Secret door to my new room

I have a room that is 10' x 10' in the back garage of my home. I am going to build a divider wall that will section the area into two smaller rooms, a 5.5 'x 10' area, and a 4.5' x 10' area. So when you walk into the room, it will appear to be a smaller room, when there is actually four feet behind the wall.

I've always wanted to put a secret door in, and I can't see a better time then now. I have a 5'h x 3'w foot cabinet with two doors on the front, I am going to take the shelves and the back out, and it is what I'm going to use for my "secret door". Ill frame out a 4.5h x 2.5w hole in the wall. Then up goes the drywall. Slide the cabinet in front of the hole (Giving the cabinet 3 inches all the way around the famed hole in the wall). Add some light proof where the cabinet meets the wall, And BAM! My new secret hideout.

Once stepped through the passage, Im going to have to areas set up.
To the left, I will have a 2x4 table set up for vegging and clones, under (4) 40 watt 48 inch fluorescent tubes.
To the right, I will have a 4 x 4 area set up for flowering, under my 400 watt HPS.

For air flow and ventilation, Two or so oscilating fans on the wall and on a shelf should do fine. Im not sure about an intake yet, or if I need one. For my exhaust, I'm going to be able to tap into a chimney, I have a large squirell cage fan to push my heat and stinky weed air straight up and out.

What would one do about keeping the light from leaking in each area, Anyone have an clever/cheap ideas?

Im going to start cleaning the room out tomorrow, I'd like to have the wall up within a week or two. Any comments or ideas to improve any of my far from expert plans are greatly appriciated. Thanks everyone

i use a 6" exhaust and a 7" passive intake. on both of them i have taken 2 -90 degree elbows and painted them flat black on the inside. then put them together back to back so they make an "S" shape. you dont have to have them right together, you can have a section of ducting in between the elbows just have like a S and no light in or out.

i use foilfaced or regular blue RIGID INSULATION 1"thick 2'x8' or 4'x8' to make areas light tight

Rigid insulation is a great idea, How much is it per square foot? I can't see it being more then four or five bucks.

The S is also good, I'll def. use one for my intake.

I'd love to see pictures of this

Wall construction starts tomorrow, Ill take a trip to Menards in the morning for (16) 2x4's-8 foot pieces, insulation, drywall, a 4" T connector for exhaust, (2) 4" 45 degree elbow connectors for intake. A family member who is helping with the wall came up with a new idea for the door, instead of just gutting the cabinet and walking through it, he elected to build hinges and suspend the cabinet with a large brace. So it would open like a door. That way a suspicious lock wont be needed on the outside of the cabinet, and we can still store things in the cabinet. I had told him that might be biting off more then we can chew, but he promised a stealth door with no light leaks. Im going to be using a bathroom exhaust fan that I bought a while back, it will clear the room out pretty well. Where do I get digital timer that can turn the fan off and on many times a day?

It aint a secret any longer ...

I am about to do something simular. I have seen all these shows on tv about houses with secret rooms, hallways, ect. and have been wanting to build one for some time now. I don't want to half ass do it though. I would like to have some trigger mechanism that when triggered will open the door (like a book in a bookcase). I would also like it so that I could sit and drink a few beers with some cops right next to it and them never have any idea there was a grow op just a few feet away.

Is yours going to lock like mine?

so much for a secret door

Jase, As for a locking mechanism, thats a little further in development. I googled plans for a secret door and a couple really detailed blueprints came up for a great bookshelf secret door, you should check that out. I only didn't do it because it takes an experience carpenter.

what about using magnets to hold the door shut? Only thing you need to do is make sure the door is balanced otherwise it will swing open all the time. Or electromagnetic setup that would hold the door closed until you turned the power off. Maybe too high tech!?!

get a cabinet that has locking doors. i found one on ebay for 200 bucks.

also when you cut the hole in the wall behind the cab, why not use peel n stick zippers and some black/white mylar to create a zipper door. that'll hold in light if you attach two vertical zippers along the sides. To make it smell proof I would add duct tape across the bottom of the mylar door to the wall each time you go in and out.

If you cant get a cab with locking doors then how about magnets and wood screws. just screw the doors in place with wood screws when your not inside... you could even paint the screws the same stain color as the wood cab. anyway that should help keep people from taking a quick peek.

I think it would just be easier and more cost effective to put the whole thing on hinges. Then you have a working cabinet, PLUS a secret door. Just go to the Home De Pot and look for "Hidden Hinges" that can hold like 500 lbs or something. Or better yet, just ask one of the sales reps what they would do to construct a secret door into your "workshop"

beginningbotanist420 said:

I think it would just be easier and more cost effective to put the whole thing on hinges. Then you have a working cabinet, PLUS a secret door. Just go to the Home De Pot and look for "Hidden Hinges" that can hold like 500 lbs or something. Or better yet, just ask one of the sales reps what they would do to construct a secret door into your "workshop"

Click to expand...

lol most of the home depot reps i have dealt with couldnt find there nose to pick it, let alone help you with a secret door. nothing against home depot reps so dont take offense, just havnt dealt with any good ones.
i always wanted a secret room myself. kind of had a small one but my wife seen me come out of it and she was like nice little room you have there. lol there goes my secret.

Nice idea. My buddy has a rom for his oil tanks, it had a bookself that pulls out fro mthe wall, and the trim is attached to the book shelf. If you did not go looking for it, you would never know it was there. The first time I saw it I was like... damn I wish my house had a room like this, lol.

no pics ... aww shit ... i love secret doors and rooms ... i have one for my flower room not that great but you cant really tell its there, I have to wait tell my girl wakes up but i will throw some pics up. Looking forward to seeing others to!

I'll see about getting some pictures up tomorrow, I haven't made much progress within the last week as far as wall construction goes, but as of yesterday we (My dad and I) have the whole room and part of the area in front of the room clean. Now that might not sound like much, but my Fathers back garage is kind of a four car storage container. It's embarrassing actually. Although there is some of the neatest stuff in the world back there, ('81 Trans Am, 70's pinball machine, 70's coke machine, and Toga pole, to name a few) it's a mess. I am starting to hang drywall tomorrow, because the back wall doesn't have any right now. Now with today being a holiday and all, I really am not sure how long it'll take me, ha. And I just remembered I have to move a juccuzzi tub off of the stack of sheet rock! As far as insulation for the walls, I have some just regular fiberglass insulation I plan on using, extra I had. Is there any reason not to? Keep it real guys and gals.

nah man recycle that shit, pics are the way to go man should make a journal of you and your dad building the room its always fun fallowing a build to. I couldnt get my pics the lights went out and my son was messing with me so he won i will try later today since its Midnight i am just starting my 420 awww and i am well on my way to having a nice one. Have fun working on your room man take the camera in there , secret rooms is were all the fun happens

Have a good 420 man dont work to much.

http://hiddenpassageway.com/ Alright after i saw this site i couldnt show my door i have nothing on these guys but they gave me a shit load of ideas i cant wait for my house