Attic grow help needed.

[Nuglover]

This grow seems like it'll be slot of work... Hopefully ill figure out my plan soon.. Thanks for the comments guy :)

They all are at first.The more work you do at first , the less problems you'll have later.You're gonna wanna think this out before jumping in head first. If you don't, you're gonna be wasting money,seeds,and time. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

 

[Green81]

I have not uploaded any of my [precious few] attic piccies, but I grew in lofts for years in the UK.

My last garden was 3x 1000W HPS covering 4M2 in a small area, with no airconditioning or heat problems.

Firstly you need to make an "Igloo" of polystyrene, a subtle route for air in and a 6" hole in your chimney to exhaust [Victorian or 1930's Semi Det all have them]

Air cooled lights are pretty much a must, you do not have to have them in glass tubes, I used hoods with 4" duct flanges and they worked just fine.

Plumb in your water feed AND a drain as well as a new, over spec electric ring and.... most importantly of all....... WATERPROOF IT... you will have leaks....

Hey bro thats some good advice, did you insulate your roof really well?
Thx

 

[Nuglover]

It's expensive but that expandible foam insulation is the shit. Good for noise proofing as well. :)

 

[skunkypaul]

attic grows are common here in the uk.

we dont get the heat you guys get in the states in the summer:afroweed:

 

[frankie-smiles]

Some good points made by these guys. I've had my share of loft grows and as long as your insulating the actual grow area well, have somewhere with the right air to intake from, somewhere to extract air out to, the enviroment should be fine. Hydro is a bad idea anywhere above ground level (water running through light fittings anyone?), cooltubes are a good idea also. Main problems in my area are heat in summer and dampness in winter, I find the actual cold much less of a concern to the health of a plant than these other two things. Best way to sort these things is to have very good air flow, the source of incoming air i find is very important. I don't like using the air up in lofts so i intake from the living area of the house and extract outside via a chimney or vents in the eve's. I'd start a very basic soil grow with a very small number of plants. Experience is everything and you'll be a million times smarter and better able to design something well once you have a small grow under your belt. Hands on is the only real way to learn, research can only teach so much. I learn so much with every passing grow, but that first part of the learning curve was the important bit. Hope you get what your after anyway pal, good luck.

 

[ProGroWannabe]

I'm running an attic room right now in the states. I haven't had heat problems yet, but I'm putting in countermeasures as we speak because the heat IS COMING and I know it. My first countermeasure is the switch to floros instead of HIDs. I have one 8-bulb T5 unit running in there now, and will be adding a second soon. The next additions are a large (12"-14" Can Fan Max) pulling air conditioned air from the living area and dumping it into the attic room. Then....as much insulation as I can afford!!

 

[todgerdelburro]

Hey bro thats some good advice, did you insulate your roof really well?
Thx

All roofs get the 3" thick 4' x 2' expanded polystyrene sheets that Wickes [UK DIY store] kindly sell , these have all 4 sides tongue and groove, so it all interlocks. Honestly, "my roof' was the last to melt the snow..... it was in a severe ghetto with pikeys ragging stolen cars around all night, closely followed by the pigs, often in helicopters, using heat seeking cameras, yet there were no problems.

This brings me on to the exhaust.... out of a chimney, it looks normal, out of a roof vent, does NOT. One buddy who did get caught recently was told it was a helicopter that spotted him [we will never know if that is true or not, but they told him that] ... he does not use a chimney, the hot air left his garage side vent, it must have loooked so suss to any chopper crew....

You can counteract the flooding danger of a hydro system by making a "swimming pool" of membrane [builders HD plastic] so if/when it all goes tits up, you can sleep safe knowing the Mrs is not going to get a surprise drenching/electrocution at 3am. Been there, done that, well, I didnt quite manage the electrocution bit, but it must have been mighty close.....

 

[rezz]

Thank you everyone, i have learned a decent amount just from this one thread. One question the i have is how much do you all think it will cost to set a small operation up in this attic? With flouro lamps for veg and a hps for flower room..?

 

[skunkypaul]

200 quid should sort out the grow side

the insulation would be extra

 

[the Rock]

what part of the states you in= out west the attics get quite warm in summer. You should get some attic fans to exhaust hot air thru the roof unless you have existing gable end vents to exhaust air thru. Another problem with runnung lights on at night is light leaks in the day depending on what kind of roof you have.
Iust figure if it is 90 degrees outside its gonna be about 130 degrees in the attic

 

[shadrack]

why not put a tent in your attic space - easier to control temp, smell and mess in tent that in larger air filled spaces - (especially if you have peeps next door) - not too expensive

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Because an attic space demands serious insulation when the temps begin to rise shadrack. The tent would work great in the winter, but in the summer major insulation is needed, plus either A/C or a place to draw A/C air from.

 

[shadrack]

Temps rising in summer not a problem here in uk - we dont know what summer is lol

 

[rezz]

From what i can see, the best option is to insulate like a mother fucker and get some a/c in there.. either thru having it up there directly oor having it vented in.. also proper airflow in general is a major concern.

But all in all we should insulate, lay down something to prevent seepage and vent well..

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Ahhh shadrack....sorry for my misunderstanding of UK temps....my apologies.

rezz....you've got it! If you can do those three things WELL (not just barely enough, ya know) then you should do well. Good luck!

 

[cozymon]

Definitely put down pond liner. You'll be glad you did.

 

[Green81]

loads of really useful info, i think the insulation alone for my grow is gonna be btween £300-400.. yikes..

later this summer i'll do a diary using the attic room to grow-out some trainwreck T4 X cannalope from DNA... hope it all goes to plan

 

[rezz]

well boys, i went to go check out the attic again.. and idk what the fuck in that place.. went up there with my buddy, and spent like 20 mins, between smokin a nice blunt and prospecting. its like 45 degrees out.. and its probably 75 in there if i had to guess.. not to mention i felt like i got hit with itching powder when i came down.. weird shit guys.
Now into some more specifics about this growspace, and i use that term lightly.

1. It's hot, gee no shit Rezz, yeah it's a bitch up there. Ventilation and insulation are the two things i'm gonna need to grow this.
2. It's approximately 10 ft. x 35 ft.

anyhting else you want to know? Post it.

Ohh yeah and the fact that i felt like i had hives after going up there dosent make me feel too good.

 

[ProGroWannabe]

The itchy sensations that you had are from the fine fiberglass fibers used in the insulation. They actually go into the pores of your skin. The fibers being in your pores are why you itch so bad. If I were you, I'd wear long sleeves and gloves in there until you get the construction of your space finished. Then the fibers will stick in the clothing and very little of it will be in your skin. Once your finished building the room, you should be more or less isolated from the fiberglass, and won't feel nearly as itchy while your working up there.--------Assuming you don't insulate the room with more fiberglass...lol.

 

[todgerdelburro]

PVA adhesive is great, you water it down like you are going to plaster a wall & everything is stuck down and you do not get that vile itchy, dirty loft crap. get the whole thing built, debugged and sorted out long before you put any plants or virgin clean hydro gear up there