Ultra Stealth DIY Basement Room

mopaNi

Well-Known Member
I may box/frame/insulate in the inline fan as well. Double up the noise protection that way.

Luckily no one is ever in the basement. And luckily it's a laundry room above this space. So no one will even be lingering around/above this stuff.

I'm probably going to rent a pickup and grab all the lumber and drywall/tuff boards Sunday morning. And then may take a day or two off next week or the following to do the majority of the work.

I've got like 30 2x4x8s already at the house but I need some pressure treated lumber for the footers and I need a few 12 foot runs as well. So I gotta pick some of those up.
 
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Rrog

Well-Known Member
Pretty hard to find 3/4". Standard 5/8" Type X is generally used for this. 69-72 pounds for a 4x8 sheet. You'd avoid 1/2" altogether, as it's generally "ultra-lite" and you want heavy mass
 

Bubblin

Well-Known Member
Pretty hard to find 3/4".
I haven't looked for it in a while but last I did it wasn't hard to find locally.

I built a boom room for dj shit so I wouldn't drive the gf insane. Double layer + air gap = amazing db reduction, but yea, it's probably way overkill for a grow room lol.
 

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
Remember one of the best parts of stealth is how you act, always be cool , and have a story ready for why someone can't go downstairs, or what's that sounds, your story comes into play,
My grow box is in my bedroom and complete strangers have stood near it and said nothing because it looks natural,
Make everything look normal
And hide the grin on your face when your buds are close to harvest lol
 

Bareback

Well-Known Member
I've been doing a stealthy basement grow for three years it is totally doable. Three years and wife still doesn't know. I've been doing soil , but I'm going to try hydro this fall, a whole new set of issues.
So I will share with you what I can and if you can can use some of it great, if not oh well. I use 2 fans 8" intake 6" exhaust . Intake is low to the floor exhaust is at the ceiling with carbon filter ( only in flower when it starts to smell ) all mounted on bungee cords with flexible duct ( exhaust is insulated ) the box around the fan has been mentioned . What about your water and drain ? Also I struggle with heat stress using hps. This summer's grow was a fucking hassle , winter grows are easy ( easier for me to warm up air than cool it ) . I also put a big ass spring on my door to make it seal better.
Good luck and peace out Bare
P.S. I forgot to mention I use a dryer vent to vent my exhaust it looks and sounds like normal and I use pvc pipes where there exposed also looks normal under the house.
 

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
I've been doing a stealthy basement grow for three years it is totally doable. Three years and wife still doesn't know. I've been doing soil , but I'm going to try hydro this fall, a whole new set of issues.
So I will share with you what I can and if you can can use some of it great, if not oh well. I use 2 fans 8" intake 6" exhaust . Intake is low to the floor exhaust is at the ceiling with carbon filter ( only in flower when it starts to smell ) all mounted on bungee cords with flexible duct ( exhaust is insulated ) the box around the fan has been mentioned . What about your water and drain ? Also I struggle with heat stress using hps. This summer's grow was a fucking hassle , winter grows are easy ( easier for me to warm up air than cool it ) . I also put a big ass spring on my door to make it seal better.
Good luck and peace out Bare
P.S. I forgot to mention I use a dryer vent to vent my exhaust it looks and sounds like normal and I use pvc pipes where there exposed also looks normal under the house.
wow,, the wife doesnt know,, that is true stealth!
 

mopaNi

Well-Known Member
Well luckily my wife is on board. And ultimately all of our friends are tokers too. So I'm going all out but honestly the difference between just setting up two tents and doing the stealth route was small. I just figured if I'm going to spend money on this I might has well do it up. Plus with the basement remodel it's just a little bit more work for something I was practically going to do already.

It seems odd to me bare that your exhaust is smaller than your intake. It's usually the other way around, no? How's your pressure with that setup?

I ended up doing a bunch more crap to the basement this weekend but didn't get to any framing. I replaced all the batt insulation all around our foundation with better, paper faced, insulation. I also caulked every nooks and cranny in the floor above and use great stuff foam in all the sizable gaps around the vents, etc. I also foil taped all our air ducts and tighten down all our water lines that were kind of rattling.

I also put a bunch of new screws into the stairs to sturdy it up a bit before its walled in. And I started running the new conduits to the location I thought best in the grow space. I also cleared and prepped half of the concrete floor so that I can paint it this week.

It was entire two days worth of work and I feel like I didn't do anything. Lol

I took Friday the 7th off. Giving me a four day weekend in two weeks. So the plan will be to frame and drywall those four days.

Once that is done I have to sell my old car to free up the goodies funds. Then it's show time!
 

mopaNi

Well-Known Member
And I'm aiming so high with my exhausts cfm with the hope that will help a lot with the temperature. I mean I'm looking at the 8" Can Pro that does 550/650/750 cfm... that's 2, 3 almost 4x my grow space...

I need to buy a portable weather station and measure the temp and rh down there. But I have to admit, even on the hottest of days, our basement is very cold. I bet when it's 100* outside the basement isn't even to 68*. Because the hvac is in this space and it has a couple of vents right off the unit that blow strong...it's chilly down there.
 

Bareback

Well-Known Member
Your right about the fans being odd. And the weird thing is it's twist as quiet this way. Something about the ventured effect if you restrict fan with duct size it produces a lot of decibels at the exhaust point.
 

mopaNi

Well-Known Member
I'm just going to try the passive intake route first and see how it goes. If it's not right or the exhaust fan is struggling I'll look into setting up a fan on the intake.

As for your water question I'm not sure I follow. I considered setting up a little flood table so that come flush time I won't have to move plants or deal with a mess. But then I loose some height in doing that...

That's actually design wise where I'm at right now. Light proofing the flower area from the rest yet allow for the best airflow I can. The design that's piqued my interest so far is a false floor. That seems to 1) be clean and professional 2) great air flow, no light leaks at all and 3) allows the good air to come right up from the bottom of the plants and through the canopy. If I were to setup a false floor that may give me enough room to setup some kind of small flood table / drain. Ideas?

Also we figured out how we want to do the built in bookshelves and the new design will give me almost an additional 4" in length for this area! Doesn't seem like much but in the veg area it adds up!
 

Bareback

Well-Known Member
I may have missed some info along the way or I might have mixed up the info on this thread with another. Anyway I was asking about water supply and drainage that's all. I just installed a RO didn't know if you had thought about it. I think you're on top of it pretty good so I can't wait to see it turns out. I'm really wanting to see the book case.
 

mopaNi

Well-Known Member
Yea I figured it best to run a 8" on low at 550cfm than a 6" on high at 480cfm...

Physical size of the fan/filter/hood/muffler will be a problem though.
 
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