Renting a house: Tips,tricks..suggestions

[ThePizzaMan]

OK...at some point within the next 6 months I am making the jump to a house(rented). To all of you guys who are in a house that is rented...I would like some advise as to what to look for as far as electrical...ideal room size....where is the best place to grow in a house? Also...what systems have worked for you? Flood and drain? Large plants..huge plant counts? How many lights do you run...links to your grows?

What is an easy way to convert a spare bedroom in to a grow? I have always grown in tents..but I need advise on setting up whole rooms as my flowering area.

Any advise would be awesome!

Thanks

TpM

 

[SirSmokalot]

my first advise would be treat it like a large tent. if u have grown at all u know what the environment needs to be to achieve success. get the equipment for it.
power. run a line to the room if u are planning on going big. add an adequate breaker, run romex to the room through attic and install an outlet on the ceiling. poke a hole n screw outlet box to the wall, terminate n done...plug in urlight controller. if going with one light u know the room outlets are enough.
gonna need to cut holes so have the repair supplies handy at all times.
depending on the size of the grow many pieces of equipment will need to be purchased to deal with all that comes with going big. otherwise a one or two light gig will run fine with the basics and plenty of air movement.
i guess if u want real advise from IC members u should tell people what the plans are as far as what size of a grow u intend to do, wattage wise and method eg soil hydro...ect that will help. u know u gotta do what needs to be done to keep environment dialed...whatever the grow or why do it. environment first, nutrition second, genetics third IMO
also what is climate like where u live. no details on city if worried but weather wise. will make a diff on what suggestions people will make.

heat and humidity are your enemy right... vent vent vent whenever poss if running sealed and always use a humidity and heat controller on a filter~vent fan in the main room. u do not want to get mold on your grow and especially not on the rental house. this is common for first time house users. they seal grow up and humidity rises and house molds for the owner. pretty shitty... dont be that guy. always treat it like u own the place. cut holes n vent drywall is easy to fix.
good luck

 

[Granger2]

PizzaMan,
My first choice would be a basement or garage. If the utility room [water heater, washer, dryer] is part of the room, ask the owner if you can put up a simple wall and door at your expense. So you won't have to freeze in the winter, burn up in summer, when dealing with your clothes washing. Do it according to local codes.

That way the owner is less likely to need access to the grow area. Helps on noise, house guests, etc. Good luck. -granger

 

[Treetroit City]

Good advice so far.

Obviously basement is best. Attached garage for stealth transferring of materials.

Further the neighbors are the better.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

Hey doods...thnx for the replies. Im looking to flip flop, so I would need 2 rooms. Basement is best...but bedrooms are more private...and easier to hide..than lets say a basement incase landlord or management need to fix something downthere.

This is why I would like people who are renting houses to come in and detail what exactly they are doing. I kinda have a feeling I will be going 4k flip with hydro...will washer/dryer be enough for 4k with a power thief unit? I kinda want to go ebb and flood tables....2 4x8's per room....any body else with suggestions on grow method? I dont want to have to dump soil or coco... I will be running aircooled hoods.. But I will prob need ac for each room. I will also have a tent and flood tables under t5's for moms. Clones are aero..ez cloner. I guess I would need a larger fan for exhaust and smaller fan for intake to get negative pressure. Im just looking the least invasive, easiest to breakdown method that will yield constitent results.

Thnx

Tpm

Sent from my LG-P509 using Tapatalk

 

[LittleAmsterdam]

A/C in your flower room is important. So either house A/C or a dedicated A/C unit for your flower room. I would recommend a dedicated A/C so you don't have to cool the entire house.

 

[SMOKE-ONE]

What if the house already has a central air unit.Would it look suspious, adding a mini-split unit? This has been my biggest security concern.

 

[PeopleWish]

In my experience:

1) Pin point desired area of residence and how far your willing to commute to desired area.
2) Search craigslist for private listing by owner.
3) Contact owner and ask these questions:
-Approx square footage?

-Garage? Attached or detached? This is important. You want attached.

-Basement? This to me is the most important part, however you can work around this if rooms are adequate.

**- Ask who ever you are speaking to if they own other homes in the area. If they say yes ask if others are available. Most likely if they answer yes to both of these questions they may rent homes for a living. Preferably you want your landlord to be a slumlord.

-Ask who does the maintenance, if they say they do, ask how quickly they could be available to fix the problem. Not that you need them to fix your issue, but if they answer your question by saying "5 minutes" you know they live close.

Schedule your showing, when in the basement as if the house has 100 amp or 200 amp service, preferably you should get 200 amp service.

See if the water is well water or city water. I would prefer city water because we can clean this water better, and it is easier on your filters.


**** To me the fact that the landlord is a slum lord (meaning they own 20+ houses) is my determining factor. This means that they dont care what you do aslong as you pay the rent ****

Hope this helps GL and Stay Safe

 

[MrGreenWeed]

In a rental avoid basement at all costs. I've known many landlords that are considered slumlords and they do checks and regular maintenance. And when maintenance is done on a rental home most of the time it's in the basement where it happens.
A master and spare bedroom next to each other is best being you plan to do two rooms.
Bedrooms do not have any water mains, electrical shutoffs, fuseboxs, furnaces ect.
Basement, bathroom, kitchen, living room and outside are places to avoid.
Garages are an absolute no-no. I can't believe someone even suggested that.
As for grow system and equipment it seems you already got that down, make a decision and go with it.
Central air would be better then two A/C's depending on what climate you are in an dif the home doesn't have a second floor. With 4k burning I may be wrong.
Power thief unit? Excuse me for sounding like a newb but is that slang for stealing electricity? If so I would say don't do that. Not only because that's how many get caught but because it's fucks over other customers. Just wrong.
Good luck.

 

[PeopleWish]

You know many slumlord that do regular checks and regular maintenance?

That sucks.

 

[Granger2]

Mr GreenWeed,
I own my home so I don't have to worry about landlords. I have in the back of my mind a desire to rent a place for a grow, so PizzaMan's question intersts me. I'm willing to learn. Why do you say garages are an absolute no no? Because of the possibility of landlords wanting access? -granger

 

[MrGreenWeed]

Mr GreenWeed,
I own my home so I don't have to worry about landlords. I have in the back of my mind a desire to rent a place for a grow, so PizzaMan's question intersts me. I'm willing to learn. Why do you say garages are an absolute no no? Because of the possibility of landlords wanting access? -granger

It's more about security but yes, in a rental you never know what, when and why with landlords. Say you just put 1,000 dollars into a grow room, or even 5,000, and you start up and just a week or even a month or two later your landlord needs access. It's basically a total loss of money, time and labor. Basements, kitchens and garages tend to be frequented by landlords or maintenance more then other areas.

Much more difficult to control smell, noise and light in a garage. Garage walls are thin, sometimes not insulted at all. Many gaps and smaller openings. More pests and insects. Easier to break into then a home. Exposed to anyone who wishes to steal or get snoopy. No water supply. Poor electrical. If not attached daily traffic in and out can be noticed. On and on.

Most the busts I've known or read about have been garage grows.

If you OWN a home AND you have an attached garage where there is a door that goes straight into the home and then you insulate it good and block out all light leaks you may be OK. Where you are located is a big factor as well. In the country or outskirts of town you are safer in theory then growing in a garage in a city with close neighbors and more crime, people and police.
But a garage that is not attached to a home that is not way out in the country somewhere is a no-no.

If attached a good idea would be to built a grow room, or grow rooms, INSIDE of the garage. Meaning not using the garage itself as the grow room but building actual grow rooms inside of the garage with 2x2, 1x3, 2x4s and panda film or painted plywood. This will help you control everything much better.
So if you had say a standard double garage at 24x20, depending on how and where the inside door/stairs were, you could easily build two separate rooms of 12x10 or other configs of two or three rooms and still have an area inside the garage outside of the rooms to store items and have comfortable access to door.

I'd love to have that problem. We won't be in our own home for another few years. Just take your time and figure out what design and size is best.
I'd be totally against just making one large grow room of the garage unless it is very well insulated and constructed.

Are you talking about renting out space to growers or renting a place of your own to grow on your on? If for others is it on the same property you maintain as a residence or a separate property? You are solely liable for anything that happens if the grow op is on the residence you live at. If you just plan on renting some garage in a industrial district or some other property you don't live at then you need to make sure to rent it out as storage and print up a contract so you are not liable if they get popped or a fire occurs. If you have a garage and rent it under a business contract then that's a no-no because of annual and random fire marshal and city inspections.

If you are talking about renting a place separate from the home you own to grow yourself I think that's strange. Unless you plan on a huge grow op, paying rent and taking the chance of growing at another location you won't be at fulltime is a big risk. But that's what many do. Many of the busts in Cali and other places are grow ops in upper-class suburban areas where someone rents a home and has other grow for them.

Sorry for being all over the place, I just didn't know if you meant you wanted to rent to others or find a rental for yourself separate from your home.

 

[Hammerhead]

When I rented a house I put my grow in the attic. This is the only area that would not be inspected if the owner wanted to come by. The garage had one of those stairs you pull down. I built a 6x6x5 room with plywood up there. I just add extra ventilation for the added heat. Worked great...

 

[krunchbubble]

In a rental avoid basement at all costs. I've known many landlords that are considered slumlords and they do checks and regular maintenance. And when maintenance is done on a rental home most of the time it's in the basement where it happens.
A master and spare bedroom next to each other is best being you plan to do two rooms.
Bedrooms do not have any water mains, electrical shutoffs, fuseboxs, furnaces ect.
Basement, bathroom, kitchen, living room and outside are places to avoid.
Garages are an absolute no-no. I can't believe someone even suggested that.
As for grow system and equipment it seems you already got that down, make a decision and go with it.
Central air would be better then two A/C's depending on what climate you are in an dif the home doesn't have a second floor. With 4k burning I may be wrong.
Power thief unit? Excuse me for sounding like a newb but is that slang for stealing electricity? If so I would say don't do that. Not only because that's how many get caught but because it's fucks over other customers. Just wrong.
Good luck.

It's more about security but yes, in a rental you never know what, when and why with landlords. Say you just put 1,000 dollars into a grow room, or even 5,000, and you start up and just a week or even a month or two later your landlord needs access. It's basically a total loss of money, time and labor. Basements, kitchens and garages tend to be frequented by landlords or maintenance more then other areas.

Much more difficult to control smell, noise and light in a garage. Garage walls are thin, sometimes not insulted at all. Many gaps and smaller openings. More pests and insects. Easier to break into then a home. Exposed to anyone who wishes to steal or get snoopy. No water supply. Poor electrical. If not attached daily traffic in and out can be noticed. On and on.

Most the busts I've known or read about have been garage grows.

If you OWN a home AND you have an attached garage where there is a door that goes straight into the home and then you insulate it good and block out all light leaks you may be OK. Where you are located is a big factor as well. In the country or outskirts of town you are safer in theory then growing in a garage in a city with close neighbors and more crime, people and police.
But a garage that is not attached to a home that is not way out in the country somewhere is a no-no.

If attached a good idea would be to built a grow room, or grow rooms, INSIDE of the garage. Meaning not using the garage itself as the grow room but building actual grow rooms inside of the garage with 2x2, 1x3, 2x4s and panda film or painted plywood. This will help you control everything much better.
So if you had say a standard double garage at 24x20, depending on how and where the inside door/stairs were, you could easily build two separate rooms of 12x10 or other configs of two or three rooms and still have an area inside the garage outside of the rooms to store items and have comfortable access to door.

I'd love to have that problem. We won't be in our own home for another few years. Just take your time and figure out what design and size is best.
I'd be totally against just making one large grow room of the garage unless it is very well insulated and constructed.

Are you talking about renting out space to growers or renting a place of your own to grow on your on? If for others is it on the same property you maintain as a residence or a separate property? You are solely liable for anything that happens if the grow op is on the residence you live at. If you just plan on renting some garage in a industrial district or some other property you don't live at then you need to make sure to rent it out as storage and print up a contract so you are not liable if they get popped or a fire occurs. If you have a garage and rent it under a business contract then that's a no-no because of annual and random fire marshal and city inspections.

If you are talking about renting a place separate from the home you own to grow yourself I think that's strange. Unless you plan on a huge grow op, paying rent and taking the chance of growing at another location you won't be at fulltime is a big risk. But that's what many do. Many of the busts in Cali and other places are grow ops in upper-class suburban areas where someone rents a home and has other grow for them.

Sorry for being all over the place, I just didn't know if you meant you wanted to rent to others or find a rental for yourself separate from your home.

OP, I would NOT take follow this guys advice....

 

[PeopleWish]

OP, I would NOT take follow this guys advice....

I agree,

I set-up a 16kw grow, electricity to code and all. Installed ACs hung all lights + ducting literally everything.

3 days later the land lord told me that the county had to come inspect some work that he had done before I moved in.

With-in two days I stripped the room of everything and restored it back to its original condition.

It all depends how bad you want it, if you want it bad you'll do what ever it takes. Try my advice it had worked very well for me and others.


PS. Once my land lord told me that he was going to replace my shower nob, I took the plants out of the basement (after stripping it all of equipment) and locked them in the bedroom right next to the bath room where he was working. There were about 25 trees like square meters still vegging. I put a 12inch fan on a 6 foot carbon filter in the middle of them all with a damper. Never knew a thing.

GL my friend

 

[MrGreenWeed]

OP, I would NOT take follow this guys advice....

Aren't you the guy that got popped not long ago?

 

[MrGreenWeed]

Yep. I guess I'm out of my league here.

Be sure to keep some money hidden away for bail and a good lawyer.

 

[Doobie Ninja]

I always look for a suitable basement with a laundry room for power. Just make sure your setup isn't too permanent to come down within 24 hours.

A 30 amp 240 circuit should be good to run around 6k with a power thief. I just received a custom box from the maker of the power thief and it's labeled for 6k use MAX.

Right now I have a basement den I am using that is approx 12x25 I split it down the middle with a 2x4 stud wall and panda. All my ducting is run up through a drop ceiling into the laundry and garage area and exhaust is out the chimney. I estimate I could have the whole thing broken down and ready for inspection within 10 hours. It always helps if you have an attic space to toss plants an equipment.

Always make sure to let your landlord know you are a super busy guy, mine thinks I work full time and attend college full time so they make sure to give me plenty of notice.

 

[Tyga]

^What this guy says..... Dxsoundco.com for some nice "Plug and play" controllers... Just need to make sure there is a 240V receptacle in the basement which there usually will be. 240V receptacle is what a dryer would plug into. 2x4's and poly would def be the easiest when it come's to having to break down quickly. Tents are a straight bitch when they have to come down! Pond liner on the floor just incase...

 

[MrGreenWeed]

ninja, what exactly is a power thief unit?