New Grow Room Build 4 x 2.4 x 2.7

Hi all, I've just recently come back to RIU and thought that I would share a new project that I'm currently working on.

The plan is a L4 * W2.4 * H2.7 completely sealed grow room running 6kW for 20 autopot twin hydro trays.

The idea is to have a room that doesn't require much in the way of maintenance and with the the autopots, it's simply a matter of ensuring there is enough nutrient solution in the res and that the lights are at the correct height. No daily checks of PH or EC, no watering, no lifting pots, just set up and enjoy the show.

The room it self is custom built by me using 50mm refrigeration panelling and aluminium angle. The size of the room was determined by the space that I had to build it in, I would have liked to make it bigger but it was not possible. I do plan on building more of these in the future if this one runs well, so consider this a test for a much bigger set up.

So first, we have our raw material


And some really rough sketching (after a few bowls, so I had to recheck all the math, haha.)

Then to the computer to create a set of schematics


I didnt get any photos of us cutting the panals, but it was messy and unpleasent, here are the walls up


And the roof going on, a fork lift makes things a lot easier.

And the last two are the inside angle being riveted and a picture of the room completed.



All that's left for the room itself is for the doors to be built and attached, and holes to be cut for the ventilation system and AC, that should all be done by the end of this week with the equipment going in over the weekend. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask.

Reserved for update

looks great dude look fine!!!!!

What are you using for framing/support?

DapperDon said:

What are you using for framing/support?

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There is no framing, the panels are made out of 50mm of Styrofoam sandwiched between 2 pieces of colourbond steel. These are strong enough to support them themselves. I use aluminium angle and C channel to hold it all together at the corners. If it was any bigger, I would need to go to 75mm panels for the roof, but 50 is fine for this size.

miccyj said:

There is no framing, the panels are made out of 50mm of Styrofoam sandwiched between 2 pieces of colourbond steel. These are strong enough to support them themselves. I use aluminium angle and C channel to hold it all together at the corners. If it was any bigger, I would need to go to 75mm panels for the roof, but 50 is fine for this size.

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How strong are the roof panels? What kind of weight can they support? Also, are these panels hard to cut through for ducting and electrical/plumbing?

DapperDon said:

How strong are the roof panels? What kind of weight can they support? Also, are these panels hard to cut through for ducting and electrical/plumbing?

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While riveting the it all together both myself and my mate were rolling around on the roof panels, so that was about 170kg crawling around and drilling holes, I would be comfortable with twice that on the roof once it was all riveted together, so no problems holding lights and ballasts (which are going to be on the roof for this).

For smaller holes, ill be using a standard hole saw in a power drill, for the 12" hole for the main exhaust, ill be using a jigsaw, this can be a pain but if it's done slowly the results are acceptable. That only thing that needs to done after drilling the holes is to protect cable from the edge of the steel (if not, would lead to a very well fuelled fire), I'm doing this by using foam tube, kinda how clones are held by an ezy cloner.

If I recall correctly, the panels lock together with a cam right? I am on the fence on building out a sealed room with conventional timber framing, insulation and the rest of the gang. But this has me interested as I love all things modular. What are your plans for door fabrication? Try using a deburring tool http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/Abrasives/Deburring-Tools?navid=12100012 on those cutouts and a router with a compass on the larger diameter holes.

Why 6000 watts in a 4 x 2.5

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One 600 lights that much space...

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Smart looking. Very clean.
I was talking to a guy who builds catering trailers from grp panels and formed aluminium extrusion. I couldn't help thinking about doing the same thing for a grow room. looks like yours will be excellent if it carries on in the same manner.

DapperDon said:

If I recall correctly, the panels lock together with a cam right? I am on the fence on building out a sealed room with conventional timber framing, insulation and the rest of the gang. But this has me interested as I love all things modular. What are your plans for door fabrication? Try using a deburring tool http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/Abrasives/Deburring-Tools?navid=12100012 on those cutouts and a router with a compass on the larger diameter holes.

Click to expand...

I'll knock off the burr with a file, but still better to insulate, power cable on a bare metal edge is a bad combo plus allows of air leaks and where I'm growing, there must be absolutely no smell.

I like your idea about the router and compass, have you ever used a router on sheet metal? I wonder if they make router bits specific for this kind of thing, I'll have to look into it, thanks for the tip.

The panels interlock with a tongue+groove which is is filled with a type of putty that doesnt go hard (I cant remember the name of it, lol) and keeps it all nice and air tight.

The doors will be made of the same material and attached with the same type of hinge used on truck trailer doors. I should have this built tomorrow and I'll post pics.

I've built a number of sealed rooms the traditional way and got this idea while walking around costco's freezer section which is built with these panels, haha. So far the cost is comparable and with two people the build is a lot easier (but a compressor, air rivet gun and air caulking gun are a must).

kmog33 said:

Why 6000 watts in a 4 x 2.5

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Click to expand...

I should have mentioned, most of my dimensions are metric, so it would be 13'x7.8' otherwise you would be right, that would be alot of light for such a small room, hahaha

Growan said:

Smart looking. Very clean.
I was talking to a guy who builds catering trailers from grp panels and formed aluminium extrusion. I couldn't help thinking about doing the same thing for a grow room. looks like yours will be excellent if it carries on in the same manner.

Click to expand...

Thanks, we're kinda learning as go but the material is pretty easy to work with once it's all cut (which proved a challenge in itself, tape measure is really hard to read after 2 cones, hahahaha)

miccyj said:

The panels interlock with a tongue+groove which is is filled with a type of putty that doesnt go hard (I cant remember the name of it, lol) and keeps it all nice and air tight.

Click to expand...

Oh it's called Mastic, it forms a skin when it comes in contact with the air but stays soft and can be cleaned off pretty easy, so if I ever want to reuse the panels after taking the room down i simply clean off the old and re-apply.

miccyj said:

I'll knock off the burr with a file, but still better to insulate, power cable on a bare metal edge is a bad combo plus allows of air leaks and where I'm growing, there must be absolutely no smell.

I like your idea about the router and compass, have you ever used a router on sheet metal? I wonder if they make router bits specific for this kind of thing, I'll have to look into it, thanks for the tip.

The panels interlock with a tongue+groove which is is filled with a type of putty that doesnt go hard (I cant remember the name of it, lol) and keeps it all nice and air tight.

The doors will be made of the same material and attached with the same type of hinge used on truck trailer doors. I should have this built tomorrow and I'll post pics.

I've built a number of sealed rooms the traditional way and got this idea while walking around costco's freezer section which is built with these panels, haha. So far the cost is comparable and with two people the build is a lot easier (but a compressor, air rivet gun and air caulking gun are a must).


I should have mentioned, most of my dimensions are metric, so it would be 13'x7.8' otherwise you would be right, that would be alot of light for such a small room, hahaha


Thanks, we're kinda learning as go but the material is pretty easy to work with once it's all cut (which proved a challenge in itself, tape measure is really hard to read after 2 cones, hahahaha)

Click to expand...

Lol got it that makes way more sense.

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I have used a router with metal working. You just need to make sure to use a carbide tip. None of the high speed steel cheap shit. But the results are perfect when you need a perfect hole in the middle of something.

DapperDon said:

I have used a router with metal working. You just need to make sure to use a carbide tip. None of the high speed steel cheap shit. But the results are perfect when you need a perfect hole in the middle of something.

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Thanks, I'm gonna look into this today.

Well today was shit, a supplier delivered the wrong seals for my doors, they wont have the right ones to me till Monday, looks like the room wont be up and running this weekend. GRRRR

hmmm, I seem to remember being able to edit posts, oh well.

So, after a long list of problems including wrong parts, broken tools, work getting really busy, a wedding and a funeral, we were finally able to build the stupid door.

Here are some shots of the construction:



Finished door showing seal (bottom seal will be attached when the door is mounted:


The door in position ready to be mounted (hopefully tomorrow):


Whats left:
-Reinforce and mount the door
-Drill/Cut holes in the walls
-Install AC
-Install Ventilation
-Install Lights
-Setup autopots
and more, jeez

I'll be starting a grow journal once the room is up and running but here is a preview:


48 clones taken today, I hope the room is finished by the time they are ready.

Door is attached, next week the AC and the rest of our equipment goes in. Almost there.

miccyj said:

Door is attached, next week the AC and the rest of our equipment goes in. Almost there.

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Excellent craftsmanship. This has me more interested with each post. Keep up the great work.