Am I crazy to convert an old abandoned horse barn?

[Bombie]

The bad:

• It reeks of mildew and mold, especially the hay room. (Which still has decade old hay in i).
• It needed a new roof a decade ago. Lots of rotten wood to replace.

The good:

• Plenty of space: (2 9x9 stalls, 1 4x5 equipment room, 1 9 x 12 hay room)
• Electricity and water
• Great bones: thick concrete slab, 20 foot high peaked roof.
• Wouldn't need permitting.

There is no doubt I could turn it into a great space, but would I just be fighting mold problems for ever? I'm not sure it wouldn't be better just to put up a smaller greenhouse kit for less money and better long term success. Right now I grow in a 4x4 tent, so even using just one stall seems huge to me! I like both hydro and soil. I'm mostly worried that my hydro reservoirs would produce more root rot than bud.

Zone 8B. I live in near Seattle, WA, so a legal state - I don't have to be paranoid about discretion, but the barn is near a bridle path, so unless I want everybody going by to know, I can't ignore this either.

And I'm a tinkerer. I'm not growing for volume or quality: better bud than I can grow for much less money is a mile away. I like to do things like grow one strain 4 different ways. Or play with what ever weird snake oil is sweeping the internet. I want to play with developing my own strain, maybe, someday. My biggest motivations for moving would be more room for my experiments and getting the fan noise out of my house.

Thank you in advance for your advice. I'm especially interested in things that I don't know that I should be worried about. My plan right now is just to set up a spacebucket or the tent in one of the stalls and see how that goes, but forewarned ....


..Bombie

 

[Bombie]

Thought maybe a picture would help...

 

[The Celt]

Personally , I would have no issue converting an old build for growing, assuming I had the money to do it right.

I would convert one of those 9x9 stalls by completely isolating it like a grow chamber with a HEPA filter intake and carbon filter exhaust. This would negate both any major mold concerns and the concern about smells nearby.

 

[Bombie]

I think you are right when it comes to the hay room, I'm just going to have to seal it to be safe. I was thinking about using polyurethane paint and then sealing it with plastic!

It seems like Panda doesn't hold up more than a few years at most? I haven't used it, but I see posts about people taking it down for something better pretty often. Is Orca any better? Is there anything else that works for people?

Thanks!

 

[The Celt]

If you use 6mil vapour barrier and seal the seams with tuck tape or acoustic caulk, including around outlet boxes, and then put thin plywood or green board over it, it will remain air tight as long as you live lol that’s part of how houses are made air tight and the poly being protected from UV light, doesn’t break down.

Then put an exterior door in for entrance, more air seals, and paint the walls and ceiling with flat white paint, you have a basic grow chamber.

 

[Bombie]

You are giving good advice and I know it, but I guess I'm wondering if by the time I put up a new roof and fix the studs and walls (so the building won't fall down) and then build new sealed rooms inside the existing fixed rooms, I wouldn't be so much better off building a greenhouse kit. The walls are already thick plywood inside and out and insulated.

I had hoped there was some product, maybe just bleach, that I could bomb the building with and then new thick, antimicrobial paint and call good enough for an non-professional grower.

What do you think if I hold your plan in reserve? I will get the building to "looks and smells clean enough" and if mildew and mold problems plague me, I will build the inner rooms. Thank you!! I feel so much better, because I could see sinking all this money and effort and ending up having to just tear it down anyway. Now there is a fallback that we know works.

 

[The Celt]

Like I said, money had to be no object

I started out as a carpenter well over 30 yrs ago, building houses, then spent a number of years building bridges and highways before going back to school to study engineering. I graduated with an engineering diploma 20yrs ago now I mostly oversee concrete structure rehabilitation.

SO...if it can be built with (or fixed with) concrete, steel or wood, I can generally walk you through it, but money is always the deciding factor...is it worth the cost