CustomCloset’s guide to Building a Custom Stealth Grow Closet Pics!!

customcloset · #1 09-19-2009, 11:15 PM

So let me first give you some insight as to what I am trying to achieve.

My objective is to supply myself with QUALITY bud on a consistent basis, however I have some limitations. I live smack in the middle of a 14 story building in a very urban area, and my apartment (although plenty expensive) is only 380 sq feet. My living room doubles as a bedroom which has a nice queen size Murphy bed in there. That is connected to the kitchen which leads to the bathroom… NOT MUCH ROOM. I entertain occasionally before hitting the clubs so I need an extremely stealth grow. Whatever I build will be seen by everybody who comes into my apartment.

So I’m looking for an actual piece of furniture that won’t stand out in my place (ie matches shit to a degree) but large enough for the 400 watt setup.

I know it is long but it is informative if you are considering building a truly stealth grow cabinet… than it is a must read!!. Happy reading and ALL FEEDBACK IS WELCOME!!

CustomCloset’s guide to Building a Custom Stealth Grow Closet
By CustomCabinet
(Don’t forget to ++Rep me it this helps you!!)

Cabinet building

I didn’t want to start from scratch… that’s just to difficult to make it not stand out, and those cabinets most people here (the 7ft by 3ft garage cabinets) HaH… not quite stealthy enough for a 380 sq foot pad.. know what I mean…

Here is how it went for me…

Saturday September 12
I found this cabinet on craigslist it is a maple sliding door wardrobe 3ft wide x 2ft Deep x 5ft high. PERFECT! (besides the sliding part but I’m handy I can fix that) $62 (negotiated from 75)

Shity pic I know but it is a scanned copy of a print out from craigslist (forgot to get a pic of the empty pallet)

Because the cabinet’s base was only quarter inch veneer, I ripped that out and built a rectangular base out of 2x4s and screwed them into the sides of the cabinet (and themselves). I then cut a piece of 7/16 OSB to fit for the bottom.

I also realized that the wardrobe walls were only a quarter inch thick… not cool considering I need the unit to be as inaudible as possible.

To remedy this I bought two sheets of 7/16 OSB, liquid nails and foam insulation. I put thin strips of wood on the inside of the wardrobe so there would be a half inch gap between the CFB and the maple side. You can see how this turned out in the picture with the hole cut out for the ductwork… I wish I would have bought 2 cans of foam insulation… or three… but what can you do…

I then used a shit tone of liquid nails and then sprayed the area with the foam insulation and quickly screwed the wafer board on. This left me with maple cabinetàfoam insulationàOSBàGrow Area… should be soundproof (to a degree)
Sunday September 13
Got locked out of my apartment while cutting a board in the stairwell… had to wait 5 hr for the night watchman to show up and let me in.. FUCK LIFE. (note… I was in ripped and painted on jeans, scrubby t shirt and no shoes, no socks, no wallet, no cell, no keys. I had a receipt from lowes, 49 cents, my circular saw and the board I was cutting!!!!!…)

I did manage to use 2.5 tubes of ultra white calk though and some strip molding to air tight the grow cabinet… the passive air intakes will have filters… this should reduce the chance of my girls getting infested with bugs, but I’ll be building them on wed.

Monday September 15
Today I spent a lot of time on the front face of the cabinet… I have designed the cabinet so that the left hand door will be the only access to the plants, while the right hand door will be sealed to the plants and present all knobs, switches, timer faces, and fan speed adjustments…

For the outside I chose “Churchill hotel Ivory (it is yellowish… but it matches the tile in the bathroom and it is a nice bright color and that will make it seem smaller to the eye… think stealth… haha…
Pic

The face plate of the unit was a bit tricky to make, you will need some ‘advanced tools’ to get this done. I used half in x 4in pine… although I ised an edger a miter box saw as well as a table saw… let me know if you want more details here!!

customcloset · #2 09-19-2009, 11:19 PM

Ventilation
For the ventilation I used two Shaded Pole Blowers from grainger ( I set up a knowers business accout online paid cash at the regester) here is the link http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/1TDN9

Each fan is rated at 75 CFM for a total of 150 CFM ( keep in mind the box is only 2x3x5 ) which should be plenty… the reason I went for 2 smaller fans is because I wanted one to run 24/7 for venting while the other is linked with the cool tube and only kicks on with the ballast and lamp.

The duct work was a little tricky I have a 6 in inlet into the cooltube, but because I was limited by my width I could not get a reducer to get the 6in cool tube to the 4in hose ( there is a 4 to 3 in inch reducer epoxyed onto the blower ) (yes the blower inlet is 3 inches)…

To remedy this I diy-ed it.. I got a 6 inch cap and a 4in male to male connecter, chopped the connection to and cut in inch strips by a half in wide into the connector cut a 4in hole into the connecter and screwed (s10 screws= amazing) them together and then used duct tape to seal it.

The other fan mounted in the top right corner was left open and it’s intake is pointed directly at the ballast ( which it mounted to the ceiling )… this should not only cool the ballast but keep it relatively free of airborne debris.

Both fans vent out of two holes cut into the top of the cabinet

I will eventually do a diy carbon filter but my ladies are only 2 weeks from seed so no need to fret about that one yet…

I also plan on cutting and painting a piece of 2x 6 to lay on top of the cabinet to cover both of the holes when I have company over.

Also the back of the cabinet has 3 holes cut into it ( I use a jigsaw to cut my holes )

The top left is the intake for the cooltube and the bottem 2 are my passave intakes (with filters). The passave air intakes are mearly 3 and a half inch drain pipe elbows set in there with what else… liquid nails (love that stuff) just make sure you give it time to dry!

customcloset · #3 09-19-2009, 11:29 PM

Lighting, Ballast, and cooltube
These were all purchased at worms way in cash (can’t get better than that)links to what I have
Ballast http://www.wormsway.com/detail.aspx?...ku=LDB142&AC=1
Cooltube http://www.wormsway.com/detail.aspx?...u=SASC190&AC=1
The lamps are not on the website but I got a 400w MH and a 400 HPS

To hang the cooltube I used the supports that had previously held up the hang bar of the wardrobe, I clipped a carabineer onto it and used a chain attacher thingy (hardware isle at Home depot.. spend an hour there.. u will find them)

On the inside of the cabinet I used one coat of primer (kilz) and two HEAVY coats (used an entire quart) of flat white paint.

Electrical Set Up

Just a preface… I did work as a union electrician for a couple of years before I went to college (seniors 2010 fuck yea…oh wait … recession damn it… ) Feel free to ask questions if you have them!!!

As stated in the cabinet bulding brief I wanted to keep all of my electrical components (switches, timers, speed control ) accessable without opening the grow cabinet… this was ticky but I did it. The right had side for the face plate
Pic
When bulding this at at the rents house (my dad has all the goodies he was in custom kitchens and bath design for oh say 30 years) I mounted the recessed box for the main switch terminal… I also did not screw on the panel for underneath it… rather I wanted to put the timer into it…

This is confusing im sure but I opened up my outdoor timmer from lowes
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=207216-251-HB350RCL36LH&lpage=none

And I disconnected the outlets… I then connected a few wires to make a ‘whip’ that runs up into the timer control box on the left here

I also ran the power to the box..
Here is a diagram (pictures are worth a thousand words)
See the attached drawling
Note the key in the drawling…(the switch on the far left in the actual pics is a dummy switch fyi)

Note that I used flex conduit inside of the box… not only will this keep everything safe, but also allow me to clean between grows easily and without worry…

I cut a hole into the panel for the right hand side of the cabinet and used liquid nails to set it into place. Only the face with the timer and power on of are accessible from the outside… all the wires are behind, inside of the cabinet.

It is important to understand that I cut the plugs off of all of the devices in my closet and hard wired everything. While this is foolish if you plan on changing or set up but it is crucial to keep things tidy and clean… I recommend this if you are constructing a set up to last, I further recoment splicing your tail from the cooltube to the ballast… out of the factory mone was 6 of 8 ft long…wtf I only need three feet …mabie just splice it and tape it and its good as gold (let me know if you need help with this ) But remember think about it look at it think about it again… then cut your wire… this is not an instant hobby, nore should be building your grow cabinet!!!

customcloset · #4 09-19-2009, 11:33 PM

Wrap up

To lock the cabinet I am using a tot lock kit… this way there is no lock from the outside viewer but if you try to be nosy there is no way to open the door…(there are not even any handles on the doors… just make it look nice, but I don’t want to invite them to open it(or even try!!)).

Over all I am happy with my new set up… I am about $1,200 poorer but just think of all that QUALITY mj I will enjoy for the life of my custom grow closet.

Hope this helps !!!
CustomCloset

customcloset · #5 09-19-2009, 11:45 PM

Electircal diagram did not make it... here ya go

dhhbomb · #6 09-20-2009, 12:32 AM

looks very nice but what about noise im sure there will be alot from the fan and smell but its prob as steath as it can be

customcloset · #7 09-20-2009, 12:39 AM

well the noise is less than when i open my window mabie similar to that of a microwave when both fans are on (as well as the 6 in on the inside ) the wood absorbs that noise like no other....as for odor... im going to do the diy carbon filter and blend it in as a decorative vase or something covering the hole on the top of the cabinet (mabie a vase or some shit )
... thanks for the comment

dontexist21 · #8 09-20-2009, 01:04 AM

Maybe you could hide the carbon filter in a small cabinet or tote that goes on top of the cabinet, it would allow for a bigger carbon filter. Nice design +rep

customcloset · #9 09-20-2009, 01:07 AM

Yea... thats a good thought... I have time my girls are 10 days from seed, but thanks fro the input and thanks for the rep!

Speaker Box D · #10 09-20-2009, 08:32 AM

That's an awesome diy project, thanks for the ideas, one question,

What's the temps running in there light on/light off?

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