Basement Growing

[Wonderon]

My basement is heated so no heat issues there, it is unfinished though. I actually bought a quart of physan 20, how would I go about spraying it so it doesnt stain? Can it be used to wipe all surfaces and is there anything I should avoid? I'm actually considering pulling air from the house cold air duct with a phresh filter and venting into the basement environment after carbon scrubbing. Hopefully I would achieve a self contained minimal smell area with no mold.

 

[Raw_Dog]

Agreed except for the subleasing bit. If you've got your own basement, keep it to yourself.

I need to get my basement grow room going again, maybe. I'm torn. Do I want to have a life during winter, or do I want to be tied to another grow? I'm leaning strongly towards life.

My biggest problem with basement growing has been keeping things warm enough. It's open and unfinished, so it's a lot like simply being outside except it's always cooler. Mold hasn't been the problem, it's been the cold.

Sublease is for legal purposes. I do agree that the basement is your little secret. If you can't keep it to yourself then how can you expect others to do the same?

 

[OldSSSCGuy]

I've grown in all sorts of basements for the past 20+ years. To prepare them I empty them as bare as I can and spray down the entire grow area with a bleach-n-water solution, about 1/2 cup a gallon. After it dries I cover the walls and floors with 1/2" bright white 4'x8' polyfoam insulation sheets (bright, white rigid foam about $3 a piece), and usually put Mylar on the ceilings. The #1 problem you can have is humidity and a general need for good ventilation. Keeping it around 50% humidity we have never seen any mold or mildew return. Its all about the ventilation...

Basements are easier to rig than garages or outbuildings. Never in my life have I heard of outgassing from PVC pipes in a basement or anywhere else in a house, maybe I'm just used to older houses of something.

 

[The_Core]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! I will use PHYSAN or Diluted bleach, spray everything down and let it dry.

I bought a 9,000 BTU AC unit with a hose to vent the heat out of the basement window or recycle the heat up into the main floor of the house if i have heat issues in the summer, which i don't think i will......

I am not worried about keeping the basement warm in winter because with a 1000 watt air cooled light if i need to i can just vent some of the warm air back into the basement if keeping the basement warm is as problem.

I am currently looking for a Dehumidifier for the basement, looking for 230-240 volt or multivolt. I think the basement will turn out to be a great grow environment, and I am only running 1000 watt light so instead of putting mylar on all the basement walls or using 2x4's to build a grow room in the basement, i will just stick with the grow tent i have already bought.

Any other ideas for me about the basement? I want to hear it all good or bad!

 

[Wonderon]

Not sure if you covered this or not but you might want to consider an ro unit or atleast a slop sink.

 

[The_Core]

Not sure if you covered this or not but you might want to consider an ro unit or atleast a slop sink.

Hey wonderon, Hey i am not sure if it was covered either, what do you mean by RO and slop sink? R/O is for reverse osmosis right, or are you using that for something else? Let me know, Thanks!

 

[Puffaluffagus]

Dehuey and AC in the summer are a MUST here.
However in the winter it gets so cold and dry that I can turn off the Dehuey and AC and turn on another light and still only have temps around 70-73 lights on, and low 60"s lights off.
Winter basement humidity is around 30-40%
In the summer it soars to well above 70% without the dehuey
AC seems to peel about 5% off the humidity max, so it's necessary to run the dehuey also.

 

[Wonderon]

By slop sink I just meant a water source. Correct on the ro definition. It's not overly expensive and might make your life a bit easier if your water source is high in ec from the tap. Also chlorine and chloromines will be removed, no waiting for water to sit overnight.

 

[ItsTopShelf]

our rooms our in the basement.. and so far no problems.. but in the winter.. it gets cold up here so we just have to pull some of the hot air back into the room instead of exhausting in the winter .

 

[The_Core]

Thanks alot for all the great advice. For winter I shouldn't need much but in the summer I should need some AC and a dehumidifier. I think i will give the basement a go and see how it turns out.

 

[SeaMaiden]

By slop sink I just meant a water source. Correct on the ro definition. It's not overly expensive and might make your life a bit easier if your water source is high in ec from the tap. Also chlorine and chloromines will be removed, no waiting for water to sit overnight.

I have a water source in my basement, but I have no place to drain it. So I've gotta put some bells on Wonderon's suggestion about the sink. They're what... about $80-$90 for the plastic ones that come with legs, faucet and fittings? In fact, I'm going to set aside some funds for a sink today, thanks for reminding me.

 

[Wonderon]

I have a water source in my basement, but I have no place to drain it. So I've gotta put some bells on Wonderon's suggestion about the sink. They're what... about $80-$90 for the plastic ones that come with legs, faucet and fittings? In fact, I'm going to set aside some funds for a sink today, thanks for reminding me.

:thumbup: That's what I have in my basement, makes life so much easier. I also built a little wooden stand behind it and mounted my ro unit. It's a simple but effective and saves me from lugging water to or from other parts of the house. I also have a floor drain that's is capped of but easily opened if I need to drain a lot of water.

 

[motajardinero]

I have been growing in basements of various shape and size and climate for about 7 years. First, as has been said, you need to clean it as good as possible. Depending on the size, it may be advisable to "frame" off the areas you are going to use if the basement is big enough. To frame, I use 2"x2" half studs, unless a door or heavy load bearing wall is needed. To enclose, i use Rboard or cellotex foam insulation board. The best an cleanest way to attach these to the stud is WITHOUT adhesive. Instead, use a drywall screw through a patch of duct tape on the screw side of the rboard. Counter sink the screw just barely past the edge of the board. This can be a little touchy and very easy to go right though the board, but the duct tape should act kinda like a washer. Much less mess than liquid nails, and when you need to expand or clean, you can just unscrew the rboard and use it again. IMHO much better and more customizable option (and most likely cheaper) than tents.

 

[SeaMaiden]

:thumbup: That's what I have in my basement, makes life so much easier. I also built a little wooden stand behind it and mounted my ro unit. It's a simple but effective and saves me from lugging water to or from other parts of the house. I also have a floor drain that's is capped of but easily opened if I need to drain a lot of water.

It's too cold to keep the RO/DI unit in the basement, so what I've done is run a feed line to a trash can from the RO unit that's in the laundry room, out through a window and into the basement. That shit needs cleaning up in a big, big way, it's just completely ghetto.

 

[joe guy]

But ghetto is the new cool thing to do..lol damn good idea of the sink in the room...

 

[The_Core]

I like all the different ideas on this thread. I didnt even consider if I am growing in the basement, i will have to carry all that water up and down the stairs. I have a stealth RO 100 GPD, I guess I can try to find an attachment in the basement? Or maybe put a line in that runs to the basement?

 

[PunkAssWeed]

My newest grow is in cellar. small cellar w:120cm x d:120cm x h:80cm. (120cm=4feet aprox) i thougt it was bit too low so i dig it to be 120x120x120. everything went well until the first rains. it flooded same amount as i had digged my 10days old seedling were floating here and there,very shocking image!

I have now started to think am i able to grow there at all,mostly cause of mold. my growbox(wooden,chipboard) has mold in it,there is mold here and there in cellar.. there have been heavyrains couple of week so cellar have been flooded whole time. cellar has a ground floor and its quite humid,dont have hygrometer yet but guess 90%or so. there is two airvents, bit blocked though.

My next plan is to fill the hole i digged and build a new grow box same but 80cm high and use nonmoldy material Styrofoam examle. i though scrog but i have my doubt about it,dense growth is easier to catch mold. i think it would be better to let plants grow freely and use vertical hps.

Any ideas/suggestions about this project? wasting my time?

-PAW

 

[Iffy-Caradoc]

Hi folks,
Noticed the thread and had to post this. The grow space I've most envied - ever, was a basement type. It was an old concrete bunker built under a turf bank in a pals farm in Mid Wales. It was about 40 ft long and about 30 wide. Had ventilation pipes that came up into an overgrown patch. If you didn't know it was there, you would never have found it. Even the doorway was concealed with a heavy hatch, down some stairs to a solid, riveted door.
He had no idea why it had been built in the first place but he knew what he was going to do with it. It took him 3 years but he built it. He dug out a 70 yard long channel with a digger to divert a nearby stream, so that it flowed closer to the bank. He installed a water wheel driven generator that feeds a huge bank of batteries. This powers the whole grow and more - completely off grid!
I still dream of a place like that - one day maybe, but not in this life!

Stay safe

 

[The_Core]

Hi folks,
Noticed the thread and had to post this. The grow space I've most envied - ever, was a basement type. It was an old concrete bunker built under a turf bank in a pals farm in Mid Wales. It was about 40 ft long and about 30 wide. Had ventilation pipes that came up into an overgrown patch. If you didn't know it was there, you would never have found it. Even the doorway was concealed with a heavy hatch, down some stairs to a solid, riveted door.
He had no idea why it had been built in the first place but he knew what he was going to do with it. It took him 3 years but he built it. He dug out a 70 yard long channel with a digger to divert a nearby stream, so that it flowed closer to the bank. He installed a water wheel driven generator that feeds a huge bank of batteries. This powers the whole grow and more - completely off grid!
I still dream of a place like that - one day maybe, but not in this life!

Stay safe

That sure sounds like a nice setup. Off the grid power leaves you with endless options. And having a bunker to grow in sure helps. I guess if you had a huge basement it would be kind of the same, but that water wheel generator would sure be hard to conceal i think, Might draw attention especially if its a public water-way.

 

[Iffy-Caradoc]

That sure sounds like a nice setup. Off the grid power leaves you with endless options. And having a bunker to grow in sure helps. I guess if you had a huge basement it would be kind of the same, but that water wheel generator would sure be hard to conceal i think, Might draw attention especially if its a public water-way.

It's all cool, he's a clever lad. It's on his own land and now you can hardly see the brick wall he built to take the shaft & motor, it's all overgrown. He built some shuttering out of T&G over the wheel & pit, now the woods all weathered and the new stream overgrown, you just can't see it. Once the new stream course was established, he filled in the old stream with the spoil & seeded it with wild flowers. Now he's laughing all day - every day! He's got a beautiful wife and three lovely kids. Some people are very lucky but I don't begrudge him any of it, he's a brilliant bloke.
Stay safe