How to make door/entrance to homemade tent?

[the_baked_chef]

Hi everybody

I'm considering whether i should try some growtent from the shelf or just build one - which would be my preference but i can't figure out how to build a lightproof door.

I know that it must be possible because erverybody does it - but how exactly?

I plan to build the tent from with a wooden frame and pandasheet... so far that seems pretty easy to do but the door...

please help me if you can

 

[Bullfrog44]

Home Depot sells zippers that attach to tarps. My guess would be just put up the panda and then cut in the zipper. They are super easy, just peal the sticky off the pack, place on the panda where you want the zipper. Flatten it out good so it gets a good stick, open up the zipper and cut with a razor blade in between the open zipper and boom, done.

 

[420tyme]

as far as light proofing one that you might build yourself

i used weatherstripping to light proof mine .

( A tip i got from FB )

i got a 10ft roll for 3 bucks at wal mart

its just an old tv stand that i bought at a thrift store just to grow in

i had to put my door on though ,

i used just 2 hinges that only cost 2 bucks and i attached them to this thin piece of wood

light was shining out everywhere lol ,

but after i put the weatherstripping in , ( lightproof )

this is how it looked at first , and now










But thats if you decide to build your own ,

iv never had a tent before , but it might be easier .

 

[Graham Purwatt]

the best way i found was the stick on tarp zip ups as mentioned above,but they aren't light proof. so for my tent, after applying the zipper, i cut a 8" wide piece of poly(the length of the height of the tent) and gorilla taped it on one side of the zipper as a flap to cover the zipper.this flap can then be secured with velcro to close it and then be light proof.it has worked well for me for a couple years and is much cheaper to put together than to buy a prefab tent.just make sure you wrap the poly over the wood frame intead of securing it to the inside of the wood or it will eventually pull loose from the negative pressure of your exhaust sytem.good luck with your tent,pm me if i can be of assistance.

 

[mellofello]

The problm with just using a zip I found was that it doesn't give you a very big door to get through, fine if you just wanna get in and out but once your plants start getting big taking them out for what ever reason can be a squeeze and a pain in the ass.

What I do now is cut a rectangle out of the sheeting where I want the door but not all the way to the floor. I then add two more pieces of sheeting one on the inside one on the outside that will act like doors. Now duct tape one side of the door to the main sheet like a hinge in a normal door and get some heavy duty velcro to go round the top and opposite side of the door to keep it sealed shut. I also make the door so that there is excess at the bottom that I tuck under the sheeting when I seal it up.

Using this method you can make the door any size you need

peace

mello

 

[Graham Purwatt]

i did something similar on mine,i hung an extra flap across the top inside and out(from the roof of the tent) and cut the top part of the poly wide enough that when unzipped it opens up at an angle,giving you plenty of room to move things in and out.once the top is cut,tape one more flap across the top of the "door".again,the extra flaps will light proof it

 

[the_baked_chef]

Thanks Bullfrog44, 420tyme, Graham Purwatt and mellofello

your ideas paint a quite clear picture.
I think i will try to use two of those zippers plus inner layers of panda sheet (fixed with velcro).
This should give me an entrance big enough for me and the plants.

The next step will be adding all the costs up and compare them to a commercial grow tent.
I already have some ideas on how to build it so that it can be torn down and rebuild quick.

thanks alot ...

 

[Graham Purwatt]

i'm sure you will find a homemade tent much cheaper than a prefab.you can score a 50' roll of poly for around $50,maybe $10 in wood(i used 1"x2"s),$12 each for zippers.$8 for a roll of gorilla tape and staples.less than $100 and you can make it as big as you like.

 

[Bullfrog44]

My grow store sells pre-made units like this that they build. They sell them for 120$. Good deal.

 

[the_baked_chef]

i'm sure you will find a homemade tent much cheaper than a prefab.you can score a 50' roll of poly for around $50,maybe $10 in wood(i used 1"x2"s),$12 each for zippers.$8 for a roll of gorilla tape and staples.less than $100 and you can make it as big as you like.

I was positivly surprised how cheap wood and panda film was. The biggest factor will be scrubs and fittings so that i can set it up and pull it down more often than once (hopefully)

 

[Bozo]

I found velcro was too tough, tougher than the panda over time I went to stick on magnets to hold my door flap in place

 

[habeeb]

if your not running a "pro" setup with AC / dehumidifier / Co2 , to me use a tent, as there super simple and come with the intake and out take ports..


I guess the only difference to me, is visual, as the room is alot more work to build, and then you have it attached whenever you put it, vs. the tent being able to take down and re-use..


I'm also not a builder.. and I'm a perfectionist with the highest taste.. I don't see the point of a cheap looking room with panda film, not my style anyways..

 

[intotheunknown]

yeah most hydro stores and even HD and lowes i believe sell them. but theyre zippers with adhesive backings. you just stick it on, zip it down and slice the plastic. wallah! youve got yourself a door.

 

[the_baked_chef]

Thanks for all the suggestions

@Bozo & intotheunknown: I like the idea with the magnetic strip. I think i do already have a few roles of that lying around somewhere. I think the zippers will do the trick in anycase.

@habeeb: You're right there. I see the advantages of a tent too. I will be able to grow only once per year and will therefor have to put it up and down regularily - a tent shoud last much longer. But the tents i've seen have some stupid dimensions.
I think about growing 4 large trees (grows of 5 plants and below are kind of tolerated here - they still take your stuff though) using the typical chessboard design with 5 x 600w.
The tents i've seen seem much to narrow so...