gachogavacho
New Member
Ok here is the graphic. This is only 60% of the building. The other half is a separate partition with a separate entrance and is just one big ass room no office/reception or anything like that.
Legal growing in WA! - 3,600 SF indoor grow. How do I set this up optimally?
- Thread starter gachogavacho
- Start date
gachogavacho
New Member
Thanks for the advice Troll. We had talked about this and i've seen some insane vertical scrog grows done myself. Growing tech is advancing so switfly it's hard to know where to start. Do you have some links to hardware? I found alibaba.com which looks very bleh to me for the vertical LED light they have. 80 plants sounds amazing! But what will the Yield be and the quality? I wonder about setting up a custom system for something like this? I could double my production floor size or just do a larger amount in a smaller area.
I'll take a look at your journal!
ptrot420
Member
Check out "Grow Like a Pro" by Nico Escondido--He shows how to set up a grow warehouse pretty much from start to finish. Also, if your aim is to grow organically... growing in hydroponics is not the same as organically in soil with natural soil amendments; organics produce BY FAR a better quality product, while sacrificing plant yield--your mentor, Jorge Cervantes would agree.
Being a business-minded individual, you should agree that quality always wins when money is the end goal. Satisfied customers means word of mouth positive advertisement of your product, which amounts to product moving out the door quicker, despite your higher price.
Being a business-minded individual, you should agree that quality always wins when money is the end goal. Satisfied customers means word of mouth positive advertisement of your product, which amounts to product moving out the door quicker, despite your higher price.
Nizza
Well-Known Member
this guy has a sweeet setup! I'd like to see 4 or 5 of these together , and you could just spin them to access the plants https://www.rollitup.org/vertical-growing/721569-whodat-sticky-trap.html
nevergoodenuf
Well-Known Member
If all that stuff is still in the warehouse, then you already have what you need for a shelved vertical grow. Those stands look like you can do 4, maybe 5 levels with 4'x 24' of floor space. Set-up so you can access from each side. May even work with just curtains down the side, intake at one end and exhaust out the other end. This could easily get you started, the same shelves could be changed to your cloning and vegging area later. Just a thought to get the money rolling.
Dannoo93
Well-Known Member
If ur in eastern wa ill help u out lolMy first post and it's a big one
Our company will be setting up shop at a 3600 square feet building to grow, make edibles and package MJ products. We have an experienced home grower but nothing on a commercial scale. We've been soaking up all the info online and in books, Jorge Cervantes thank you so much!
Things to consider:
- We have a warehouse with VERY high ceilings. (Pictures below)
- the warehouse is partitioned in half with a long narrow reception area separating the two.
- each space has a tall 'garage door' that might be a good idea to sheetrock over them to make a 'wall'
I think this might help with keeping out pests and regulate the temperature
Our operation is being regulated by the state, for those of you who don't know. We haven't applied yet, because we're waiting on the county to hurry up and decide what zoning is allowed where. I haven't been to the property to measure it because there is still a tenant with things in the building that are obstructive but they are leaving on the 1st.
Questions I have about this are:
- Can anyone give us any pointers to how we can make the best usage of our space?
If we allowed 800SF for things not 'growing', we have 2800 grow-able square feet. If one plant, with scrog and such takes up a 4x4 area (16 sf) we can grow 175 plants, or is my math off? (my mouth is watering just imagining that many plants!)- How can we optimally hang lights and run cabling with such high ceilings?
- Should I consider 'building' mini grow rooms inside the warehouse to help with temperature and humidity concerns?
- There isn't any installed ventilation. Do i need any with such a big space?
Thank you to all who can contribute advice. This is a huge investment. I'm both excited and terrified lol
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Dannoo93
SnapsProvolone
Well-Known Member
Labor intensive techniques that worked well on small grows become to hard to manage at large scale. Just tossing that out there.
chazbolin
Well-Known Member
So true. I would like to reinforce this strategy with some early reconnaissance work you might do before you have a sit down with the building department. For the most part, this is the order I would go about doing these things as each step builds upon the previous one. From this point on we'll assume you have a property where commercial growing is accepted, a landlord agreement for the operation, security and enough power to run the operation.
1-Take notes of everything that you do that involves any government official or contractor(s). Names/time/date stamp your notes so you can go back and create a timeline in the event you have to do so.
2-Get a business license. If the county you're in will grant you a business license for commercial cultivation you have a binding legal document as to an acknowledgment and acceptance of the operation. It'll also make it harder for the building department to put up any road blocks later if the business license was granted.
3-As the owner, not the contractor or engineer, make a walk in meeting at the counter where you're going to eventually apply for a building permit. They will, or should, have written instructions on what they will require for plan submission. The purpose of this visit is to give you enough information to know what will be necessary of any contractor or engineer you hire to represent you to the building dept. Try and get as many business cards as you can during this visit. If you can score the head of the building departments card than do so. It may come in handy later. Also make sure you get a list of all plan and permit fee's. Electrical fees are often determined by size of service and number of circuits.
4-If there is any structural modifications to the building hire a licensed architect or structural engineer. This is important because if there is ever a fire or damage that the property owner can point to you and your work not being done to code and inspected under permit you will likely face a lawsuit for damages that the landlord's insurance company will deny coverage on.
5-If there are no structural modifications, only electrical and mechanical than you can act as the owner/builder to the extent that the mechanical and electrical contractors will develop single line drawings that will be submitted to the building department for issuance of a combined Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing permit. The MPE permit will require you to have given the electrical contractor a list of all the loads so he can develop load calculations and panel schedule(s). These loads must come from you and should be given to the contractor in the form of an equipment schedule. That is each piece of equipment should have a cut sheet indicating the operating voltages, full load amperage, accredited listing agencies, etc. Make sure the contractor signs for your equipment schedule having acknowledged receipt. When dealing with contractors having a signed Proof of Receipt that states something to the effect that the contractor acknowledges by accepting this package document he has been given enough information to perform the necessary design work to apply for the permit being sought. If more information is necessary the contractor agrees to notify you within 48 hours of receipt of this package that he will notify you in writing of precisely what else he requires to successfully complete the load calculations necessary for plan submission.
6-I set up rooms with energy efficient lighting and HVAC systems that enable the customer to take advantage of rebates and tax incentives to specify and install these systems. Not only do the programs help offset the initial equipment expenses the lower loads will help decrease permit fees and contractor costs on labor and materials for less energy efficient systems. To see what programs are available in your area go to; http://dsireusa.org/
7-I always try to hire contractors based on Fixed Bid/Scope contracts. This enables you to weigh one contractors bid against another when scope has been clearly identified and the work has been approved for permit by the building department. If you hire a contractor on a Time and Material basis make certain you have established benchmarks in place so that the clock is not running past when those expected benchmarks should have been completed. I also tie in any T&M contracts on a Cost Not to Exceed basis with a signed copy of the Scope and the Equipment Schedule you've provided the contractor being agreed to in advance. If I enter into a T&M contract I require the past weeks payroll summary be provided to me no later than Tuesday or Wednesday of the prior week so there is less likelihood that there will be a disagreement as to who was doing what and when.
8-T&M Contracts - Materials: This is an area that I had a contractor slip one by me. The contractor set up a Job Account at the local electrical supply house. We put a cap on the job @ $30K. I was to have been notified if contractor had costs that went above that $30K by the supply house. It didn't happen. The Job Account ended up with materials purchases that went up to $50K before the project was completed. When I got all of the invoices, 5 months worth, it was impossible to tell if every item on those invoices was put onto my project. The big ticket items checked out but with the cost of wire being what it was it became pretty clear that there was $15K worth of wire that I know was bought in bulk quantities that only partial amount were used on my job. The Job Account with the supply house had to be paid because the supply house had lien rights on the property. It was a learning experience. From this point on I won't do another Job Account and any materials that were installed on a T&M project should be given to me by the contractor on my weekly summary with a materials line item shown at cost + 15%.
9-Now that you have your permit and inspections are going to happen try and be onsite when the inspector gets to the job and get their business card if you can. I've had instances where it really came down to me getting between the contractor and the inspector to smooth out what would have been a costly undertaking had we not come to some meet in the middle agreement.
10-Make sure everything you install is as per the submitted drawings. I had a project where the customer ended up thinking they were going to add some LED lights on the project that had not been on the submitted drawings prior to final inspection. This in and of itself was not too big of an issue as additional fee's would have been all that was required but when the inspector got to looking at the LED lights and could not find a major standards agency certification such as UL, CUL or ETL on the light they had to taken down before a final inspection approval or Certificate of Occupancy was granted. I've heard of other projects where a significant investment went into equipment that was not listed and the inspectors who have a responsibility but don't always inspect for this do so to prevent electrical fires when the equipment hasn't proven to meet an accredited listing agencies safety standards.
11-Whenever I pay the contractor their final payment I make sure I've noted on the check that this payment constitutes payment in full.
In addition to these steps I also like to consider what the condition of the existing electrical system and the utility power coming into the building. If my rooms might be subject to extended power interruptions than I always find a way to run a backup generator for my critical circuits which would be set up on a panel that only serves the 'critical' circuits and would allow me to run a generator through a transfer switch, preferably automatic, in the event we suffer an intermittent or extended loss of power.
Good luck with your project.
The Honest Cannabis
New Member
Hello Gachogavacho, we too are starting a producer/processor business here in the Seattle area and have a location secured much like your own. In fact I was going to pose these very questions to this forum until I came across your thread, so thank you for getting this conversation started. It sounds as if you are going for a Tier 2 license, as are we. We should talk some time and work together. Lord knows that there is plenty of the pie to go around. Our research indicates that virtually every gram produced will be sold to retail stores. Good luck in your venture.
Scott
Scott
WeeGogs
Active Member
be very careful.
i work for an undercover government security company as an interpreter, fluent in spanish, russian, polish, chinese, english.
and i translate a lot of government documents between different departments.
barack obama is already considering making the legal marijuana in any part of the usa only legal if taken orally as a liquid.
this may be introduced as early as 2017.
so be very careful.
wink.
i work for an undercover government security company as an interpreter, fluent in spanish, russian, polish, chinese, english.
and i translate a lot of government documents between different departments.
barack obama is already considering making the legal marijuana in any part of the usa only legal if taken orally as a liquid.
this may be introduced as early as 2017.
so be very careful.
wink.
gachogavacho
New Member
I agree, Quality wins!!
I just did some searches on Nico and found a lot of info i'll need to research on. I saw some of Cervantes' videos where he made organic fertilizers using horse/cow manure (mm mm good) filterd through a bag as a sort of 'tea' by letting it steep in water for several days. That's gross, but it's organic haha!
Our goal is to be quality, although our first grow will be the most important one. I'm trying to develop brands and our plan is to have 2 brands (the quality brand and the respectable but not fantastic one).
Good thing is, in Washington when production opens in March, they will allow you to bring unlimited amounts of plants within the first 15 days you get your approval. That means my brother and our grower can grow their limit of plants, veg them for months in advance before moving them to their new location. The rules say no FLOWERING plants can be brought in, for good reason since they will pick up everything in the air and are going to be consumed (anyone ever found hair in their bud from a dispensary? *cringe*) but then we all know some strains can veg forever and then flower it up for a month or more and we'll be ready packaged and retail-able in 6 to 8 weeks after opening.
After the 15 day period you can only buy seeds and plants from other licensed producers/processors. Curiously, does that ALL of the plants in WA state will forever only be the only strains? I'd love to be able to import exotic strains from spain and canada, or anywhere but I'm doing this 100% within regulation as to not break the law.
ptrot420
Member
Thats good to hear... "Legal" ugghhhhh I have to wait til 12/5/13 for our state hearing.. In the meantime Ive got to be clandestine with it... Need any helpers? LOL just kidding. Congrats on your building now.. When are you going to upload some photos of the place? Its yours officially now right?
gachogavacho
New Member
Well i don't know if those belong to the building, but we'll be able to take measurements, better pictures and see a vacant space in a week.
Vertical grows seem like a great Idea and I just watched that Nico Escondido video, lots of good information, just Like Jorge Cervantes and the good people on this forum.
gachogavacho
New Member
Just a few more days then! We are waiting to hear back from the county on Monday. then it is the official zoning ruling. They want MJ biz, but are not sure about how to zone for it. I told them to just match the state's expectations as they really thought it out very well and limiting it further will create a lot of dissatisfied people with all the business cramming into one area of the county and this county is not very populous.
gachogavacho
New Member
Wow, inventive. I like it. I keep seeing pics of the build for a lot of these but never the final outcome or analyze the data for us to see if it works well.