Concrete garage growroom advice

[laughing_buddha]

Eyup to anybody taking the time to read this post, I appreciate you taking the time, and hoping some of you guys can offer any useful advice on what I am planning.

 

I have completed 3 successful grows previously over the years, each has been inside a grow tent in a spare bedroom. My circumstances have changed, we've moved house and currently have nowhere inside to setup. I am hoping to start building something in the garage and hope others on here do the same.

 

GARAGE

The garage is a prefab concrete space, with a concrete floor. The roof leaks in places but nothing major. There are plenty of gaps from the concrete panel walls and ceiling with passive airflow. There are a couple of windows which I am hoping to remove, board up and utilise for the extract.

 

The garage is roughly 3m wide and 5-6m long.

 

ROUGH PLAN / IDEAS

I am hoping to build a stud wall across the back of the garage, maybe around 2 meters from the back wall.

 

I would then like to build a grow room inside this.  The size of the grow room would be 2.4m x 1.2m x 2m high. I would only have access from one side (1.2m side) so would it be beneficial to create the room a bit wider, say 2 metres wide, allowing me space either side to access the plants. This would then make the room 2.4m x 2m x 2m, with the lights and plants situated in the centre, I would then have 400mm walkway either side for tending to the plants.

 

Obviously, temperatures may be an issue in the garage, so the room will be fully kingspanned out. 

 

What thickness kingspan would people recommend? I initially thought 100mm kingspan on the floor, walls and ceiling, but would this be overkill? I read somewhere that 50mm would be sufficient, and this would be quite a cost saving.

 

Reusing Equipment

I have some old equipment I am hoping to reuse. I know this isn't essential at the moment as I need to build the room first, however I thought I'd mention it. Ideally I'd like to purchase some LED lights in the future, however for the first one I expect to be using 2 x 600W HPS.

 

I have a 8 Inch box fan from previous grow which I would like to reuse and a cobbled together fan speed controller with a variac which I built following instructions on this forum around 10 years ago.

 

I am hoping these will do for the first grow, until I can purchase some up to date equipment.

 

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this far! I appreciate it.

 

Really, any advice at this stage is greatly appreciated. Any links to similar grows or things to look out for moving forward would be very helpful.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[badbillybob]

kingspan, the thicker the better but it aint cheap.

keep it the same thickness as the stud walls you are building, then add 4-6mm ply on the inside wall.

for size id go with the 2 x 600s for now but make the room you will need in future, even if you only use half of it for now.

 

[NotGoingGoa]

2 hours ago, badbillybob said:

kingspan, the thicker the better but it aint cheap.

keep it the same thickness as the stud walls you are building, then add 4-6mm ply on the inside wall.

for size id go with the 2 x 600s for now but make the room you will need in future, even if you only use half of it for now.

Whole heartedly agree on all points, deffo future thinking is a big plus. Depending where you are located will help decide on your insulation needs to a degree, but in a pre-fab concrete garage loads of insulation will be key all seasons. I had 500 mm of rockwool in my shed roof space 12 years ago when growing in it in winter and spring here in the arctic wastes of Jockistan, 1x600w plus the usual tube and oil rads etc etc.

All the best with it, get a diary of the project going, everybody and their aunts will be on it and give advice, I'm sure you're well aware. Quite a helpful bunch, us stoners, eh?

Om Shanti, Stay Safe.

[Bobcharlieeeee]

Id go 100mm on ceiling and the floor. 50mm for the walls. Thats what iv done. Heat loss is greatest at the ceiling. 

 

2.4x1.2 is the size of a sheet too, so you wont have to cut sheets. Can save them again for another project / later grow room. 

 

I like to put foil tape on the edges of the boards, helps keep them nicer if you plan to reuse them. 

[stu914]

I built mine in the shed, 50mm kingspan all round, details in my profile "shed build"

[laughing_buddha]

6 hours ago, badbillybob said:

kingspan, the thicker the better but it aint cheap.

keep it the same thickness as the stud walls you are building, then add 4-6mm ply on the inside wall.

for size id go with the 2 x 600s for now but make the room you will need in future, even if you only use half of it for now.

 

 

Cheers for the reply BIlly, I was thinking just 3" x 2" for the stud walls. I could put 50mm kingsan inside the stud, and possibly fix an extra full sheet externally once I can afford it. 

 

I've potentially got the space for 2.4m x 2.4m. By the sounds of it, I may as well just bite the bullet and build this from the off.

 

3 hours ago, NotGoingGoa said:

Whole heartedly agree on all points, deffo future thinking is a big plus. Depending where you are located will help decide on your insulation needs to a degree, but in a pre-fab concrete garage loads of insulation will be key all seasons. I had 500 mm of rockwool in my shed roof space 12 years ago when growing in it in winter and spring here in the arctic wastes of Jockistan, 1x600w plus the usual tube and oil rads etc etc.

All the best with it, get a diary of the project going, everybody and their aunts will be on it and give advice, I'm sure you're well aware. Quite a helpful bunch, us stoners, eh?

Om Shanti, Stay Safe.

 

Wow 500mm of rockwool! I guess you'll need it up there! 

 

Will definitely get a diary going, looking forward to it after hearing the advice from you guys. I was a bit unsure if it was possible with the temps at first, but you guys put my mind at ease. I've never had much space to grow, always been in small tents in bedrooms, so this should be good.

 

1 hour ago, Bobcharlieeeee said:

Id go 100mm on ceiling and the floor. 50mm for the walls. Thats what iv done. Heat loss is greatest at the ceiling. 

 

2.4x1.2 is the size of a sheet too, so you wont have to cut sheets. Can save them again for another project / later grow room. 

 

I like to put foil tape on the edges of the boards, helps keep them nicer if you plan to reuse them. 

 

Cheers Bob, sounds good. Yes I was definitely thinking off 100mm on floor and ceiling. What I may do with the walls is 50mm kingspan in between the studs for now, then always the option of fixing an extra 50mm full sheet on the external when I have a bit more funds.

 

Good shout about foil tape around the edges! I think I will sit a sheet on the concrete floor, then build a stud around it.

 

56 minutes ago, stu914 said:

I built mine in the shed, 50mm kingspan all round, details in my profile "shed build"

 

 

Cheers Stu, I'll check this out! I've been putting it off for ages, thinking I would struggle with the temps, but from all the replies above it seems fine with enough insulation!

 

 

 

First job this weekend then is to get the garage emptied of all the crap that's been building up for years! Then I can get a diary started to document the progress!

 

Nice one everyone!

[splifi]

I grow in a concrete garage the two things I find are a problem is mold in winter and the heat in summer.

[laughing_buddha]

31 minutes ago, splifi said:

I grow in a concrete garage the two things I find are a problem is mold in winter and the heat in summer.

 

Cheers for the heads up. 

 

What's your setup like? Fully boarded out with kingspan etc?

[badbillybob]

i gtrow in a couple of sheds, one is fully insulated and the other isnt. i have much less issues with the insulated one, temp wise.

[splifi]

4 hours ago, laughing_buddha said:

 

Cheers for the heads up. 

 

What's your setup like? Fully boarded out with kingspan etc?

It is just two old metal cabinets insulated with a old coat led lights and a 4inch extract 

Edited April 10 by splifi

[laughing_buddha]

6 hours ago, splifi said:

It is just two old metal cabinets insulated with a old coat led lights and a 4inch extract 

 

Cheers for that Splifi, looks like a nice stealthy setup you have!