The Loft Room

[GreenVision]

Hi all, had mentioned in a few topics over the last few months how I've got the loft groom up and coming, well its all but done now and I thought I'd show a few pics and details of what I did up there.

 

To give you an idea of the dimensions I was working with, the entire loft measured 7.8m in length  x 6.4m in width. The area I had that I wanted to work with was the full length of 7.8m and the width was 3.1m across as any wider would have just been too low, plus there was some cross beams etc to fix the uprights / walls too. The area is split into two main areas with the chimney breast seperating them smack in the center of the loft. One side is slightly smaller than the other by maybe 500mm in length. It has a max height of 1.9m at the apex and the room eventually narrows down to 1m in height.

 

 

First off was the big rip out, I stipped it back to brick, drywall on downstairs ceiling and roof tiles / felt. All the old insulation was removed first, which was maybe the WORST fucking job I've done in my life. I dont envy those poor sods that do that for a living I really dont. I had a full suit, goggles and half mask for the job and it still made me itch.

 

This is what I had to begin with once all the general shit was removed.

 

 

 

 

 

You can already see where the walls were going, those two cross beams were about as stright as a roundabout but I made it work by using CLS studwork to bring them out another 35mm and straighten them out.

 

So once the insulation was all out I got the work hoover up there and hoovered out the 50 years of dust and cobwebs. Then I took the 10L pump n spray up there with a good solid bleach / water mix and just went mad spraying every inch of it to clean it all as best I could.

 

 

Next I laid the new MineralWool insulation, used 100mm bottom layer between the joists and used 18mm thick OSB on top of that over the joists for the floor.

 

 

I had to cut the boards down the center long ways to get them through the loft hatch but it took a total of NINE 2.4m x 1.2m boards to get the job done.

 

 

The roof insulation caused quite a head scratch... Originaly I was going to go soild with Celotex or Kingspan etc, but that stuff is 10 times the price of roll and often if its not fitted right isn't even as good at insulating. So after seeing that not a signle rafter was either straight or equal measurement between them I decided to just go with more MineralWool insulation.

 

It was a pain in the arse, I had to use tape to get it to stay up but in the end it was 10% the price of celotex and I was glad I choose it.

 

 

 

The tape made boarding over it so much easier.

 

 

 

With the drywall I used 9mm for the roof as its about 20% lighter than the usual 12.5mm, I got in touch with someone I used to work with that really knows their stuff and they assured me the roof rafters were more than capeable of supporting the 12.5mm if I wanted to use it, but the thermal properties are almost the same so I went with the 9mm just o be sure.

 

 

The walls are 12.5mm boards though.

 

 

 

 

You can see my new intake in the wall here. I have put an 8" RVK outside the side walls I've built that pulls air from downstairs via a vent in the spare room, it then splits twice and eventually ends up pusing air out of four 4" vents in the walls at each end of the loft.

 

This is the two pieces of ducting hanging out the side of the just boarded walls either end.

 

 

 

 

I want to mention here that the ENTIRE loft is one huge room, but only one end is for growing, the other end will eventually have a very small clone and mum tent and is for all my spare equipment and feeds etc etc. That said I thought it best to feed the fresh air in from both ends so the loft doesn't get and damp areas or hot spots. For the purposes or air circualtion the loft is one entire area.

 

This is the other end, the smaller of the two either side of the chimney after I had spent two days rubbing down the tape and joining, a pet hate of mine, never liked sanding.

 

 

 

 

 

The center beam you can see in the above pic runs all the way through the loft, a SERIOUS pain in my arse as I have to have the grow either side of it. But that aside the grow area I've ended up with has a floor space of 2.4m long and 2m wide, which gives me enough room to squeeze down either side to water etc.

 

 

The groom is now home to 12 Autos, but its not quite finished. I had to get something in there as I dont want to be without bud at the holidays (hence the autos), but there's still a few things I want to finish off.

 

I've used the chimney breast, once boarded, to be a home for the 315w ballasts.

 

 

 

Created a little air gap behing them to help with the heat etc.

 

 

Ive used correx sheeting to cover the OSB on the floor for now and fitted a skirting and siliconed it all round.

 

 

 

 

The fan is attached to a small filter until tomorrow when the beast will go up.

 

 

 

 

 

So once the current grow is finished I want to fit the floor with the same stuff they use for garages, want to fit a Vermiculite fireboard to the chimney breast for the ballasts and get some new purpose made extension leads up there. I also want to get some oilbased paint on all the wood to seal it and clean it up etc.

 

Also there will be some passive vents on the North facing side of the groom once I can get some filter material for them. The fan I use is a beast, ready for all eventualities, but the intake pushes maybe 30% of the outakes maximum M3 ph, so there has to be some passive to take up the slack, and I put them on the north side I will make use of the fresh cool air coming in through the eaves etc. I intend to use one way vents that I can shut off if need be with some fine mesh of filter material I can remove and clean, but I still need to look into that.

 

 

But here's what the grow area look like now.

 

 

 

 

I had to angle the intake vents towards the outside walls a little eventually as the 8" RVK had a little more poke than I thought it would, great for the later veg stages and bloom but the seedlings close to the vents were getting hammered by a gale force wind when I first fitted them.

 

 

 

Lighting.... I love CMH, for me its the best of all worlds, and I know given the choice I would use them. However........   I have 8 lamps to go on once these plants are in full swing to get the coverage they'll need, and I did such a good job of sealing the groom that with 2 of them on I got temps of 24c to 25C. I will add that I haven't got the intake and extraction vents all in the correct and optimium positions yet, its just duct through a hole atm, and I dont have the big boy filter attached to the fan so I'm limited to 40% maximum fan speed. Even then though I think I'll be seeing LED's hanging in here before the year is out.

 

The battle of the lighting for me was CMH or a set of units from Migro that fit the area PERFECTLY, and I do mean perfectly. And seeing as its Autumn now, and the amount of lights is only going to go up, the outside temps are only going to get hotter, I think the HID lights may get retired after this grow.

 

 

All said and done at this point it's cost me about £1500 give or take to build this groom. Its the last im likely to build, so I wanted it done right and built to last me. The current plan is to get a new hydro system up there so I dont have to jump up every day. I was going to go Aeroponic, but because of the central beam in the room it'd need two separate systems so thats out. I think I can make the RDWC work so atm the end goal is a nice 10-12 pot RDWC, 6 Migro LED's and a nice floor. Fingers are crossed.

 

 

Thanks for reading through.

 

Take it easy.

 

 

 

 

 

[sweepy]

That is a nice job, I waste my loft- I really do!

[zen-ken]

Fantastic post

 

Very much looking forward to seeing who you get on bro....I have g'room envy 

 

[KC]

1 hour ago, GreenVision said:

I have 8 lamps to go on once these plants are in full swing

Are you using the Phillips ones? They're £100 each

 

What wattage are the migros you are looking at? I think you'd be surprised how much heat they'll kick out if they are decent powered ones.

 

 

Cracking job with the loft

[zen-ken]

Just now, KC said:

I think you'd be surprised how much heat they'll kick out if they are decent powered ones.

 

 

Do you think so ? .....tbh I wish they would kick out a little more heat tbh......having the power pack separate to the lights doesn't really help me if Im honest.

Edited October 19, 2023 by zen-ken

[KC]

@zen-ken Maybe it's just because mine is a board rather than bars but the driver is mounted to it so that will make a difference I suppose.

[Danny killerZ]

Great efforts doing all that graft yourself....looks a great area with adequate space. 

[GreenVision]

45 minutes ago, KC said:

Are you using the Phillips ones

 

Yes mate, and it does sting handing over £100 give or take for a bulb. Not to mention you need two, a 942 and a 930 if you want to go that way.

 

Cheers.

[GreenVision]

57 minutes ago, zen-ken said:

I have g'room envy

 

I know that feeling mate I really do, I've had to wait several years and save a shit ton of dough for it though. Wasn't a walk in the park doing the work either, a Job that would take 3 or 4 days ina noral room took 2-3 weeks in a loft.

 

But TBH besides all the nice intake etc I honestly do prefer tents. But i couldn't get one up there because oif that central truss running down the loft. And with the kids getting a bit older now it was this or stop growing, so a no choice really.

[GreenVision]

41 minutes ago, zen-ken said:

I wish they would kick out a little more heat tbh

 

Same here, I wouldn't have gone back to CMH if it wasnt for this exact reason. Love LED lighting but I really dont like leaving unattended heaters, I know they're safe it just me being over cautious. But in winter the LED's do struggle to keep a room warm.

[Herbal Kint]

Nice job GV

[GreenVision]

37 minutes ago, KC said:

mine is a board rather than bars

 

Never really thought about it before, but now I think about when I was using HLG quantum boards I dont think I had any issues at all. But I switched over to Lumatek Zeus Pro's and started seeing temp issues.

 

Cant say for sure boards are any different but I just looked back at my Diaries of when I was using Q'Boards, the grows looked smoothe compared to the Lumatek ones. Possibly coincidence but you never know, maybe boards were the way to stay. I know the bars have better coverage but everything tips the scales one way or another.

 

 

 

Was one of my fav setups over 15 years:

 

 

 

I never had a single issue with those boards if memory serves. They did eventually fault out after some use, but as far the grows went they were tip top.

[GreenVision]

Just now, Herbal Kint said:

Nice job GV

 

Thanks bud, a few weeks of hard work but it looks to have paid off.

[GreenVision]

1 hour ago, sweepy said:

That is a nice job, I waste my loft- I really do!

 

 

Mate honestly, it was a last resort. I would have loved a tent up there but it just wouldn't work.

 

At the end of the day I've gone from a 3x3m room with a tent to a 2.4 x 2m area where I smack the shit out of my head every time I drift off in a daydream or deepthough, which with the amount of I weed I smoke is a lot.

 

But yh, needs must and I made the best job I could.

 

Cheers for reading through.

[GSZZ]

46 minutes ago, KC said:

@zen-ken Maybe it's just because mine is a board rather than bars but the driver is mounted to it so that will make a difference I suppose.

 

Just now, GreenVision said:

Never really thought about it before, but now I think about when I was using HLG quantum boards I dont think I had any issues at all.

 

I use a 465w board type in one space and compared to a same-wattage bar style in a space the same size, the board LED is miles hotter - I can get away with just a tube heater clicking on here n there. Makes sense, less places for the heat to escape.

 

54 minutes ago, zen-ken said:

tbh I wish they would kick out a little more heat tbh

 

You don't, that lack of IR is a more of a boon than a inconvinience. Anyway, this isn't what this threads about is it

 

 

 

Top work GV, looks ace mate, your hard work reflects in the quality job you've done I'd have never have thought to put the intake/outtake lines behind the walls like that, I'd have been the twat screwing when I hung the fan