setting up new basement room. suggestions plz to avoid mold/moisture

[theLumberjack]

I have never set up a room inside a house. It has always been in an out building where I am not as concerned with condensation and moisture. This is an oversize utility room within a finished basement. I am looking for suggestions regarding.

Insulate from the rest of the house?
seal whole exterior with plastic? over insulation?
Am I less likely to get moisture problems if I were to grow in tents inside of the room?
what about coating it with flex seal?

any suggestions appreciated.

also how much space do you guys run between your plants and lights when using a gavita 600

obviously air exchange is key. I will have fresh in and out.

thanks

 

[EastCoast710]

tents will avoid damage to the house as the moisture will be inside tents.. and not around the wood and shit..

i rent.. so i have been using tents.. but i realized.. this run that I'm pulling the fucking tents down. putting up some panda film.. and running a room because i can fucking pull an extra 3-4 plants down = at the least an extra LB.

 

[theLumberjack]

thanks, thats what my thoughts were. and a few hundred extra buck at set up to avoid problems in an expensive house. seems worth it.

 

[paladin420]

Avoid panda film. It creates moisture

 

[Mikell]

Laying panda film against flat surfaces is bad practice but it's easy to furr out a wall. Air movement between the film and wall surface is key.

 

[coldcanna]

The guys above are correct about tents and panda being bad choices. Before you fur out the wall you need to check if the concrete is permeating any water. Tape a 1 ft square of poly on a few different locations on the wall and let sit for a couple days. Make sure you tape around the whole piece, if you find water on the inside then your foundation is too wet to insulate. At this point you can try a sealer product, they do work in many cases but an unlucky few there is too much hydrostatic pressure from the outside. If the sealer doesn't work than you just gotta roll with it and add extra dehumidification capacity to the room and leave the walls bare.

 

[EastCoast710]

that's y tents are the best thing if your worried honestly. I got 5 tents going. and had a great harvest.. but I need to buy 600w ballasts and bulbs and a few hoods so I can turn each tent into 1800w with a better yield. instead of 2000w ..

if your exhausting the air and bringing in intake you shouldn't have a fucking problem lol. honestly.

 

[theLumberjack]

thanks guys, great info here. I do like the flexibility of tents. I can move and finish veg in same flower area to get scrog started.

would that plastic trick work on the floor too? the outside edge has wood paneling... although I dont think its insulated behind it. I dont care about this room however, I cant ruin the inteior wall or ceiling.

 

[coldcanna]

Yes the plastic method does work the same on the floor, but in your application i don't think you need to bother with it. That's more for if you were gonna put down carpet or hardwood and finish it, if your leaving it bare concrete for the grow then it's irrelevant. When you said wood paneling outside, are you meaning that it's an above ground wall? You wouldn't need to worry about moisture on an above ground wall because leaks come from ground water wicking through the concrete not from ambient air.

 

[theLumberjack]

no its a basement. maybe the top 2 feet are above ground at the most. this is just some wood paneling put up to "finish" the room some. The room has previously been used as a workshop.

 

[EastCoast710]

id just tent it. run intake and exhaust and u should have no issues with the house

 

[coldcanna]

I see. Well I guess now it boils down to your exact setup, how big is the space and how many lights do you use? If you only got a couple lights then I guess tent all day. But if you have a bunch then tent is a waste of space, think if your yielding a pound off your 600 over a 4x4 space, 5 times a year. You put a 10 10 tent into a room that's 10x12. You just lost 20sqft, which by our prior numbers puts you 5 lbs short every year.

 

[coldcanna]

If your doing a bigger setup then flat white mildew resistant paint is a cheap way. And if its exposed floor joists I would put up a cheap cieling, mildew resistant drywall is like $13 for an 8x4 piece you can cover significant area for under a couple hundo

 

[jewcebox]

its all about air circulation once you get that on point the rest comes easy

also filter your intake air with a scrubber of some kind

i enjoy overkill when it comes to air movement.

lots of fans

 

[coldcanna]

its all about air circulation once you get that on point the rest comes easy

also filter your intake air with a scrubber of some kind

i enjoy overkill when it comes to air movement.

lots of fans

Sage advice ! Take note.

Weed is a tropical plant, grows in rain forests so it's no stranger to moisture, stagnant air is the root of all evils

 

[theLumberjack]

what tent do you guys recommend? I have secret jardin now. I suspect there quality is inconsistent. I got 2 at once last time. the packaging was slightly different. the poles didnt fit together the same and now one is ripped in a few spots in less than 6 months use.

 

[EastCoast710]

I went the cheap way cause I didn't want to stay in tents forever..

depends if u want to use these things forever..

if forever spend the money get nice ones.. if not.. go on ebay.. get tents.. just make sure u ask seller to see if they have the metal or plastic corners.. always get the metal corners. other thent hat all 5 of my tents are cheap ebay tents.. that WORK JUST AS WELL as the expensive ones.. and my fucking frame is better then my boys more expensive tents so..

if u can keep the room the tents are in dark.. the brand doesn't matter.

 

[jewcebox]

my ebay tent has lasted me longer then any of my ballasts.

if it isnt light sealed. used black tape.

and keep the room dark, pretty easy.

I just dont like how tents look in a room, i get the use and all. but its like i have all this space above the tent and around the tent to not be using it is sad.

but i get that not everyone can just start growing in an entire room lol

 

[theLumberjack]

ideally im looking for 6 big plants flowering at a time. and continual harvest.

probably a can 100 with 10" fan exhausting on a thermostat and a can 100 running in open space constant. probably a max 8 fan per every 2 or 3 tents as an input on a thermosat in central tent on same light cycle.

prob 10" high output fresh air in.

how long would it take a room like that to get to adequate co2 levels?
could I get enough air exchange having a second exhaust fan only run in bursts say 30 seconds every 10 minutes. or would that just eat all my co2? Is there anyway to run co2 with out having a ton of ac

 

[matt11]

Sage advice ! Take note.

Weed is a tropical plant, grows in rain forests so it's no stranger to moisture, stagnant air is the root of all evils

especially relavent when growing in a basement