building a secret room in my apartment

[Guest]

So i've got a medium size 1 bedroom apartment in a fairly large complex. I'm not sure if/when the landlord does walkthroughs and if they did, whether or not they'd notice 3 or 4 feet missing off a 9 foot deep walk in closet.

The entire closet is about 9 feet deep X 6 feet wide X 8 feet tall. I am thinking of building a wall out of 2X4 framing and 1/2 inch plywood to separate the back 3 or 4 feet of the closet and seal it off.
I'm not sure if this will be a true 'sealed' room, as I am still trying to do a cost/benefit analysis of sealing it and using A/C and CO2. The CO2 would be the biggest problem, as I'm not sure where to get it nearby, it would be expensive (im not sure how much it costs to refill a tank or to initially purchase a tank), and bringing in tanks of CO2 might look a lil suspicious (though im sure i could just carry them in in a large backpack or in a plastic trunk or something. I'm pretty sure the A/C wouldn't be that much of an issue. I can get a 5,200 btu window unit for about $40 or $50, especially this time of year.
Power is going to be an issue, as there are no plugs in the closet and I think I would have to cut into the wall to find the wires. Is there any good way to find the wires without actually going into the wall? Like a stud finder, except for wiring? The only other thing I can think of is that there is a light in the ceiling, though not over the part I would be sealing off, and maybe I could just extend this wire out through the ceiling a little farther and drop it into the grow area.
Power consumption is an issue. I think I would want a 600w HPS over a 3x3 or 3x4 foot area. There would be a veg section next to it that would be about 2x2 feet. I could have shelves in this area so I could keep vegging plants on the bottom and a shelf 5 feet up with the mother plants and clones. the bottom 2 feet of the veg area would have the A/C unit in it along with possibly a humidifier. The veg shelf would probably be lit by a 150w HPS because I already have that and so its free-ish. It also puts out less heat than a 250w MH and so is cheaper to run and keep cool.

Would a 5200 btu window A/C be enough to cool this entire area (with 600w +150w=750w HPS total + probably 100w cfl +random heat generated by air pumps for hydro and fans.

How should I go about running wiring into this hidden area? I'm wondering if before I start constructing, maybe I should just get an electrician to come in and set it up for me. Then theres the issue of him telling my landlord that I rewired it and sparking suspicion.

Does this plan sound feasable?

My driving force behind this plan involves how I calculated that It would take me about $750 for a proper hydroponics setup in an NGB style 4WX2DX4H cab. and I feel that sealing a small section of my closet would only run me about $100 more for a lot more space.

I feel like i could do a vertical SCROG in the flower section with individual screens for individual containers for movability so I could access all the plants and screens. Im thinking I would do separate 5 gallon DWC bubbler buckets for each plant.
I would possibly run the 600w in a bake-a-round 14" long cooltube (im not sure if the bulb would fit inside the 4inch diameter tube though) just to keep heat away from the plants.
Doing the vertical setup would allow me to forego buying an expensive reflector setup. It would also theoretically increase my yields significantly.

The problem with the vertical scrog and my limited space is that it would be hard to access the back plants when compared to a flat bush grow setup.

Should I fun the 600w HPS on a cooltube that draws from/vents to outside the room? I feel like that might lower my power usage on the A/C. However, this would decrease my stealth by adding more holes to the divider wall.

The interior walls in the room would be lined with the material panda film is made with (I can't place it at the moment for some reason (painters tarp material)). I'd use black material to block the light and white on any part facing the plants.

I'm really looking for all the advice and criticism I can get. Is this a good idea/horrible idea? Is it a waste? fill me in guys and girls

 

[jojajico]

you should air cool your lights. that way you dont have to run your AC all the time. landlords by law cannot simply go into your place without notice unless they have justifiable reason ie your running a brothel out of your apartment. they wont question power consumption as they shouldnt even see your bill. 600 could work nicely in the space and CO2 would only help a 20lb tank isnt that big and for your space will be cheap to maintain (fill and refill maybe 3 times during a grow).

 

[Guest]

thanks for the advice. im not worried about random checks by my landlord. However, what I am worried about is if there is a periodic walkthrough by the landlord (fairly common in apartment complexes) that he or she may notice that half the closet has dissapeared. I've worked out how to make it appear that it belongs that way. I'm just not sure if it seems like it would be noticeable and im looking for opinions on that.

 

[marley1]

how would you get into the room? why not just run a little dutcing and just use inline fans. wouldn't a air conditioner inside a closet not be the stealthiest thing?

 

[hogwild]

try to somehow run ducting to your existing bathroom duct, but obviously that wont be an option if that means you will have to put ducting out in the open across the bedroom floor or something, i dont know your situation, but if the bathroom fan is near the closet you could use it.

 

[Guest]

the only way id be able to get to the bathroom fan would be to punch through the wall. That would be a rather difficult repair to make at the end of my lease. The thing about just setting up a wall is that I'd be able to just take it down at the end of my lease and then sand down and paint over where I had sealed it with caulking and whatever else. I guess that is a possibility though.

With the air conditioner, I was thinking id have it pretty much flush with the outside walland just put a dresser or some boxes about 6 inches in front of it. If a landlord was going to make a visit i'd just shut the entire system off for the visit.

I'd make one of the 4X4 foot plywood panels (the one on the lower left) the entrance. I'd just have boxes in front of it so you couldn't see it, but i think i'd make it a flush fit. I would probably use those magnetic cabinet door latches that you push in to release them. I would try to make the gaps as tight as possible so even if everything was moved from in front they wouldn't be too noticeable.

thanks for all the input so far. I'll look into the feasability of punching a hole through to the bathroom ducting. I'm on the top floor though and i'm not sure what the attic of this place is like and how much maintenance goes up into it. I bring that up, because if I figured out that they don't really check up there, I could just punch out the ceiling and vent straight to there. then all I would need would be a large 12"x12" darkroom louvre for my intake and i could make that blend in without a problem.

The hatch to the attic isn't locked, so I'm almost thinking I want to go late at night sometime with a small ladder and climb up inthere to check out the situation. I worry though that I'd get caught and I'm not really sure how I would explain that one.
I might also try to get a look up in there by removing my bathroom exhaust fan and seeing if it just vents straight into the attic space. If it does I can just use some small mirrors to peek around up in there a little.

 

[ezbake]

Bad idea. Unless you like red and blue flashing lights and lots of METAL BARS and people named Bubba stay away from this idea. DO NOT do a grow like that in a apartment.

FOr god sakes man what are you thinking, you're going to just cut a closet in half in a 1 I repeat ONE, 1 SINGLE UNO bedroom apartment.

Atleast consider microgrows, check the microgrow forum

You can grow in COmputer Cases, Speakers, Desks, Dressers, File Cabinets, Entertainment Centers. BE STEALTH, Don't just cut a closet in half

 

[Germanator]

Alright...let me put down the joint and learn you some things...nevermind I'll leave it lit.

About 4 years ago I was growing in an apartment complex. Something similar to what you are describing but in a larger closet and larger apartment. You have to realize a couple things. First, is that if you run a veg room and a flower room (as you described) then you are almost helpless of keeping the grow section of the closet stealthy. With the air movement, and fan noise you will not be able to show anyone the area. I would really stay away from going through walls and ceilings...an eviction is a costly ordeal, but dealing with an ENRAGED landlord and a lawyer will be much more expensive.

What you need is this, a set-up which could potentially be taken down in a matter of minutes (which my set-up was, in less than 15!) This means a tarp/zipper to seperate your closet from the door. Then go to home depot and purchase the same door (this should be kept in the apartment as a safety caution...so you could replacethe modified door) Cut 2 vents into the door (one exhaust) (one intake). Use aircooled hoods but have the end of the aircooled hood connected to a carbon scrubber for the room and lights. At this point you should go ahead and dismiss the idea of using the closet as a normal closet, as this doesnt make any sense if you are going to take the risk of growing in there, use the entire space.

Get speed controllers for your intake and exhaust as well as "silencers" to muffle noise. Don't use an AC unit, unless you do not have an air conditioning system in the apartment...as this will raise your elec. bill, something you do not want to do in a 1 BD room apartment. I could go on and on and on....and explain the whole set-up I used to run and the reasons why i was able to pull it off for such a long time...but the simple truth is some day someone will need to come in, and you NEED to be able to take the thing down.

Best of Luck in your build.

Germ

*Keep a sharp knife near the grow, to chop up root masses so that your plant total will be unknown.
*Neighbors will become suspicious of constant fan noise...construction noise in an apartment...smoke coming from under the door..etc etc be safe brother, as an apartment is not the safest of places

 

[jojajico]

you should just run a cab man you could pull a lb out of a nice size cab.you can lock it and a landlord woul dhave no right to try to open it.

 

[Guest]

thanks for the words of advice everybody. Like I said at the beginning, most of the reason for me posting this was to determine how safe/feasable people thought it would be. I was having some major doubts about it too. After I made the post I started thinking about a few things.
1. 600w worth is way more than I could ever smoke on my own
2. I don't want to get into pushing weight like that
3. cutting through walls isn't exactly the smartest thing to do
-that was a great point about the enraged landlord. I can see a landlord possibly (i say possibly, not likely at all) noticing a stealth grow or a smaller grow that didn't damage the apartment and just telling me to take the thing down or else he/she would have to call the cops. If it was something that damaged the apartment at all, I really don't think that i'd have any chance at mercy.
4. The closet is quiet, fans and a/c units are noisy=not stealthy at all
5. I checked my bathroom exhaust fan and it goes straight up to the attic. most attics have the electric wires and ducting up there, which undoubtedly will eventually need mainenance. Maintenance guys might not have all gone to college, but most of them are fairly to very intelligent people and definitely know their territory so it would be kinda obvious if an extra vent was going straight up into the attic.
6.I don't like the idea of prison or guys named bubba
7. I don't like the idea of prison or very big cellmates named bubba
8. I don't like a set of bars in front of me and any person, regardless of their name, standing behind me

im sure there are more things. To be honest, I just got excited at the idea of a decently big (3x3) space for flower and the idea of pushin out over a pound every 2 months. I can dream, but i gotta thank u guys and girls for keepin those dreams that are unrealistic in check.

I'll prolly be posting a similar thread in not too long asking about my backup plan, a 4'x2'x4'H NGB style cab. I'm thinking i can put it in a corner near some heat/cooling vents (so the sound of my fans is camoflagued) with my tv on top of it and stealth it up a bit. still maybe run 400w total. a 150w hps in veg and a 250w hps in flower. Plenty of personal smoke for me. still sound to sketchy?

I'm stayin away from a grow tent because, well, if someone comes in i gotta take it down because.......a grow tent is a grow tent and its kinda tough to explain it to visitors as anything else.

 

[bongasaurus]

you should just run a cab man you could pull a lb out of a nice size cab.you can lock it and a landlord woul dhave no right to try to open it.

sounds good to me

 

[jojajico]

u should do wut im doing run a cab and beef it up. CO2, AC, dehumidifer, and an assload of light im at 100wpsf. with this setup once dialed in and with the right strain you can pull a lb every 2 months (from clone). not saying it will be easy to reach this level, but like u said u couldnt amoke that much anyway. im basing my plan off a friend that did the same thing but with 1000 watt instead of a 600 and hes pulling just under 2 lbs. again even if you only pulled half a lb every 3 months that should still suit your habit. your cab would be completly inclosed sound would be minimal you put a lock on it and even if it sounded like a jet engine taking off your landlord cant open it. also im not sur ewhere you live but in america a landlord usually has to give u notice b4 they enter you place. keep a low profile (no big parties, dont sell out of your place) and you will be fine. i even have plans done up in sketchup if you want them i would be happy to share.

 

[Guest]

again, thanks for the help.

I'm gonna try to keep it in a max 4x2x4H space. Just for visual stealth. A tall cab isn't too explainable for me. My parents like to visit once in a while and don't quite support my habit (and no, im not just gonna tell them they can't visit, family comes way ahead of growing). They also like to walk around and stuff, so im not just gonna tell them they can't look at part of my apartment.
Cops CAN come in. I firmly believe that if a cop wants to enter an apartment or house then they will find a way. There's the classic, "i thought I heard someone yelling" where they can enter due to suspected domestic abuse. Theres just so many things. I may be paranoid, but i'd rather be paranoid than behind bars.
oh, the point of that was that I want to keep it stealth, no loud humming, just a quiet 'woosh' of moving air.
In my state, landlords are not required to give notice. If there is a leak in the ceiling of the apartment below or if they suspect a fire they may enter without notice. I may put another lock on my door, but I probably won't, just because it's not worth violating my lease.

I think i may take up that idea of a larger stealth cab. I might just get another grow outa the way with my 150w and then move on from there.

I'd like to eventually run a 400w in a scrog setup

 

[jojajico]

again, thanks for the help.

I'm gonna try to keep it in a max 4x2x4H space. Just for visual stealth. A tall cab isn't too explainable for me. My parents like to visit once in a while and don't quite support my habit (and no, im not just gonna tell them they can't visit, family comes way ahead of growing). They also like to walk around and stuff, so im not just gonna tell them they can't look at part of my apartment.
Cops CAN come in. I firmly believe that if a cop wants to enter an apartment or house then they will find a way. There's the classic, "i thought I heard someone yelling" where they can enter due to suspected domestic abuse. Theres just so many things. I may be paranoid, but i'd rather be paranoid than behind bars.
oh, the point of that was that I want to keep it stealth, no loud humming, just a quiet 'woosh' of moving air.
In my state, landlords are not required to give notice. If there is a leak in the ceiling of the apartment below or if they suspect a fire they may enter without notice. I may put another lock on my door, but I probably won't, just because it's not worth violating my lease.

I think i may take up that idea of a larger stealth cab. I might just get another grow outa the way with my 150w and then move on from there.

I'd like to eventually run a 400w in a scrog setup

dud you are so paranoid really. do you live in the US. a cop cannot just enter your house without a warrent. why would he want to anyway. what reason are you giving for someone to search your place. do you think cops pick apartments at random and say ok lets violate his rights?!? if he did come in without a warrent the charges on you would be thrown out anyway. there could be evidence that you killed someone but without a warrent or REAL probably cause you would walk. as for the cab... put it in the closet lol. put a lock on it. your parents arent gunna care whats in your closet. if they do your teenage years must have been hell as i would suspect parents like that would do random drug tests on you check you for signs of losing your virgininty and read your diary lol. if anyone asks whats that sound in your closet say "o its the neighbors waterheater through the wall."

really man i can undserstand why u want to do a microgrow, but your excuses to why you shouldnt just build a nice sized cab are falacious.

 

[marx2k]

There isn't anything wrong with healthy paranoia. Ask people sitting in prison on marijuana cultivation charges.

I can totally understand the paranoia of an apartment grower since I was one for a number of years. And with EVERY grow, there would always be an event that would set off a bout of paranoia. Cops showing up at my house for unrelated incidents (usually something regarding the downstairs neighbors), landlords needing to come into my house to fix random things (I was the top floor apartment with the only access to the roof through my apartment), etc.

If you don't [really] control who goes into your environment, you have a total right to healthy paranoia.

I had 2 walk-in closets in the same room, so of course one was a veg space, the other a flower space. Produced great crops, but that didn't mean that on 5 separate occasions I didn't have to break down the operation within a matter of an hour. If I had less time than that, I probably wouldn't be typing this message to you right now.

I can only suggest not using the infrastructure of your apartment as a grow space and creating a modular space like the cab you're planning on to grow in. Myself, I live in a house now but am still going to go with a cab (3x3x6).

The idea behind MY cab, though, is I want to be able to [relatively] easily break down my cab for when I move. So in my plan, I also have to think of how I can dismantle it when the time comes (and it always does). So I plan on building each part by itself and then connecting them later. Base, top, and then the frame.

If you would like to swap some ideas on cab design with me, PM me. I can't help thinking about cab designs 80% of my waking time. It's like I caught the cab-bug! I've figured out a great design for the base/passive intake (search my other posts) and I'm also coming up with a great top as well as dual openings and locking mechanism!

 

[Germanator]

Marx and I are on the same page. Stealth is key, and caution(in all cases) is a healthy thing. I think the cab idea is great. It can be put in a bathroom if someone were to enter, or locked as was stated above. A cab will give you enough experience and ideas to set up a larger grow in the future. Looking back on my apartment grow I think I was very fortunate to have had things turn out the way they did.

Go get yourself a cab, and work at getting it as stealthy as possible.

Germ

 

[Guest]

I can't help thinking about cab designs 80% of my waking time. It's like I caught the cab-bug!

hahah, i know exactly what you mean. I'm always designing different cabs and never building them. Maybe once I have money i'll just start a lil cab building business or something............or maybe i'll just collect them

joj: i am overly paranoid. yea, my parents were always in my business when I was at home and they still try to stay in it as much as they can now. It's kinda outa control, but hey, they're my parents and I can deal with some overzealousness on there part.

It's said here once in a while, but theres this phrase: "don't do the crime if you can't do the time." well, I'm not willing to do the time for a larger grow, plain and simple. a few hours of extra enjoyment each day and working a lot less isn't worth the possibility of 5-10 years behind bars to me. You may call me paranoid or a pussy, maybe I am, I'm good with that.

 

[jojajico]

with all the info you gave us if your gunna grow your best bet is a locked cab. it would be the safest and produce more than you need. the only other choice is a microgrow which would produce well but you would porbably be buying between harvests depending on how often u smoke. really a cab that u can build or get from homedepot would look like nothing more than a wardrobe cabinet. its alot safer than your previous idea and most of the people that are in jail for cultivation are there because of the number one rule of growing... dont tell anyone your growing. could u really see ur parents going through each one of your drawers and cabinets... if so you need to stand up to them and let them kno that shit aint gunna happen... got to grow up sometime.

 

[Guest]

thanks for the family advice......i shouldn't have egged it on by replying to the last post on it........

anyway, i'm aware of the homedept/lowes cabinet option. if you doubt that i considered a dresser grow, please check out my gallery as i have a fairly detailed design I put up a while ago. I'm gonna stop posting on this thread because the original intent is gone and the discussion now has nothing to do with a secret room.

I've got a fairly simple 2Lx2Wx4H vertical scrog box design drawn up. I have some of the stuff already so its only gonna take me about $125 for the parts and materials that i don't have including the soil and some cheap nutes. I'll probably go hydro once I have more cash, but I can't swing the cash for a decent pH/EC/TDS meter right now as cash is fairly tight.

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I'm gonna stop posting on this thread because the original intent is gone and the discussion now has nothing to do with a secret room.

Thanks for all the advice everybody, I do appreciate it, I just feel this thread has lost its meaning and isn't worth maintaining as its currently wasting bandwidth

 

[Guest]

Im a Maint Tec at a large apt community.

GO WITH THE CAB.

I have made this comment before but let me say it again.

I can enter your apt any time I want because I have the key and anyone who says diffrent is wrong.

I have been on a hundred "walk throughs" and have never seen anyone look in a closet yet. That does not mean they wont but in my exp. Unless your property is being sold closets are not looked at.

For all you apt growers.
The Maint Tecs at your apt community have a key to your Apt and can enter it at anytime they want.
I expect someone to start posting the law says This the law says that BULLSHIT I have the key to your apt and nothing but you standing in the door can stop me from coming in if I want to and that is the bottom line.

And for the jailhouse lawyers on this forum. I smelled smoke is all I have to say and I can search every square inch of your apt without telling, notifying or anything else to anyone. As a matter of fact I have no choice but to enter your apt.

Im sorry but ive seen several of these post on what management can and cant do in your apt. And so far every one I have seen is wrong. If you live in the USA I can at anytime I want enter your apt. WHY? Because I have the key thats why. IF YOU THINK ANYTHING ELSE YOU ARE WRONG