Is 100% Smell Control Even Possible?

[Moses249]

A friend of mine is setting up a large expensive grow but his building is near people some of whom r old, nosy, and problematic. I have been advising him in his endeavor. Already one of these "problems" called the cops and they showed up saying they got a call about "suspicious activity". My friend the owner told them he was simply renovating the building for a real estate flip. There was no grow lights or marijuana growing paraphernalia whatsoever at the time of the police's visit. The police saw about ten percent of the total building. The part they saw since they basically just snuck up on us was some of the least finished parts of the whole building. They saw tons and tons of contracting tools, contracting trash, and everything related to a legit remodel. They left in under 5 minutes.

Is it possible to TRULY have a smell proof facility if no cost is spared? As many carbon filters as is needed and then some. The construction of his project has been tight, all rooms/walls/ceilings/ have been insulated with foam board, sheetrock, all sheetrock joints have been taped, mudded (2-3 coats), and then sprayed with heavily infused mold guard paint. He is also siliconing all along the floors where the sheetrock meets the cement. The building is gonna have central air and all the rooms are sealed. The ac compressors are going to be outside and running a 3/4 inch refrigerant line (via the veg room) to the air handlers which r going to be inside the building. Then all the ducting for cooling is going to be run on the sides and ceilings of each room with multiple cooling registers. None of the lamps are going to have ducting going between them. He seems to think that if he just seals up the rooms all tight with good construction practices and run LOTS and LOTS of carbon scrubbers, I'm talking dozens of scrubbers, that he won't have a smell problem, and can continue completely as planned. Just wanna see what you guys think. ANY advice would be greatly appreciated. My friend has a tremendous amount on the line as no expense has been spared on the project whatsoever.

 

[ken dog]

I suggest holding a party, a barbecue, or a get together, at least once a week... Three times a week would be best.

That way the neighbors will be used to activity... suspicious or not.

 

[noone88]

Finding a good location is one of the most important parts of starting a grow op. The location you guys picked is already compromised and you have horrible neighbors.

If you guys are going to go HAM, might as well seal the concrete. Water from gardening that gets absorbed by concrete leaves a certain smell.

I think you can contain the smell, however, the noise pollution is pretty nuts. The sound of inline fans running 24/7 is distinct.

 

[keiksweat]

You can definitely run no smell small scale.but I assume that the bigger you go,the more smell and the more areas it can escape from.id definitely get good quality scrubbers.phresh filter I use personally.when I'm trimming I use a ozone generator.you need to be careful though as they will kill your plants.you can get inline duct ozone generators now.my grow area stinks when trimming up.ozone gen on ticking away in the corner.cant smell nothing.hope this helps,that's the route I'd go..

 

[mastacheeser]

I would be expecting a visit from code enforcement......

 

[jumpincactus]

Finding a good location is one of the most important parts of starting a grow op. The location you guys picked is already compromised and you have horrible neighbors.

If you guys are going to go HAM, might as well seal the concrete. Water from gardening that gets absorbed by concrete leaves a certain smell.

I think you can contain the smell, however, the noise pollution is pretty nuts. The sound of inline fans running 24/7 is distinct.

I second that. I would honestly move on especially if your in a hostile state. The neighbors already have a hard on for you guys and nosy runs all the way to the bone......... I in my HO would move on to a safer location... And yes expect a bldg inspector at some point to see if you guys pulled permits!!!

 

[BudBogart]

I am an old person, so let me represent...old peeps are nosy, especially what goes on around where they live. If they don't KNOW what's going on " in that building" they are going to watch, and gossip and make guesses, good, bad or indifferent. They clearly are comfy calling in suspicious activity. It's not about the smell.
Unless your friend and his partners are charismatic con artists with a good cover story, this isn't gonna go easy.

 

[Seamaiden]

Is it possible to TRULY have a smell proof facility if no cost is spared?

Of course. Think: clean room. Not even a mote of dust can get into those.

I'm with @ken dog regarding having something going on weekly, but I'll add to invite the people who are presenting a problem. Also, gift them with doughnuts and coffee on the regular. Walk over to where they are, chat it up with them. I find that's a whole lot easier than picking everything up and moving, m'self. I leave that as a last resort.

I am also making the assumption that you're doing this on the up and up, legally.

 

[BudBogart]

Ahh, and I was assuming this was not legal.

 

[ken dog]

I informed my local authorities when I started growing... I didn't want any surprises in case somebody complained about the smell... Or in case the fire department did an inspection.

 

[indicabush]

https://www.nsaw.com/police-evidence-rooms.htm

If it works for LEO....it may work for you....turn around fair play.

 

[GrowGod]

I informed my local authorities when I started growing... I didn't want any surprises in case somebody complained about the smell... Or in case the fire department did an inspection.

:opps: What did they tell you?

 

[jumpincactus]

I am an old person, so let me represent...old peeps are nosy, especially what goes on around where they live. If they don't KNOW what's going on " in that building" they are going to watch, and gossip and make guesses, good, bad or indifferent. They clearly are comfy calling in suspicious activity. It's not about the smell.
Unless your friend and his partners are charismatic con artists with a good cover story, this isn't gonna go easy.

Amen to that. The only worse case scenario is a scorned woman, be it wife or girlfriend!!!! Like I said nosy especially with older curmudgeons runs all the way to da bone. Count on that..... LOL

 

[ken dog]

They told me it was no problem... Make sure to keep my paperwork up.

:opps: What did they tell you?

 

[BudBogart]

We had the sheriff show up claiming a 911 hang up call was generated from our phone. We are the very last phone on the line and it's entirely possible. I go outside to see the cops, one cop goes to the house to see that my wife is okay. Well, my wife and I were in the middle of smoking our second doozie back to back, inside the house and we reeked.
The cop says..."let me ask you the question this way ""when you were smoking marijuana?
I said pretty much all day and the cop busted a gut. Told him we had paper work, but he didn't want to see it. Asked me if we grew it and I said yes, 10 or 12 plants, pointing in the general direction of the orchard.
His only other question was if I had any problems with theft.
The only reason he asked about cannabis was to see if I was lying to him. Completely friendly after that.

 

[Cur Dog]

I would find or have some heat pump stickers made for the condensing unit(s). An air conditioner running in the winter is suspicious but if people think it's a heat pump maybe it'll lessen suspicions.

 

[GrowGod]

We had the sheriff show up claiming a 911 hang up call was generated from our phone. We are the very last phone on the line and it's entirely possible. I go outside to see the cops, one cop goes to the house to see that my wife is okay. Well, my wife and I were in the middle of smoking our second doozie back to back, inside the house and we reeked.
The cop says..."let me ask you the question this way ""when you were smoking marijuana?
I said pretty much all day and the cop busted a gut. Told him we had paper work, but he didn't want to see it. Asked me if we grew it and I said yes, 10 or 12 plants, pointing in the general direction of the orchard.
His only other question was if I had any problems with theft.
The only reason he asked about cannabis was to see if I was lying to him. Completely friendly after that.

I always take the dickhead route and tell them I don't answer questions from law enforcement :D