I'm sure there are many people that have asked this before, but here goes. I'm planning on building a grow room in my attic. I know, the heat is going to be a major issue. But I plan on walling it in and placing a sub floor with the proper insulation. My air handler is right next to it which I plan on tapping into for heating and air. I am not going to drywall it, will be too much of a pain in the ass (I used to hang drywall). So I will be using insulation panels that are 1/2" thick, then sealing the seams with REAL DUCT tape. The room will be 16'x8'. I have a good access to it and my spare bathroom is right below, so I am going to tap off of it with a water supply and install a sink and drain. Then place an exhaust out the back of my roof. My question is has anyone ever done this, and can they give me some pointers. I am an Architect and have done construction all my life. So I am not too worried about the building part. Just would like to hear some pros and cons. I have dabbled with growing in the past when my wife and I got out of college, mainly in the closet. But couldnt keep them there due to visting parents and reletives. So the attic is my only option. I decided to try and grow because I am just tired of trying to find weed! My wife and I are heavy smokers. She is a teacher, and I work with a bunch of "suits", so it is hard to meet fellow tokers. I would just like to hear from someone who has done something similar to what I'm trying to do. Thanks

well your biggest problem is the heat signature given off by all the heat buildup. If a police chopper does a fly bye and sees that heat, your done for!
(remember that the police scanner can only pick up the heat signature directly on the surface of objects) So if you run cooling pipes on the ceiling you can remove that risk.

secondly if your doing a hydro system for that large of a room, its going to be very very heavy I dont not recommend put your res. tanks up there unless you really reinforce the structure.

third, I recommend making a hidden staircase for easy up and down access. unless you really want to build those muscles climbing a ladder many times a day

most importantly humidity control, you'd be surprised how fast mold grows in an attic.

besides those, its really just like any other setup... measure and plan out the system before you build the rooms...







For security reasons, I do not post details about my operations (if i have operations) just helpful tips and hints on how to do it

Yeah, I've thought of the heat issue. I live in the south, so everything is hot here. Ive done some research on the thermal imageing. From what I've found, Its seems that they only use that when the think someone is growing. Just like checking the elec meter. And the way my roof is done, My ceiling will be kinda dropped below the roof line. I'd have to post a picture of it for you to understand, I just don't know how to on here. I allready plan on beefing up of the floor system. I allready have a set of stairs to the room, so I won't have to beef up my muscles too much. The room will be climent controled, so I think it will be ok, I hope. Guess I will find out the hard way. Thanks for the advice

You should be able to make it work - especially if it's your house. Homeowners can get a way with far more than renters can. Your background should come in really handing in creating the perect grow space!

One suggestion - if you build it out of foam panels, use the foil backed stuff. I built my grow cab using the stuff - built in reflectors

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Yeah, I thought about the foil stuff, but allways heard that foil makes a bad reflector. But I can't speak from experiance. I planned on a layer of that white panda plastic stuff. And I have to tip my hat to you for that grow box you made. Looks like it works great. How is your heat build up in it?

Thanks for the hat tip

I was a bit concerned about the foil thing too, but it's more like the dull side of foil - reflects and diffuses the light - I haven't seen any evidence of hot spots.

Heat hasn't been too much of an issue - about 12 F above ambient. The shelves that my cab is made from are totally ventilated, so the bottom is pretty much open to the concrete floor below. It seems to be pretty effective as a heat sink.

Good luck with everything!

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Two thoughts...
tapping into the ac sounds cool, but what about the winter? I live in the south as well so winter means different things to different people. But at some point do you turn off the ac and crank up the heat? Even when its cooler here, the attic space in my home still stays fairly warm(probablt never get below 90ish)....Also with an attic room, keeping it cool if you ever have a power outage will be a real challenge(I live in hurricane country). A generator would probaby be able to help with the lights, but keeping it cool will still be kinda hard. Other than that, I wish I had a truly out of the way place that I could grow....BEST OF LUCK!!!

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Ive thought of the winter as well. I live in the carolinas, so right now my AC has been going non stop all summer. What I thought of doing was placing a manual valve on my air handler so I could have no AC in the main house when its cool and just AC in the grow if needed. Today is the first day its not hiting 90 and should be in the 70's for awhile, THANK GOD. This has been the worst summer! And I have been waiting for it to cool down so I can get to building up there. I even thought about getting the grow room its own system. You can get units just like in hotels that can be for heating and cooling. To be honest, I dont know what the best way is going to be yet. I guess I'm just going to do some trial and error and see what works. Thats the only thing that sucks about the south, no body builds basements if you dont have too. I grew up in PA, and just about every house has a basement. Thats why I was hoping I could get with someone on here that have ventured in the attic and had some pointers. It sucks that its my only option. Thanks for your thoughts.

yeah worry about creating a good environment for your plants b4 you even germinate. i think people should set up their rooms and let them run for a couple days to make sure everything is spot on. cause if your growing in constantly fluxing temps from high to low and vice versa your probably ganna come out with most males and hermies. your on the right track bryant but just keep on workin at it. like you said trial and error. and a whole lotta reading. ur def ganna have to a/c ur grow room. my grow room is in a bedroom and i thought i might of had to get a 5,000 btu a/c to fix the heat but its settled now that i have my lights vented. oh yeah def ganna have to vent your lights. an attic is hot enough as it is. and with the space your using your ganna need AT LEAST 2 1000 watters, thats some heat right there boy.

Yeah, I totaly plan on venting the lights. It would be my only option. Was just thinking of doing 1 1000 watt HPS. And I was looking at your ebb and grow system online. Can that be done with smalled containers? The manufacturer didnt seem to offer it with smaller containers. I think I'm going to have to do some sort of sea of green method to keep height down. I was also looking at maybe making my own system. Thanks for your help