I am building a grow cabinet to grow for personal use and wanted to document the process so that I can get feedback on design flaws or ideas. Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, or questions.

I feel much more confident having all you knowledgeable people in my corner. I have never built anything in my life. I promise details on build, materials, and of course lots of pics.

Criteria-

1. Stealth -
a) Has to be able to blend in to room.
b) Has to be reasonably quiet
c) Has to be odorless
2. Must be a cabinet design. (like the idea, safety, and ingenuity of cabs)
3. Must be at or above par with the mass produced cabinets on available by the companies that procuce them for mass sale.
4. Reasonably priced
5. Must be fully contained (Flower, Veg, Mother, Clone) with no external hardware (such as fans, ballasts, filters, res, etc.)
6. ..and of course functional

My opinions/problems i see with the cabinets on the market. Well I am not knocking people purchasing them as they are great products that I am sure deliver on their promises and have the security of help line and warranties. Also they save time in terms of design and build. Many are tried and true. After begining the build i do not know if it is worth doing it myself as the cost in time must also be considered. And time is one thing in this life you cannot buy..so there are better ways I could be spending it.

SuperCloset -
1) Poor Ventalation (in my opinion)
2) No veg/mother area (veg is really small)
3) Height of flower chamber too small
4) Monitors on external rear of cab (some models even have the filter on back of cab)
5) Poor Value
6) I am not sold on Ebb and Flow

Sunlight Sheds Cool Cab-
1) Only 18" Deep
2) Looks cheap
3) Some external components
4) Questionable ventalation
5) Poor Value
3) Separate Veg, Flower, Clone Devices or modules.

BC Bloom box
1) Has the "What the hell is that appliance look" -aka does not blend in
2) Value (these cost mad loot)
3) Read issues with heat which leads me to believe that they have ventalation issues.
4) Separate Veg, Flower, Clone Devices or modules.
5) I don't like the height restrictions and deep design of the flowering module.

Homegrown
1) External monitors
2) Heat issues which caused them to start selling them w/ external ACs
3) Separate Veg, Flower, Clone Devices or modules.
4) Value (have to upgrade everything to get what would be a great cabinet and that prices around 5,500 including upgrades)

I decided on Metal cabinets from Staples.

Why metal over wood?

Perosnal preference really but my thinking is -
1) Like the look of metal over wood
2) Cool Factor
3) Blends nicely with my office (have a server cabinet I am built with the smae cabinet).
4) Easier to clean
5) Contain internal fires better, knock on wood

This the the cabinets i chose, they are available in white and black. They are 78"x36"x24". They have different models. These are actually the snadusky Elite series with the heaveir guage steel, the three point locking recessed handel doors and cost $290 a piece with free delivery. I picked up 2.

Sandusky Large-Capacity Storage Cabinet, 78"H x 36"W x 24"D, Putty at Staples®

Note: I believe SuperCloset Deluxe uses these as well but they use the cheaper model. Their model is also 6" shorter and the white may be considered an upgrade if I remeber correctly.

I wanted metal over wood for my cabinets. Really a personal preference and harder to work with. But here is my logic-
1) Cool factor
2) Look good in my office
3) Contain internal fires better

I chose two of these cabinets in white. they are Sandusky Elite. they have 3 pont locking handels(recessed), heavier guage steel, and measure 78x36x24.

Sandusky Large-Capacity Storage Cabinet, 78"H x 36"W x 24"D, Putty at Staples®

I wanted metal over wood for my cabinets. Really a personal preference and harder to work with. But here is my logic-
1) Cool factor
2) Look good in my office
3) Contain internal fires better

I chose two of these cabinets in white. They are Sandusky Elite. They have 3 point locking handels(recessed), heavier guage steel, and measure 78h x 36w x 24d.

Cost $290 a piece at staples, so $580 total and included free delivery.

Note - SuperCloset uses these i think but use the cheaper version. they are also 72" inches tall; so these are 6" taller. If i remeber correctly they also charge an upgrade fee if you want white.

Here they are -

Very nice find I will be checking these out later on, once I am a more experienced grower.

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I started by mapping out my design on the insides with a Sharpie..

if you have the cash to drop 600 on 2 empty cabs you should just by the premade units....this will get costly in not only material but time...im not trying to discourage you in building....(I built my own)...but if you have little or no building experience...this can be a tough project to undertake.......

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my half assed grow journalshttp://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-de...oom-build.html

I now need to cut. I originally tried a Dremel rotary tool but burnt up the motor as the steel is too thick. That piece of shit..loud as hell too.

I was forced to purchase a plasma cutter that i plan to sell after this on ebay. It is sweet though, cuts steel like butter...

Thanks for the input Fury, wish I would have posted this ealier but I already made some progress. You are correct that it has turned into a pain in the butt. On the other hand though I was not impressed with the quality, value, and function of the prefab units....