Building or buying a new cab

[SoulCoughing]

So I've come to the point where I need my newest cab to be stealth and average looking. I need some advice on what to do in regard to building it vs buying it and redoing the shelving and drilling my own exhausts. So I was looking at cabs today at home depot. They have a big white cabinet with 2 doors on it. The dimensions are 72" x 48" and 20 inches deep. The only draw back is I'm concerned about it not being deep enough. Do you think I would be fine with that or should I look into building it myself to the specifications that would be ideal. Also if you know of any good cabinets for this can you please post them. I don't care if I have to retrofit it as long as its tall enough, wide enough and deep enough then I'm all good. Price can be up to 350$ for this. I'm looking to run a 400cmh in it or possibly a 400hps. Both would be cooltubed. Thanks in advance for replies.

Stay safe,
SC

 

[FullMetalJacket]

For that amount of money im sure you can buy an ideal cabinet.

I agree with Messn comment below that is will probably look better too. Most of the large cabients have free or cheap shipping. What size you looking for my man. Metal or wood?

Seems most models go 24" deep but can go depper with less selection.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

I agree, 20" is getting to be a bit shallow. Mostly because I feel that the shallower it is the more difficult it is to run the lights perpendicular (maximizing efficiency of use) to the grow. Buying off the shelf will have the fitted and finished look you want, but will offer you fewer options as to dimensions. Unless you have the skill, tools, and confidence to build something that looks a bit better than a painted OSB/plywood cab, for $350, you can try to find someone locally to build to your specs (ask to see some examples of their work).

Namaste, mess

 

[FrankRizzo]

I got a cab once that wasn't quite deep enough for what I wanted. Before I put the backboard on I made some measurements and went to HD. I had them cut some boards that where 6" wide and .5" thick the the size of the cab. Went home tacked them to the back of the cab and then put the backboard on the whole thing. That gave me the extra 6" I was looking for. Painted the extension white like the rest of the cab and presto it was exactly the size I wanted. You could tell if you looked at it up close but it looked mine from a distance. I ghetto rigged the floor on the inside with some scraps I had laying around. I think the extension cost me and extra $10-15.

 

[enigmatik]

I'm in the process of helping a friend build a cab right now. We also took the building vs buying question into consideration.

We visited everything from home improvement stores, thrift shops, even furniture specialty stores. Actually, we found quite a bit of cabs with just the right dimensions for the scale grow he's trying to do, but there always seemed to be a flaw with ether removing the shelves, installing a door, too week of a floor board, or most importantly keeping it air tight.

Having very little to no carpentry experience, it was a tough decision to make, but after an extensive search, we decided to take the custom built route.

We went to one of the bigger home improvement stores in town and after asking about six grumpy employees, finally found one that had a good attitude towards helping us with the project. My buddy also needed it to be stealth and not look like some pieces of scrap wood thrown together.

So the nice associate pointed us to some 8'x4' 12mm thick "professional grade" sheets of wood(it even said for building cabinets on the sticker. They came already sanded smooth with a really cool woodgrain look to it. He said the best thing for the frame would be 2"x1" pieces of wood so we picked up a bunch of those. He even cut the sheets to our exact measurements right there at the store(they usually charge a quarter a cut, but we gave him a $20 tip for helping us out and it put a big 'ol smile on his face)

To keep it air tight, we got something called "liquid nails" that comes in a standard caulk tube. The plan is to use that under the frame boards along with screws to fasten the frame to the boards, and also standard bathroom caulk to seal the gaps between the frame and boards.

The doors are simply 2 squares cut out of the front boards with 2 squares (2 inches longer and wider) for the actual doors. Weather stripping will make the doors air tight.

The whole thing cost under $150 including hinges, latches, caulk, weather stripping, screws and paint. It measures 55"wide, 22"long and 42"tall.

His is just a simple box, no bells and whistles but you could even shnaz it up a bit with some floor boards, crown moldings, or fancy handles to make it look more domesticated.

I'll try and get some pictures of his cab up on here so you get a visual of this long winded explanation of the cab.

Lemme know if you have any questions I could answer for you about this set up.

-enigma

 

[hoosierdaddy]

I have essentially the same cab.

I think the one you saw is $110 out the door.
They lend themselves to an easy cab build.



These are sketches of what I did with that cab

Horizontal light setup

Vert light setup

​

Veg chamber

With $350 you can buy the cab, lights, fan and build a scrubber.
The veg and flower chambers are 1sqM each (~3 sq ft) which is a bit small, but quite manageable for growing, at the very least, a high volume personal stash. Especially with a vertical setup.
It is also versatile enough to use it for just a flower chamber with 2sq meters
I highly recommend this cab unless you plan on building one yourself.

 

[SoulCoughing]

I appreciate all your replies. All of you brought up some interesting points. I may just have to go the route of building it myself however, I lack the necessary carpentry experience to be confident about the whole air tight thing. I just might have to do it though. Also the models I've looked at have not had locks on them and that is another concern of mine. I don't want to just thrown on some kind of masterlock or something of the likes. The getting the cabinet built was a smart idea as well. The shelves being not where I want them is also another one of my concerns. And not all models make it easy to remove them. I think I will keep up the search for another week or two and as a last resort, built it myself. I might just go out to the country and go to one of those handmade furniture places and see if they can hook it up. Also, I've been looking at wardrobes or armoires for my needs. Hopefully something will pop up soon. Also if any of you have been on the hunt for the same type of thing and found something online please link. The dimensions I'm roughly looking for are 6feet tall 3.5-4feet wide and 2-2.5feet deep. Thanks again.

Stay safe,
SC

 

[tngreen]

good luck with your search man! i am going the DIY route this week and about the same size as what you are planning. using the cabinet wood like enigmatik did (great suggestion btw), i dont see how you could go wrong. even buying a cab, you will have to do some work to get it sealed, light tight, and the holes for intake and exhaust cut requiring some wood work. i say try building it yourself, you will learn a lot and allow you to make it exactly to your designs. also, if you dont have a saw, you can get the wood cut at HD or Lowes. later.

 

[Pirate138]

 

[FrankRizzo]

Hoosierdaddy-Those are some nice designs you have there. I've been trying to work out a multiply light vertical cab and I may be stealing a idea or two from you.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Feel free to use anything I offer up, Frank.
Glad to help.

 

[greenpenguin]

I went the route of buying a premade cabinet. At first I was going to build my own but when I spec'ed out the wood I would need and looked up the price of the wood I found it would be cheaper to just buy a prefab cabinet. Not only that but the prefab would look way more stealth and normal than anything I could build. Also if you've ever tried to cut wood with a circular saw both straight and to the exact dimension you want... it's not that easy (for me at least). Home depot wont cut melolin for you either (the ones I've been to anyways) so no love there.
As for making things air/light tight, you dont need carpentry skills to do that. I just bought black caulk and caulked all the cracks/corners/joints basically I caulked the hell out of it and now it's air/light tight.

I used tot locks for my cab, i got the idea from the mills pride thread. They are pretty solid and super stealth. Good luck with your cab.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

greenpenguin has it pegged. Unless you have real tuff carpentry skills and use finishing materials, you will more than likely not have a stealth unit.
And no way you can match the cost of buying your own wood, to a pre-built. By the time you are done, you will have spent way more on the DIY.
The unit at Lowes and Home dePot go for ~$108...and are ready for hole drilling and weatherstrip. Two simple $2 hasps will keep the thing closed, tight, and locked.
If you feel the need to DIY the whole schmear, it least consider building it out of an old chest of drawers or shifarobe from a yard sale or auction, that you can stealth out.