Designing a large, underground grow room

[CannabisFan]

Hey everybody, CF here. This is my first post, I just registered about 5 minutes ago, and I'm not exactly sober at the moment, so I apologize in advance for any typos or confusing choice of words.

I'm currently a medical patient living in a prohibition state, which is awkward to say the least. However, within the next few years my wife and I will be moving to a state that recognizes medical cannabis laws. When we do, we plan to have a home built. The house will be built away from any neighbors, and we will be buying several acres to avoid anyone moving into the area.

However, I'm a little paranoid due to past experiences. I still intend to build my grow room underground to avoid detection. It will be fairly large, and I'm well versed in plant biology, chemistry, and basic plant care. The issue is design.

If anyone knows of someone who possesses architectural knowledge that may be willing to assist in the design of a large underground grow room, I would greatly appreciate some assistance. I could easily design a large rectangle underground, but I want to ensure a good supply of clean air coming into the room, adequate electrical availability, a good method of stale air removal, a separate room without air exchange for male plants to ensure seed, and so on and so on. All the various complexities need to be worked out and discussed.

Alternatively, if it would be better to discuss these matters in this thread rather than dispense contact information, by all means let's. I've already listed several potential considerations. If any of you have possible solutions, ideas for additional complications or considerations I haven't listed, experience in designing your own grow rooms, or other useful things to say, please feel free. The more minds at work the better!

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Blessings!

 

[Icemud]

Hey, cool idea and awesome you came here to share it and collect ideas!!!

Shipping Containers might be a good purchase for you since there fairly cheap to buy, very durable, and pretty much ready to go as far as a frame for your grow area.... just need to bury the thing, run electric and vents and your set I know a lot of the doomsday preppers use them as well because of there solid build and affordable cost...

I also have heard about people building grow rooms under decorative fountains.... larger fountains build with an chamber below them for pumps make for a great grow area because with the cooler water above in the fountain, IR detection is virtually impossible...

I don't usually help out or condone "illegal" growing because I have been processed in the system before, and it sucks getting caught, so I would say, whatever you choose, tell no one... nobody at all.... watch your power usages, where you process trimmings and what you do with scraps from plants...be careful when purchasing large amounts of grow items from unfamiliar shops...they sometimes are havens for LEO to do surveillance, make sure that you plant other things like garlic, chives, or other fragrant plants to help mask the odors, never throw any trimmings in the garbage, and never never "bling" yourself out... especially if you are looking to make $$ doing it, when you look like a drug dealer, and walk like one,,, the cops see you as one best of luck to you!





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[BigIrishDoode]

ice said it all

 

[CannabisFan]

Wow, that is a lot of information. Thank you, that's almost anything I could have asked for.

As far as an illegal grow, that's not what I'm planning. The house we're designing will be built in a state that recognizes medical cannabis laws, and I'm already a current medical patient. I just want to keep the grow underground because I don't trust the DEA to hold off until it becomes legal on the federal level. I certainly won't be selling any of it, though I imagine if my friends and/or family came to visit I'd probably be willing to share a little bit.

Currently the idea we have is to build a greenhouse attached to the rear of our home (it'll be about a 4500 sq foot home, so not huge but comfortable). I don't want to grow in the greenhouse though, because it would be too easy to spot the plants from the outside. Instead, we're considering building a large room with 20-foot ceilings underneath the greenhouse. Basically it's an extension of the basement that is accessible only by a single stairwell with a hidden entry, which extends about 50 feet away from the actual foundation of the house.

It sounds like a huge project, and it will be. The goal is to provide a secure, hidden location that mimics the natural outdoor growing environment as closely as possible, to encourage larger plants with heavier yields. Hiding the room under the greenhouse would provide a good excuse for any heat signatures, because the greenhouse itself will be significantly warmer than the surrounding environment. Any heat detectable by infrared will be easy to explain on the basis of the above-ground greenhouse. In addition, a second filtered air intake can be set up next to the one pumping air into the greenhouse. Attaching a vent allows the filtered air to be pumped into the underground room without being too noticeable. Running the filtered air out of the underground grow room and through the greenhouse should be able to take care of any odors left over after the filtration system does its work, by mixing that air with the fragrant plants growing in the above-ground greenhouse.

I've been considering this for a while, and I believe I have viable solutions for almost every concern I could imagine. My purpose in posting on this site is to see if anyone can come up with better solutions than those I have contrived on my own, or if anyone can come up with possible issues I have been unable to imagine. I have a few years before we build this house, so there's plenty of time to plan, design, and consider. Ultimately though, I will have to have an architect design the room to effectively communicate my plans to the builders. When that time comes, I need to make sure the architect is comfortable with designing a room specifically for the purpose of housing a legal medical marijuana growing operation.

Anyhow, thank you very much for all the information you've posted. It will take me a significant amount of time to browse through all of that, and doubtless it will answer many of the questions I've been considering. I certainly appreciate your assistance.

Blessings!

 

[Hosebomber]

This sounds like a very well thought out plan, however your next to last paragraph is where you stir off course. An architect will not have an issue designing a room... that's what they get paid to do.

You will have bigger issues when you file for your building permit and they ask what the hell that large unattached underground structure is for. Then you have to get it plumbed, wired, and hooked into the waste water system. It may be better to have the design for the room drawn up and ready in your current location before moving. Then you will need to find a contractor to dig, build, wire, and plumb it without a building permit... that is going to be nearly impossible because all of those people are not going to be willing to lose their licenses in most cases. The next option is to let the city/county know you are building a large underground structure... not exactly ideal.

The final option is to do all of this yourself very soon after your construction is complete or while you are in the finishing stages.

 

[CannabisFan]

Now that, that is something I hadn't considered. Building it myself would be a real pain, but completely possible. Of course I would need to educate myself to some extent about plumbing and electrical wiring. I'm a biologist, not an engineer, lol. However, if I have the designs prepared well in advance... Hm...

Then again, an idea occurs to me. Some of my research has dealt with genetic relationships in Boids. In the past I've had as many as 14 breeding pairs of Boids, and each pair requires a very large enclosure for proper care and maintenance. In addition, space is required for bin racks to house and heat neonates, freezer space to keep food, working space for treating sick or infected animals, extra space to quarantine new acquisitions... It would be quite simple to justify a large underground structure on those grounds, in fact. Temperatures tend to be more stable, and humidity and light are both much easier to control in underground structures, all of which are necessary factors in captive care and breeding of healthy Boids.

On those grounds, I may well be able to obtain permission for such a structure. In which case, no individual would risk losing any manner of license by building it. Of course, I'd need to actually use the structure for my genetic research for a minimum 3-year period before repurpose it. Otherwise I'd just be lying, and I'd rather keep things as honest as possible.

Wow, thanks for bringing that up. I would never have thought of that. Does it sound like my possible solution may be viable?

 

[COgrow]

You're fine. You're too worried about nothing. You can have it designed as your "lab" space. Some people have a garage, some people need a climate controlled room underground for their hobby. If you're in a legal state, why can't you build your grow room? There's nothing illegal about it as long as you have your recommendation and do not exceed your states limit on dry product and on flowering and vegetative plants, and of course follow the local building codes. You wouldn't have to justify exactly what genetic research you were doing in there and you certainly wouldn't be lying if you built it and used it to grow medical marijuana for yourself. I certainly consider growing marijuana genetic research, haha.

 

[CannabisFan]

Heh, I suppose you're correct. I'm too used to living in a prohibition state. In a legal state there would be nothing wrong with building a room to house my grow. I wouldn't necessarily have to use it for a Boid project. I would have to tell local officials what the room would be used for, but not federal officials, which are the ones I'm concerned about. Perhaps I've become too paranoid

 

[voucher]

Instead of trying to grow huge trees indoors, Have you thought about just tossing a few grow tents in a finished basement? Use one for flowering, one for vegging, maybe a third for clones? You can have a fresh harvest every 2 months if you wanted (maybe more?)

If you're building from the ground up, tell them you want a second laundry room in the basement. Power, water, drains, vents will all be handled. You can also opt for solar power. It will cut your electric bill down to almost nothing if you install a large enough system. You can use mini split systems to keep things warm & cool.

Honestly, I would put it right under my house. It's too easy to break in to an outside building with out being noticed. Not to mention you're going to be visiting this building at least once a day to check on your babies. Just tossing you a few ideas.

 

[dadums]

You "need" a bomb shelter or panic room. I also thought of a plastic septic tank or bury a water tank, that would be almost ready made.

 

[CannabisFan]

Hey, sorry it's been a while. I've been rather busy with family crises lately.

The plastic tent idea would work fine for smaller plants, but larger plants are my goal. The number of plants grown is the aspect that's regulated, not how big those plants get. If I grow them large enough to produce 2-3 pounds each with only a single harvest, that would be more advantageous than the same number of plants producing 3 ounces each and harvesting every 2-3 months.

When I said that it would be under the greenhouse, I didn't mean it would be accessible through the greenhouse, heh. Just that it would be built in the space under the greenhouse. It would be accessible from the house, and since the greenhouse will be attached to the house it's all attached as a single unit.

I've thought of solar power. The big issue is the technology for solar panels. They're not very efficient at present, cost an absolute mint to install in large enough surface area to get a decent result, and commonly need repairs and/or replacements every 2-5 years on average. Though the idea is great, the cost-to-benefit ratio is simply not practical in my opinion.

The laundry room idea is a good one though. It would explain my need for floor drainage, water availability, power outlets, and other such things. Again though, it's not necessary for me to hide the purpose of the room in a state where medical cannabis is legal.

I have a few years before I'm able to build the house in any event, and it's possible that federal laws may be somewhat different at that time. With how rapidly the political landscape is changing regarding cannabis, it's difficult to know how to plan ahead. My big concern is federal officials as opposed to local officers. Depending on how social and political sentiments run at the time, I might simply use the greenhouse we've already designed.

Mostly this thread was intended to discuss the design parameters of the underground room, and address issues I may not have considered. For example, how would the heat signature be disguised in the event that I must conceal my activities? To address that concern, I thought of putting the grow room under the greenhouse. That wouldn't eliminate the heat signature, but would provide a very simple means of explanation for the increased infrared reading. In the event that I need to conceal my intentions for the room, the excuse of creating a large laundry room in the basement is a fantastic idea, and will be conserved as a contingency option.

Thanks for the idea!

 

[voucher]

Most states have possession limits on how much final product you can have. During the veg cycle, you will need to keep your lights on for 18 hours at a time. If you go with a mother/clone area, you can maintain your plant limit under a less powerful light, saving you money. You can then move plants in to a flowering area & harvest as often as you like.

 

[covertnegrow]

i am very handy with autocad...i admire your dreams..i am in the same boat with prohibition and all. My wife and I are also planning on ditching this closed minded land in the near future. Some background info on me... Im a mechanical designer with a degree in manufacturing engineering. I build platforms and other large items that require me to calculate the amounts of load we would be faced with in an underground grow room...

 

[Android]

I have a well room in the basement - that's where I grow right now. But I will also put up a tent in a spare bedroom now. I don't worry about heat because I exhaust straight in the HVAC through 2 carbon filters - one on input and one inside a furnace stack. This takes care of smell as well. As long as you don't exhaust heat in the air and use mylar-laid tents instead of using room walls - you should be relatively safe. Good luck to you! Don't start the project this large until you planned enough is my .02

 

[dall142123]

i saybuy some train crates get doors welded on each so they connect together underground bury them weld them together. cut a hatch on top. run an extention cord underground. run a hose under ground conect it too a water tank you would put in. and boom no permits decent price and alot less work

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

Make a multistory scaffolding grow setup, inside a grain silo. Vent out top of silo. Too high up there to smell on ground, I'm sure. Concrete walls would mask much heat.