Stealth cellar room?

[Moldymechanic]

So I’ve been lurking in the shadows on here for years, but the time has finally come for me to dive in and start my first indoor grow. I’ve recently moved in to a new place, in the kitchen there’s a narrow door that looks like a cupboard but behind it is some narrow steps that lead to a small cellar/coal Shute area. At the bottom of the steps there’s a rectangular area about 1.5x1m and on the left there’s a small door that allows access to crawl space under the foundations of the house. Straight ahead the cellar continues through a narrow passage into a small area 1.3x1.3m and this is the area I intend to turn into a small grow room. I intend to block this area off with a semi hidden door. There’s a few things I’m unsure on as a beginner and I would greatly appreciate and advice you have to offer. One thing that I’m unsure of is ventilation my plan for the moment is to remove a brick which leads to the crawl space around the houses foundations as this is where I intend to extract air is this a bad idea? I’ll be getting a sparky mate to wire in some new sockets etc. how may am I likely to need I’m presuming 2 maybe 3 double sockets? Sorry to ramble but I am getting a little excited already 

[Wacky Wardrobe]

26 minutes ago, Moldymechanic said:

One thing that I’m unsure of is ventilation my plan for the moment is to remove a brick which leads to the crawl space around the houses foundations as this is where I intend to extract air is this a bad idea?

As long as the crawl space is really well ventilated it should be OK I would have thought.

It would be better if you could duct it to outside like through an air brick or something.

You will be extracting warm moisture laden air so the concern is moisture build up and condensation leading to mould and rotting timbers etc.

ATB

[Moldymechanic]

Just now, Wacky Wardrobe said:the concern is moisture build up and condensation leading to mould and rotting timbers etc.

I’ve thought about that, it is a possibility but it would be a long duct/pipe, I was thinking though it is kinda drafty under there, could a fan or dehumidifier in there help at all? It’s not a huge grow and it’s the entire under the house it goes from about 4 foot to 2 foot space head room wise all under the house. What do you think?

[Wacky Wardrobe]

If it's nice and draughty under there I reckon it should be OK.

 

BTW:

50 minutes ago, Moldymechanic said:

So I’ve been lurking in the shadows on here for years

Seven?

That's a whole lot of lurking :-)

Good luck with the new hobby mate.

[Military Grade]

Did you move into Josef Fritzl old house?

[Personunknown]

Good luck and welcome

[Moldymechanic]

2 hours ago, Wacky Wardrobe said:

If it's nice and draughty under there I reckon it should be OK.

 

BTW:

Seven?

That's a whole lot of lurking :-)

Good luck with the new hobby mate.

I did a bit of outdoor for a while when I first joined

[Wacky Wardrobe]

Just now, Moldymechanic said:

I did a bit of outdoor for a while when I first joined

Aha..! I did think about that after I posted.

Have you got any out this year?

I have a few out on a balcony and more at a guerilla plot I can't get to at the moment cos I've just had a new knee op.

I'm expecting a progress update from my mate who lives near the plot later this morning.

[monkeypig]

As someone with loads of basement grow experience, I would advise to get your ducting venting all the way to the outside. Ignore people saying that if it's well ventilated it'll be fine  -Wrong.  Get your ducting all the way to the outside, be it air bricks or whatever. If you don't you WILL end up with damp issues under your house, and guess what, you don't want that. 

 

Once you've got the ventilation under control your next concern is is your area properly tanked? If not get this done too, otherwise you will be fighting mold and damp forever. Get this sorted and you will have steady cooler temperatures that allow you to vent the cool air through your grow. 

 

But did I say - get your exhaust out of your building if you want to save a load of problems in the fabric of your home.

[Cakeyb]

Welcome to the light from the shadows.

 

be keen to see some progress once you get going, I’m a sucker for pictures of damp basements where people do illegal stuff, wait that came out wrong. 
 

grow diary I meant grow diary

[mysticriver]

6 hours ago, Moldymechanic said:

is this a bad idea?

there would also be a build-up of growing smells, should u not vent up & out of the building

if ur house is terraced on a street full, a build-up of that smell would be a bad idea 

u might need to consider a carbon filter to scrub the air (if u cant stop smells getting out)

and like u say a dehumidifier to control high r/h if u cant get fresh air in

 

 

mystic

[Slippy One]

Here's my take on the Fritzl room. Not a basement but you really must vent outside. Take air from the warm house and vent outdoors if you can. The door could have a book case on hinges for super stealth.

 

 

[Guest anarchycamp]

I'm in the same boat as yourself, just with more headroom. Get that extraction going outside and you'll be fine.

 

It's the sheer cost of wood that's getting me done in, but once done will have 3 more rooms to the house

[Guest anarchycamp]

@MoldymechanicIm in the same boat as yourself, just with more headroom. Properly creamed my panties when I figured it was there

Get that extraction going outside, it's not worth the hassle of problems down the line 

 

It's the sheer cost of wood that's getting me done in, but once done will have 3 more rooms to the house Couldnt even use a normal ladder

Plan for the entrance is to bolt a bed for the dog onto it and use remote hydraulics to open it

You've got me all giddy, atb!

[Moldymechanic]

1 hour ago, mysticriver said:

there would also be a build-up of growing smells, should u not vent up & out of the building

if ur house is terraced on a street full, a build-up of that smell would be a bad idea 

u might need to consider a carbon filter to scrub the air (if u cant stop smells getting out)

and like u say a dehumidifier to control high r/h if u cant get fresh air in

 

 

mystic

I’m am intending to use the best carbon filter I can afford, stealth really is key for me and very important. I do have visitors (family etc) that I wouldn’t want to find out what I was up to. Also got a newborn baby so I want it all done right. Safety and stealth are my main goals. Seen as no one’s been down there if I block the space off well enough hopefully I can make it look like it doesn’t even exist. I’ll be insulating the room as best I can for sound. I’ll also try to seal the area off to make it clean and easy to wipedown. With venting under the house I should be able to come up with some sort of solution for silencing the extraction noise coming from under the house.