Mylar all around for reflectivity, I was thinking, including the floor, in both rooms. Wear booties inside, and will only be me and the wife. I'm a neat freak, so the rooms will be spotless. I am going to put up Panda plastic, and seal everything first, though, with aluminum tape, like you see HerbalRemedy has done in his rooms. Then, if I am still motivated enough, I do mylar. I likely will be motivated enough.
panda plastic around 80% reflective Mylar is around 95% reflective Koolseal Elastomeric roofing compound (homedepot or lowes) 90% reflective, and basically makes the room sealed in rubber. Much easier to clean than mylar, and much easier to install, and I'll throw in the fact that it's cheaper in the long run, because it never has to get replaced, like mylar, which will crinkle when you wash it, creating hot spots. No need to use panda to seal it. Get elastomeric latex caulk in white (and its paintable, unlike silicone), primer the whole room with zinnser123 or kilz premium (either one, as they both have added fungicide), caulk all the seams, and paint with the elastomeric roofing compound. My whole room is done in that, and I wear the little disposable booties when I enter the room too, lol. elastomeric roofing compound is around $32 for 2 gallons, and 1 should do each room with 2 coats niceley, couple tubes of the elastomeric caulk $3 a pop, zinnser 2gals $30. All sealed up for around $80-$100. I like to think of my chamber as a rubber bladder, where I dont have to check seams to see if they are sealed, because in the end, it looks like your inside of a balloon. Just another thought, to give you some options.
I had been giving your coating idea some thought. What is the curing time on the roofing compound? Losing 5% reflectivity for pretty much complete permanence might be a viable trade, indeed! And...the most important question... Should I start at the front, or the back? Seriously though...if it takes an hour or two to cure, that might be just the ticket.
Haha funny guy. I learned my lesson in painting floors. That 5% loss in reflectivity is worth it. Start in the back. lol Drys in 1 or 2 hrs, cures in 24 I think, but it has to be above 60degF for 24hrs. I love it.
Did you notice any residual smell with the elastomeric stuff? If so, how long did it take to fully dissipate? I'm worried about the paints releasing chemicals, otherwise I'd be all over a rubberized room!
I will likely go with the roofing compound, Don. Although I will have the Pros in the family apply it. I might mess it up.
I found this when I did a quick search on the specs for the stuff. http://www.fixallroofs.com/elastomeric/acrylic_roof_coating.html By way of comparison, the Aromatic Polyurethane stuff...yeah. You'd need an oxygen supply to put that crap up...hehehe. The Elastomeric compound appears to be quite safe...unless someone eats it, of course.
No real smell after letting is cure and sit with the rooms open for a day or so. It is basically acrylic latex, no more smell than a latex primer. It's oil bases I'd be worried about. People have been using latex paint in GR's for years and after looking at it and smelling it, I really gave it no second thoughts. Hope that eases some minds about about it. And BUD, that is the shit right there. It basically tells all about it. Good stuff huh? It just seems to be helpful all the way around for our type of operation.
i use the same stuff as don piano, killz latex paint, (i think don uses it) and it is hands down, the BEST material to use in a room. It is water resistant, mold resistant, fungus resistant, reflective, and just awesome. not to tough to put up either. use in unison with the foam spray to seal cracks.
Thanks itsmysubaru! Tomorrow the framing will get finished, and all outlets etc. marked for the electrical install on Wednesday. Damn weekends, real life and paying customers getting in the way of my work getting done!! Those bastage bruthahs of mine!! Naw...I'm just kidding about my brothers...they do rock...mostly. But, I am just so darn excited! I will be able to get some more pics up tomorrow, but not much will change until the electric goes in, and they seal up everything. I will keep you all posted, fo shizzle!!
Hello Folks! Sorry to keep you waiting...they came and got the rest of the framing up, and roughed in a doorway, but I also figured out Thumbnails better, I think!! Not a lot got done today but the Electro-Bro is showing up tomorrow to get this show on the road! I took the day off, so I can be his beeyaaatch and run errands and stuff. Small price to pay. I wanted to make sure we get the vents and dampers set up right to get the lights vented, and that does bring me to a question: Does anyone reading this use vented lights with CO2? If so, is it Really a sealed system, like they say it is? I am hoping so, but I would love to get some feedback from folks that actually use them. I would like to not waste the CO2, if venting the lights will be a challenge with that. I will have them set up with the auto seal dampers, light traps, etc., so that they don't bork up anything, and they will vent to the main area. I am going to be getting the electric dampers, I am thinking, but would also appreciate any input you folks that have actually used them may have... I will get some pics up right quick!
Here we go... *Deep Vape Hit* This is a shot across both ceilings I am trying to let very little of the room touch any walls, if at all possible. This is a picture of the door in. There will be one more door where I am standing...sort of an airlock in and out. The wall does touch at this point but all fans will be bungee mounted etc so I am really hoping that this won't even be an issue. Here is a shot to show the gap at the ceiling, and along the wall on the left side. Here is a shot down the ceiling of room 1 OK...I still really suck at doing the cool connected and spinny thumbnails that you vets do But hopefully we will be getting outlets run and circuits in tomorrow. Then they can get it all insulated, and seal the rooms up. I want to get the holes cut and all the sensor wires accounted for, so I can keep as much stuff as possible on the outside of the rooms, without creating a sealing nightmare for me or my bros. The roofing compound is really going to help that. We are getting the 5 gal size, and we will be sure to cover everything very very well. The drying time between coats is a bit of a challenge, but that patience should pay off handily, I am thinking. So...I go now to vape, and read, and figure out what I may have missed... And here is a shot of room 2, from room 1:
That looks sweet. I love this build. Anyway. A truely sealed system has no vent or intake, but just uses co2, dehumidifier, AC, and heat (if necessary). THis will give you full control of your co2 and temps. I am loving my temps, but had a blip with my AC, but all better now. I use all 4 of the above. I like higher temps with Co2 (trying to get 87deg, but having a hard time, being that it is near 0degF here). Just air cool the lights and use your AC. Any thoughts on how you will control your CO2 yet?
Don...not sure what you mean when you say to just aircool the lights...but then I have vaped. My thought was to have an intake outside the room...run ducting through the lights with a good size fan and vent out the other side of the lights into the main area. My question was whether anyone knows if the so called "Sealed" light systems are really airtight, or not. For CO2, I REALLY want to get this: http://agrowtek.com/CDC-PPM_CO2_Controller.html Because with accuracy to 10,000 PPM, I can do pest control with confidence. One downside is that I am going to have to put that unit in the room itself. That is the case with many, though. Some C.A.P. units have remote sensors, but they only go to 5000 PPM. Remote would be nice, but then I have to get the sensor through the wall, and I am not exactly sure how to do that. I will use the usual 120 volt solenoid for disbursal, but exactly how to mount that and run it into the room without putting the tank in there, I am not sure. I am sure that I want to run a length of perforated tubing around the plants, and above them, to maximize the spread of the CO2. I will have plenty of circulation, including fans at ground level to blow gas that falls down, back up to the plants.
Yes you can make the lights truely sealed and do that. Just what I have done. Draw outside air through the light and back outside. Just seal the flanges (with elastomeric latex caulk because it's paintable) real good, no need for dampers. My suggestion for intake and exaust ports through the walls are reducers. If you are going with an 8"fan, use a 10 to 8 reducer or if using a 6" fan, get a 8to6 reducer. I will give you my methodolgy behind using those. Install the duct reducers from inside the room, large side goes into the wall. You buy insulated ducting (the kind that has the foil coating on it, and uses fiberglass insulation in between that and a tough plastic kink free duct interior) and attach the inner plastic duct to the small end of the reducer, and then you have the larger cone from the increase in the reducer from 6"to8" (or 8"to10") (actually should have called it an increaser, but that is not how they are sold) in size to tape your insulation on the ducting to. THis will give you better heat removal,and the ducting is leak free (as opposed to the standard plasti-foil ducting that we all use). If you have not purchased light hoods yet, you will see that most are seald pretty well on 3 sides, and you have to seal the other edge of the glass with aluminum tape. Just to be safe, seal all 4 with aluminum tape, then you are as sealed as fresh jar of peanut butter (i am sorry, I had to). Or just get coo tubes, as they are probably the best bet for a sealed system, and preventing leaks. You only have to tape the ends and hose clamp the insulation around that. Hope this all makes sense.
It's too bad you can't get the one i have on ebay right now. It was $110. I essentially made that unit (a more simplified version without all the relays and junk behind it) for $140. Mine will also go to 10000ppm. For running co2 to the rooms, just a hose into the room, sticking in about an inch, will do it with proper circulation. No need to feed it from the top, because they draw co2 from the undersides of their leaves anyway, from the ground up is good when sealed. So any point of entry will do, with proper circulation inside. Ie. wall fans or floor fans. You already spoke about those above, so you know the name of the game. Ohh, and you can reprogram the cap units. If you buy one and it has no disc, I will forward you a copy so you can monitor it on the computer with an ethernet cable, I ran one out of my grow to my PC. If you can find a cheap one (either a ge, or telaire ventostat 8001, or even a CAP, as they are all the same unit, even the one you want to buy is the same telaire unit mounted on the front), without a screen or buttons, I can tell ya how to make that work for $5 in parts. and where to get em.