240 cfm boosters
1 - Vivison 6" 420 cfm
1 - 6" x 24" carbon filter
1 - 30 pint per day dehumidifier
My questions so far are:
I can get 2 - 48" tall CO2 tanks for $30, should I?
If so, how long will a tank of CO2 last in a 260sqft space?
Should I look for another strain for my space?
Will the White Widow produce 110g/plant if vegged until 12" and flipped ("assuming" I can apply the knowledge from here, I don't burn them up with light or nutes and everything else goes Ok)?
Is the box too big for 6 plants..wasted nutes (14 gallons/plant)?
Is the box big enough (84 gallons) to run 18 plants in SOG?
Should I make 18 - 1' x 1' chambers in the box or leave it open? Will root tangle be a problem if I run 18 plants?
Thanks in advance!

This is the tallest part of the basement. the rest is only about 3'. One of the only good things about this space is that I can run my drain line straight into the sump croc and if anything leaks my house won't get flooded. I still have to crawl to the front where my air intake will be. There is a vent. I'm not sure why it's there, but I'm going to use it. I will have to do the same on the side for the exhaust. I'm planning on stapling plastic sheating over the OSB to try to get it as air tight as I can and then cover that with mylar film. The walls are kinda stucco and crumbly so I can't paint or attach anything. I am also going to have to figure out some way to seal the ceiling so that no smells go upstairs. I was hoping to use the space between the floor joist to get the hoods as high as possible if I can, but I also don't want to start a fire.

i would just buy half inch plywood and box around everything on the cieling use 2x4's to frame a room inside of the house and insulate with r12 insulation and vapour barrier and drywall. you can hang the ceiling you frame off the underside of the floor joists as well as the edges of the cieling can be attached to the framing for your walls or sit on top of it either or is fine. i had a utility room with some ductwork and other various things in my way i just put furring in areas where there were things i couldnt move that were very close to the underside of the joists then i boxed around all the ductwork. my room is also next to my sump. here i snapped a couple photos for you im done the framing and all the wiring for the room im just insulating now. i think you should stand at the stairs and take another photo so i can get a better view of the rest of the space your working with. sorry i couldnt find any photos of what it looked like befor i framed however the ceiling was a similar mess like yours i only sacrificed 4" in height framing a ceiling underneath the ductwork and a couple pipes etc. note if your are going to box ontop of pipes other things in your basement think ahead ask yourself if this pipe clogs can i snake it from somewhere else in the basement if the answer is no should put a cleanout with a removeable panel.

Looks like your building a boat?Stitch and glue.

xox said:

i would just buy half inch plywood and box around everything on the cieling use 2x4's to frame a room inside of the house and insulate with r12 insulation and vapour barrier and drywall. you can hang the ceiling you frame off the underside of the floor joists as well as the edges of the cieling can be attached to the framing for your walls or sit on top of it either or is fine. i had a utility room with some ductwork and other various things in my way i just put furring in areas where there were things i couldnt move that were very close to the underside of the joists then i boxed around all the ductwork. my room is also next to my sump. here i snapped a couple photos for you im done the framing and all the wiring for the room im just insulating now. i think you should stand at the stairs and take another photo so i can get a better view of the rest of the space your working with. sorry i couldnt find any photos of what it looked like befor i framed however the ceiling was a similar mess like yours i only sacrificed 4" in height framing a ceiling underneath the ductwork and a couple pipes etc. note if your are going to box ontop of pipes other things in your basement think ahead ask yourself if this pipe clogs can i snake it from somewhere else in the basement if the answer is no should put a cleanout with a removeable panel.
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Ply wood is stupid expensive right now!

Ha sorry Ive built boats so thats what it looked like.Is there no concern of off gasing?I assume you used Pe resin?

xox said:

theres no glue or resin im not sure what your talking about. edit sorry i got the joke after. yes i've seen some wooden strip boat kits for sale. i asked the guy selling them that was doing a demo i was like does the price for the kit include the 50 or so bar clamps i need. he very very quickly said no ahaha. there is no closed cell spray foam were using fibre glass insulation so i would say there should be no off gassing.

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Your not the OP.So not asking you.

myke said:

Looks like your building a boat?Stitch and glue.

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LOL, stitch and glue is plywood. That's fiberglass sheets I'm using.

myke said:

Ha sorry Ive built boats so thats what it looked like.Is there no concern of off gasing?I assume you used Pe resin?

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The resin is fully cured after 24 hours so there is no off gassing. This has been done and sitting for a couple of weeks.

meangreengrowinmachine said:

Ply wood is stupid expensive right now!

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Yep, I'm using OSB because I've got a bunch of it left over from a shed build.

xox said:

i would just buy half inch plywood and box around everything on the cieling use 2x4's to frame a room inside of the house and insulate with r12 insulation and vapour barrier and drywall. you can hang the ceiling you frame off the underside of the floor joists as well as the edges of the cieling can be attached to the framing for your walls or sit on top of it either or is fine. i had a utility room with some ductwork and other various things in my way i just put furring in areas where there were things i couldnt move that were very close to the underside of the joists then i boxed around all the ductwork. my room is also next to my sump. here i snapped a couple photos for you im done the framing and all the wiring for the room im just insulating now. i think you should stand at the stairs and take another photo so i can get a better view of the rest of the space your working with. sorry i couldnt find any photos of what it looked like befor i framed however the ceiling was a similar mess like yours i only sacrificed 4" in height framing a ceiling underneath the ductwork and a couple pipes etc. note if your are going to box ontop of pipes other things in your basement think ahead ask yourself if this pipe clogs can i snake it from somewhere else in the basement if the answer is no should put a cleanout with a removeable panel.
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I'll get a picture coming down the stairs after lunch. Thanks for the input!

xox said:

i would just buy half inch plywood and box around everything on the cieling use 2x4's to frame a room inside of the house and insulate with r12 insulation and vapour barrier and drywall. you can hang the ceiling you frame off the underside of the floor joists as well as the edges of the cieling can be attached to the framing for your walls or sit on top of it either or is fine. i had a utility room with some ductwork and other various things in my way i just put furring in areas where there were things i couldnt move that were very close to the underside of the joists then i boxed around all the ductwork. my room is also next to my sump. here i snapped a couple photos for you im done the framing and all the wiring for the room im just insulating now. i think you should stand at the stairs and take another photo so i can get a better view of the rest of the space your working with. sorry i couldnt find any photos of what it looked like befor i framed however the ceiling was a similar mess like yours i only sacrificed 4" in height framing a ceiling underneath the ductwork and a couple pipes etc. note if your are going to box ontop of pipes other things in your basement think ahead ask yourself if this pipe clogs can i snake it from somewhere else in the basement if the answer is no should put a cleanout with a removeable panel.
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Shot from stairs.

What I would suggest is work on the room part first get that done. Ceiling should be insulated And vapor barrier for noise smell Etc. Your osb will be hard to clean but wrapped in panda is ok but not great. You’ll be hanging things so lot of holes with eye hooks so make sure it’s floor osb so 5/8 thick. Ideally this should be plywood painted white.
Electrical ,very important. Get a couple different 15a on there own to the room. Venting?? Plan on outside if ya can ??
Your home made dwc thing is a little over the top. I would do rdwc not dwc. Two totes in your room and one outside where some cold air comes in is all you need. Again get the room sealed properly a good door good electric and water access
I did my own. Took a bsmt bedroom and divided in half. Veg and flower. 2x4 walls insulted vapour barrier plywood painted white. This was 3 years ago. I’m glad I took the time to do everything right as now in full bloom I can’t smell a thing.

Inthestruggle said:

Shot from stairs.

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nice clean slate, well first things first i'd would take a look at all those posts. why are there 3? we should get a closer look at all those. im going to assume that the posts are probably holding up a beam that should be supporting your floor system. it may be possible to increase the size of the beam and the size of the beam pocket so that we can increase the beams unsupported legnth allowing you to remove the posts of course should consult some span tables in your areas local building code. i really think you should frame walls around the perimeter can put the osb behind the framing if you want or use it for the ceiling. you'll probably hafta do some wiring you'll need outlets for oscilating fans, dehu, inline fans, etc.

xox said:

nice clean slate, well first things first i'd would take a look at all those posts. why are there 3? we should get a closer look at all those. im going to assume that the posts are probably holding up a beam that should be supporting your floor system. it may be possible to increase the size of the beam and the size of the beam pocket so that we can increase the beams unsupported legnth allowing you to remove the posts of course should consult some span tables in your areas local building code. i really think you should frame walls around the perimeter can put the osb behind the framing if you want or use it for the ceiling. you'll probably hafta do some wiring you'll need outlets for oscilating fans, dehu, inline fans, etc.

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You can see that one post is was an after thought.Kinda jimmy rigged lol.If one of his walls was there that would replace the post.Old war time house.Hopefully his electrical has been up graded.

myke said:

You can see that one post is was an after thought.Kinda jimmy rigged lol.If one of his walls was there that would replace the post.Old war time house.Hopefully his electrical has been up graded.

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im a licensed carpenter where i live, if he takes more photos of things i'd like to see i can give appropriate suggestions i cant speak much for wiring.

myke said:

You can see that one post is was an after thought.Kinda jimmy rigged lol.If one of his walls was there that would replace the post.Old war time house.Hopefully his electrical has been up graded.

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The house started its life in the 50's as a 1 room lake camp. The section of the basement pictured is the approximate size of the original house. The balance of the basement is about 3 foot crawl space. All of the posts were added over the years to support the kitchen above as an after thought to level the floor.

xox said:

im a licensed carpenter where i live, if he takes more photos of things i'd like to see i can give appropriate suggestions i cant speak much for wiring.

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I can take some photos of the tops of the posts. They can all be moved closer to the walls, although that would require additional support for sure.

xox said:

nice clean slate, well first things first i'd would take a look at all those posts. why are there 3? we should get a closer look at all those. im going to assume that the posts are probably holding up a beam that should be supporting your floor system. it may be possible to increase the size of the beam and the size of the beam pocket so that we can increase the beams unsupported legnth allowing you to remove the posts of course should consult some span tables in your areas local building code. i really think you should frame walls around the perimeter can put the osb behind the framing if you want or use it for the ceiling. you'll probably hafta do some wiring you'll need outlets for oscilating fans, dehu, inline fans, etc.

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There are 4 posts, the first two are almost in a straight line. The farthest on one the left is supporting the end of a beam the runs down the center of the second house addition and the one on the right supports a space where a spiral staircase once came into the basement.

You mentioned a cold air intake,is that maybe your fresh air in for the furnace?